December 8th 2003

	Mysterious Canada
	Mysteries	Lost Tribes	Spiritual	Phenomena	Creatures	Traditions	Urban Legend	Made In Canada


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The country the world forgot - again

Jacques Cartier came from the French court of King Francis I to explore North America in 1534. He explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence on his first visit. In Chaleur Bay, he met aboriginal people for the first time. They were Micmac people, and their meeting was the first time that the French and the natives traded furs.

He then sailed into the Bay of Gaspé, where they were greeted warmly by a group from the Iroquoian nation of Stadaconé. They had come from their home, which is now the site of Québec City, on a fishing expedition.

It is said that Cartier asked the chief, Donnacona, what the land was called. The chief, replied "kanata," their word for village, as well as their name for the area around their home, Stadaconé. Our country has been known as Canada since that visit. We should note here that Cartier may have misunderstood the Donnacona.

There is some speculation Spanish or Portuguese explorers, disappointed in not finding gold or other riches, called the country as aca nada or cà nada (here nothing). Yet others have credited the word to Latin or Sanskrit. Most favour Cartiers version as listed in his reports. Either way, the Constitution Act, 1867, Canada's original constitution, announced that the name of the new dominion would be Canada.