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Wampum are tubular purple and white beads made from shells. Wampum are used primarily by Aboriginal peoples of the Eastern Woodlands for ornamental, ceremonial, diplomatic and commercial purposes.

Wanipigow Lake is a narrow, shallow widening of the river of the same name that flows in a northwesterly direction across the Canadian Canadian Shield and into Lake Winnipeg.

Childhood friends say they could always identify Dusan Tadic by his walk. The short but fit "Dule" or "Dusko" Tadic, as he was also known in his northwest Bosnian home town of Kozarac, had a distinctive swagger that advertised his black belt expertise in karate.

The War Measures Act was a federal law adopted by Parliament on 22 August 1914, after the outbreak of the First World War. It gave broad powers to the Canadian government to maintain security and order during war or insurrection. It was used, controversially, to suspend the civil liberties of people in Canada who were considered “enemy aliens” during both world wars, leading to mass arrest and detention without charge or trial. The Act was also invoked during the 1970 October Crisis in Quebec. It has since been replaced by the more limited Emergencies Act.

The War of 1812 (which lasted from 1812 to 1814) was a military conflict between the United States and Great Britain. As a colony of Great Britain, Canada was swept up in the War of 1812 and was invaded several times by the Americans. The war was fought in Upper Canada, Lower Canada, on the Great Lakes and the Atlantic, and in the United States. The peace treaty of Ghent (1814), which ended the war, largely returned the status quo. However, in Canada, the war contributed to a growing sense of national identity, including the idea that civilian soldiers were largely responsible for repelling the American invaders. In contrast, the First Nations allies of the British and Canadian cause suffered much because of the war; not only had they lost many warriors (including the great Tecumseh), they also lost any hope of halting American expansion in the west, and their contributions were quickly forgotten by their British and Canadian allies (seeFirst Nations and Métis Peoples in the War of 1812).

Britain and France were drawn into this conflict on opposing sides. It proved a disaster for both. A British army was soundly defeated 11 May 1745 at Fontenoy, Flanders (now in Belgium), by the French and driven off the continent.

The War of the Spanish Succession, 1701–1714 (also known as Queen Anne's War), was a general European war that spread around the globe to include the colonies of the major powers — including French and English colonies in North America.

The North American heartland, linked by rivers running from the north, west, and south and flowing eastwards via the St Lawrence River, saw intense fighting during the War of 1812.

The Wartime Elections Act of 1917 gave the vote to female relatives of Canadian soldiers serving overseas in the First World War.

The two world wars of the 20th century were total wars that involved the whole nation, and the "home front" became a critical part of Canada’s effort.

Wartime Information Board, est 9 Sept 1942, succeeded the Bureau of Public Information, which had been formed early in WWII to issue certain information on the course of the war to the public. By 1942 the government believed that its troubles over CONSCRIPTION derived from inadequate publicity.

Wartime Prices and Trade Board, est 3 Sept 1939 by the Canadian government immediately before the onset of WORLD WAR II, and initially responsible to the Dept of Labour. Its creation reflected the government's concern that WWI conditions of inflation and social unrest should not return.

The Webster-Ashburton Treaty, signed 9 August 1842, was negotiated by US Secretary of State Daniel Webster and Alexander Baring, First Lord Ashburton, for Britain.

Early French travellers in the territory occupied by the Huron-Wendat called it le pays des Hurons ("the country of the Huron"), and residents were described as being aux Hurons ("among the Huron"), or in le pays des Hurons.

Western Settlement, see PRAIRIE WEST.

​An explosion on 9 May 1992, deep inside the Westray Mine in Plymouth, Nova Scotia killed 26 underground miners.

When I graduated, I decided to become a millionaire, and someday I wanted to be in a position where I was calling the shots in building mines the right way and creating jobs. Clifford Frame, chief executive officer of Curragh Inc., in Northern Miner magazine, May, 1992.

Wayne Cheverie shifted uneasily in his chair as he waited to testify last week at a provincial inquiry into the fatal May 9, 1992, explosion at Nova Scotia's Westray coal mine.

Outside, a wet, heavy snowfall is turning rural Nova Scotia into a pre-Christmas postcard of frosted evergreens and rolling white fields. Inside, Allen and Debbie Martin sit at their kitchen table, sipping coffee and trying to put their feelings into words.

In the 18th century, British and American ships cruised the Atlantic seaboard. In the 19th century, Canadians entered the field, establishing a whaling station in Newfoundland, and taking whales as part of a deep-sea fishery operation from Gaspé.