[ Project Plans | Essential
Questions | Knowledge Hunt | Glossary
| Links ]
Glossaries have been created to provide the definition of any words
that are specific to each theme area. It is suggested that teachers
review or point out the glossaries to students before they examine
a specific theme area. Students may access them under Student Resources.
Agricultural: The science and art of cultivating soil, producing
crops, and raising livestock.
Anti-Semitism: Antagonism or prejudice toward Jews or Judaism.
Aristocrat: A member of a ruling class or of the nobility.
Austro-Hungarian Empire: A Dual Monarchy established by
the Habsburg Franz Joseph in 1867 between his empire of Austria
and his kingdom of Hungary (which included territory that became
Czechoslovakia as well as parts of Poland, the Ukraine, Romania,
Yugoslavia, and Italy). It collapsed in the autumn of 1918 with
the end of the First World War.
Barnstorm: To appear at county fairs and carnivals in exhibitions
of stunt flying and parachute jumping.
Baron: A European nobleman, ranked differently in various
Barracks: A building or group of buildings used to house
military personnel and soldiers.
Boer War: A war fought from 1899 to 1902 between the Boer
governments and Great Britain in South Africa. The war was over
the sovereignty and commercial rights in these lands and ended with
Bootlegging: To make, sell, or transport (alcoholic liquor)
Brownie Camera: Introduced in 1900, it was a simple camera
anyone could use and also that almost anyone could afford.
Buckskin: Soft, yellowish leather having a suede finish
made from deerskins.
Conscripted: Forcing individuals to enroll for service in
the armed forces.
Cree: A First Nations people inhabiting a large area from
eastern Canada, west to Alberta and the Great Slave Lake. There
are the Woodland Cree, who lived in the forests, and the Plains
Cree, who lived on the prairies.
Cultivation: To improve and prepare land for raising crops
by plowing or fertilizing.
Czar: One of the male monarchs or emperors who ruled Russia
until the revolution of 1917.
Distiller: A person that makes alcoholic liquors by the
process of distillation.
Dominion: A self-governing nation within the British Commonwealth.
Doukhobors: A member of a Russian Christian movement founded
in the eighteenth century, many of whom migrated to Canada in the
1890s to escape persecution for their views.
Emigrate: To leave one country to move to and settle in
Flora: Refers to the plants of a particular country, region,
or time period.
Forty-Niner: A gold prospector who took part in the 1849
California gold rush.
Great Depression (1929): Term referring to the period in
Canada from 1929 until 1939. Western Canada's economy had massive
unemployment, breadlines, relief camps, protest marches and dust
storms. The beginning of the Second World War in 1939 brought Canada
out of the Great Depression.
Hudson's Bay Company (HBC): The oldest (formed in 1670)
company in Canadian history, which was very important in the fur
trade and the exploration of Canada.
Homesteader: A person who settles lawfully on government
land with the intent to acquire ownership of it.
Immigrant: A person who entered and settled in a country
they were not born in.
Lantern slide: A type of transparency mounted in a frame
and viewed with a slide projector.
Manuscript: A typewritten or handwritten version of a book
or article prepared and submitted for publication.
Maverick: There are two main definitions.
1. Originally, it referred to cattle that have not been branded
yet, usually meaning a calf that has become separated from its
mother. They were usually considered the property of the first
person to brand them.
2. Today, it refers to a person who is independent in thought
and deed, or who refuses to "go along with the group."
Mūtis: A person of mixed First Nations and French-Canadian
Mission: The job of being sent to do religious or charitable
works, usually in a foreign country, and attempting to persuade
or convert others to their own beliefs.
Monopoly: A business that is the only supplier of a particular
good or service.
Muskeg: A swamp or bog formed by a buildup of sphagnum moss,
leaves, and decayed material.
Nakoda: Also called the Stoney, the Nakoda are a First Nations
people whose traditional lands include large parts of B.C., Alberta,
Saskatchewan, and Montana.
Natural History: The study of the natural development of
an organism over a long period of time.
New World: Refers to the hemisphere that includes North
and South America.
Oeuvre: The total lifework of an artist, writer, or composer.
Photo-engraving: The procedure of reproducing graphic material
by transferring the image photographically to another surface, which
is then etched for mass printing.
Photojournalism: Journalism in which a news story is presented
primarily through photographs.
Pioneer: A person or family that ventures into unknown territory
Prohibition: The forbidding by law of the manufacture, transportation,
sale, and possession of alcoholic beverages.
Prospector: A person who explores an area searching for
mineral deposits or oil.
Quaker: A member of a religious group called the Society
of Friends founded by George Fox. Members have never called themselves
Ranching: Comes from the Spanish word "rancho"
which means a small farm, hut, or group of people who eat together.
Ranching is running an extensive farm where large herds of cattle
or horses are raised.
Sawmill: A building equipped with machinery for sawing timber
Settler: A person who settles in a new region or country.
Stetson: A type of cowboy hat having a high crown and wide
Symphony: A symphony orchestra plays lengthy pieces of music
for their audience's entertainment.
Threshing: To beat the stems and husks of grain with a machine
to separate the grains or seeds from the straw.
Trailblazer: A person who first to explore and enter an
area and marks a trail for people to follow by leaving a mark cut
or painted on trees.
Transcontinental railway: A railway that goes from coast-to-coast
War Bonds: A form of savings bond used in Canada to help
fund the First and Second World Wars. They were issued by the government
for the purpose of financing military operations during times of