ABSTRACT
For several thousand years indigenous peoples inhabited the large landmass of Canada. However, our indigenous peoples were almost totally eradicated when, during the 15th century, Europeans, particularly the French and English, fought for control of the resources and land found in this new place. The adversarial relationship between the French and English, along with their attempt to eradicate aboriginal peoples, became imbedded within the soul of our nation. Canada was formally established as a colonial nation in 1867 by virtue of the British North America Act passed in the British House of Commons. Over a hundred years later Canada achieved full nationhood with the repatriation of its constitution in 1982. Now part of the British Commonwealth of Nations, rather than the former British Empire, she belongs to the bioregion of North America populating the northern portion of the continent. Between then and now the population has grown from a few hundred thousand people of European ancestry and First Nations people to approximately 35 million people from all over the globe.
