Before the Lines on the Map

 Before the Lines on the Map

Recently, I came across an article discussing how Saskatchewan wanted access to Hudson Bay and how Canada divided territory among provinces in the early 1900s. The article focused on political boundaries, disputes between provinces, and decisions made in Ottawa.

As I read it, I found myself thinking about something deeper.

We often look at maps and assume they have always existed. We see the borders of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec and think of them as permanent. But these lines are relatively recent. They were drawn by governments, negotiated by politicians, and changed over time.

Before those lines existed, there were already people living on these lands.

When I think about my own family history, I am reminded of this. My great-great-grandfather arrived from the Azores long after these lands were home to Indigenous peoples. If we go back to 1762—more than a century before he arrived—the area we now call Victoria looked very different.

There was no Victoria.

There was no British Columbia.

There was no Canada.

The ancestors of my Songhees and T'Sou-ke relatives lived in a world shaped by relationships to the land, the ocean, family networks, trade routes, and cultural traditions that had existed for countless generations. The boundaries that seem so important today had not yet been drawn.

As settlers arrived, new governments created colonies, provinces, municipalities, reserves, and political borders. Decisions were made in distant offices about who would control which lands. Entire regions were divided, reassigned, and renamed.

The article I read described Canada dividing Canada. Saskatchewan wanted one piece of territory. Manitoba received another. Ontario and Quebec expanded northward. The Northwest Territories were reduced and reorganized.

But looking further back reminds us that these weren't empty spaces waiting to be divided. They were already inhabited. They already had histories, names, and relationships attached to them.

Understanding this does not require rejecting one history in favor of another. In my own family, both stories exist. There is the story of ancestors who arrived from Europe seeking opportunity and a new life. There is also the story of Indigenous relatives whose connection to these lands reaches back long before Canada existed.

Both histories matter.

Perhaps one of the most important things we can do is remember that the maps we inherit are not the beginning of the story. They are only one chapter in a much longer history.

When we look beyond the political boundaries, we begin to see a richer picture—one that includes Indigenous nations, settlers, immigrants, explorers, workers, families, and communities who all helped shape the place we now call home.

The next time you look at a map of Canada, it may be worth asking a simple question:

What was here before the lines were drawn?

Reflective Questions

1. How often do we think about what existed before the provincial and national borders we see on maps today?
2. What stories might be missing when we only view history through the lens of governments and political boundaries?
3. How did Indigenous nations govern and care for these lands before Canada was created?
4. What responsibilities do we have to learn about the history of the places we call home?
5. How might our understanding of Canada change if we began our history lessons before Confederation?
6. In what ways do family histories connect us to larger historical events and social changes?
7. Why is it important to recognize that maps and borders can change over time?
8. How can we honour both Indigenous and immigrant histories without diminishing either experience?
9. What can we learn from elders and knowledge keepers about the history of a region?
10. When you look at a map today, what questions come to mind about the people who lived there before the lines were drawn?

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