Al Cherny, Canada’s Favourite Fiddler

and in magazine issue

He was born Alexander Peter Chernywech November 1, 1932, but before he left his prairie home of Medicine Hat, Alta., he was already on the trail that would take him across Canada and around the world as Canada’s favourite fiddler, the legendary Al Cherny. As a child, Chernywech received a violin from his father and …

Henry Kelsey: First in the West

and in magazine issue

Henry Kelsey’s contribution to our nation’s history is manifold: he is regarded as the first European to see the Canadian Prairies, musk oxen, grizzly bears and the buffalo. He is credited with the first peace treaties with First Nations tribes west of York Factory. He is documented as being one of the first to search …

Everett Baker

and in magazine issue April/May 2019

William Everett Baker came to Canada in 1917 as a door-to-door salesman. He was born in Minnesota in 1893. After graduating from university, he took a passenger train to Saskatchewan, stopping periodically to peddle the People’s Home Library. He was so successful that he was able to buy a half-section farm near Aneroid. In 1918 …

Chief Dan George, O.C.

and in magazine issue February/March 2019

Chief Dan George rose from residential school to be lauded as an internationally renowned poet, Academy Award-nominated actor and the man who, in 1967, addressed the nation and galvanized First Nations leaders and Canadians to effect change. He was born to a tribal chief and into a family of 11 children on July 24, 1899, …