A history of physical anthropology and the development of evolutionary thought in Canada

Abstract

Canada is a large country geographically, but relatively small in terms of population. As a result, our major problem has always been communication. It is expensive and time consuming to get together to discuss problems. For example, a scholar in Newfoundland would find Prague to be as far away as a visit to a university in her own country (British Columbia). Then too, communication is often confounded by language because we are a bilingual country, but relatively few people speak both languages. Understandably, then, it is very difficult to speak of a national identity on such a topic as human evolution. Rather, we find that individuals have influenced the field either through their research or through their teaching. Academic development has been strongly influenced in the past by developments in the United States and Europe, particularly the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, we will attempt to trace the development of evolutionary throught, but not without a preliminary apology for oversights to our colleagues. The task is difficult, and we will surely overlook some names. We hope that our attempt will still be accurate in the wholistic sense. Regardless of the foregoing problems, we do see a broad historical development and the beginning of a Canadian perspective. This is more clearly seen if we trace the development of evolutionary thought within the context of the history of physical anthropology in Canada.