Long before Confederation created a nation-state in northern North America, Indigenous people were establishing vast networks and trade routes. Volcanic eruptions pushed the ancestors of the Dene to undertake a trek from the present-day Northwest Territories to Arizona. Inuit migrated across the Arctic from Siberia, reaching Southern Labrador, where they met Basque fishers from northern Spain.

As early as the fifteenth century, fishing ships from western Europe were coming to Newfoundland for cod, creating the greatest transatlantic maritime link in the early modern world. Later, fur traders would take capitalism across the continent, using cheap rum to lubricate their transactions. The contributors to Before Canada reveal the latest findings of archaeological and historical research on this fascinating period. Along the way, they reframe the story of the Canadian past, extending its limits across time and space and challenging us to reconsider our assumptions about this supposedly young country.

Innovative and multidisciplinary, Before Canada inspires interest in the deep history of northern North America.

Allan Greer is a Professor in the Department of History at the University of Toronto.

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“Before Canada features eleven of the smartest minds in early Canadian history, archeology, geography, and literary studies. Throughout the book, … Greer’s contemporaries define, demystify, and dismantle the imagined histories of the centuries preceding Canadian federation.” Montreal Review of Books

“This collection builds upon earlier scholarship on Canada’s distant past and pushes resolutely at its boundaries. The variety of topics is dazzling, offering a valuable sample of current research on this elusive period of global history.” Margaret Conrad, University of New Brunswick and author of A Concise History of Canada