October-November 2022

October-November 2022

Features

A Great Healing Machine

Raised by McGill University, the field hospital where poet-surgeon Dr. John McCrae served during the First World War advanced medical knowledge and saved thousands of lives. by Tim Cook

Secrets of the Ruins

An excavation of the Parliament of the Province of Canada reveals glimpses of political life in Victorian-era Montreal. by François Gignac, Louise Pothier, and Hendrik Van Gijseghem Read the article

On the Cover

Black and white photo of John McCrae against a red backdrop with poppies.

In The Beaver

Features

We Are All Treaty People

Understanding the spirit and intent of the Treaties signed between the Crown and First Nations matters to all of us. by Karine Duhamel Read the article

The Founding of Fort Severn

Defying blackflies and permafrost, Mushkego Cree hunters and English fur traders established Ontario’s northernmost community more than 250 years ago. by Jean-Luc Pilon and Chris Koostachin

A National Crime

One hundred years ago, Dr. Peter Henderson Bryce exposed the horrifying death toll among children in residential schools. by Miles Morrisseau Read the article

Saved From the Wreckage

After his ship foundered, an intrepid botanist trekked hundreds of kilometres through ice and snow to bring his prized specimens home. by Bill Waiser Read the article

On the Cover

Helen Kalvak’s 1969 print From People to Animals (stonecut on paper, Co-op/50, 45.6 x 61 cm) appears on the cover of The Beaver supplement in this issue. Born in 1901 on Victoria Island, she died in 1984 at Holman (now Ulukhaktok), N.W.T., where she settled in 1960 and began her career as a graphic artist. After helping to establish the Holman Eskimo Co-operative in 1961, Kalvak created drawings for craft items such as parkas and mittens. They portrayed traditional Copper Inuit life but also stories she learned from her father, who trained her as an angakuk, or shaman. Many of her drawings represent interrelationships between human and animal worlds, such as the transformation between an angakuk and animal spirit helpers or guides. More than 150 of her drawings were made into prints for sale as art, including stonecuts by printmaker Harry Egotak such as From People to Animals. Kalvak was a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and was appointed to the Order of Canada.