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2016 Ontario Historical Society Joseph Brant Award — Winner • 2017 Speaker's Book Award — Shortlisted A man of two cultures in an era where his only choices were to be a trailblazer or get left by the wayside Dr. Oronhyatekha (“Burning Sky”), born in the Mohawk nation on the Six Nations of the Grand River territory in 1841, led an extraordinary life, rising to prominence in medicine, sports, politics, fraternalism, and business.

The story of African Canadians who fled slavery in the United States but returned to enlist in the Union forces during the American Civil War. On New Year’s Eve in 1862, blacks from across British North America joined in spirit with their American fellows in silent vigils to await the enactment of President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The terms declared that slaves who were held in the districts that were in rebellion would be free and that blacks would now be allowed to enlist in the Union Army and participate in the civil war that had then raged for more than a year and a half.

In 1987, skeletal remains were encountered during excavation just west of Old Fort Erie, in Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula. While possession of the land had been bitterly contested in 1814, it remained virtually undeveloped and only in the 1980s, with the construction of permanent homes, did excavations yield evidence of the distant past.An international team of scholars and scientists investigated the remains and identified the individuals’ nationalities for repatriation, where appropriate.

The Order of Canada, the country’s highest honour, is awarded to those who have made a distinct contribution to Canadian life. The late Jean Lumb received the Order of Canada, among other awards, for her role in changing Canada’s immigration laws that separated Chinese families, and for her contribution in saving Chinatowns across Canada. Through her dedication to helping others, Jean Lumb truly made a difference to life in Canada.

Alice Munro, recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature, is undoubtedly among Canada’s greatest living writers. In this unique, intriguing collection, Brenda Pfaus gives fresh insights into some of Munro’s most enduring works: Lives of Girls and Women (1971), Who Do You Think You Are? (1978), Dance of the Happy Shades (1968), Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You (1974), and The Moons of Jupiter (1982). This collection of essays reaches from the early years of Munro’s career through her prime as a writer, when she penned her most influential works.

The invasion attempt on Upper Canada by a new and vastly improved American army in the first six months of 1814. Throughout 1812 and 1813, Upper Canada had been the principle target for a succession of American invasions and attacks. Fortunately they all had been repulsed, but at a high cost in lives and the devastation of property on both sides of the border.

This book in itself is testimony to transition in the affairs of the north circumpolar region. Written in 1988 and updated in 1990, the papers assembled here have been overtaken by events. Non-military or civil requirements thus seemed to warrant a new and far more important place in our understanding of security. It’s appopriate to explore not only the potential of civil cooperation in countering the force of militarism, but the utility of a comprehensive conception of Arctic security. This book will look at how these views fare, once we’ve had a look at the region and its problems.

Musical-instrument manufacturing was one of the few areas in which Canada was able to compete with the United States and England in the 19th and early 20th centuries. This book describes one of the leading firms in the music industry in Canada at that time. The Toronto business that was conducted under the sign of the "Big Fiddle" added significantly to the spread of music in the city of Toronto and far beyond. The founder of this family business was Richard Sudgen Williams. With his son, R.S.

From drawing rooms of Victorian Britain to Ontario kitchens, rituals of afternoon tea have always delighted. Devotees to this splendid ceremony attest to the fact that tasty treats and fresh brewed tea really do have a way of seducing and calming even the most frazzled of souls. And so, it is no accident that this deliciously elegant occasion continues to entice. Capture the essence of this splendid institution through the eyes of one who learned to sup the golden brew on her Granny's lap.

"This is the story of a man and his owl. But what a man and what an owl! The owl is one of our planet’s most beautiful and elusive beings, an enchanting spook, a feathered spirit from some ancient world. "The man is Robert Nero, his name synonymous with that of the Great Gray Owl, his love affair with the species spanning twenty-five years. For me, a non-professional adrift in a sea of biologists, it is heartening to find in Dr. Nero not just the able scientific mind but also a sense of wonder, undiminished by the years.