A cura di Paola Della Valle 
 
 A historical overview of the largest empire of all time, from its origins to the decline and then the Commonwealth, through five stories from the five continents, told by: Joseph Conrad (An Outpost of Progress), keen observer of European colonialism in Africa; Rudyard Kipling (Lispeth, India); Henry Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); Henry Rider Haggard (Long Odds, South Africa); Gilbert Parker (A Man, A Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).
 Stimulating in-depth analyses enrich each story. 
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Transcripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 Uno sguardo storico al più grande impero di tutti i tempi, dalle origini al declino e al Commonwealth con cinque storie per i cinque continenti narrate da: J. Conrad (An Outpost of Progress, acuto osservatore del colonialismo britannico in Africa); R. Kipling (Lispeth, India); H. Lawson (The Drover’s Wife, Australia); H. R. Haggard (Long Odds, Sudafrica); G. Parker (A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy, Canada).

History of the British Empire: Birth and Decline

Joseph Conrad

Story 1 – An Outpost of Progress

Extension – From Heart of Darkness to Apocalypse Now

History of the British Empire: Colonial India

Rudyard Kipling

Story 2 – Lispeth

Extension – The voice of non-violence: Mahatma Gandhi

History of the British Empire: Colonial Australia

Henry Lawson

Story 3 – The Drover’s Wife

Extension – Australian identity: the bush and the Aborigines

History of the British Empire: Colonial South Africa

Henry Rider Haggard

Story 4 – Long Odds

Extension – From lost worlds to psychoanalysis

History of the British Empire: Colonial Canada

Gilbert Parker

Story 5 – A Man, a Famine and a Heathen Boy

Extension – Canada’s indigenous peoples

Summing-up activities

Glossary

E X T E N S I O N CANADA S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES The country that is called Canada today was not an empty land when Europeans first arrived. It was inhabited by people wrongly called Indians by the explorers, who were searching for a new passage to India. The estimated numbers of these indigenous peoples varied between 500,000 and 2 million. They were nomadic, living by gathering1 and hunting. Sedentary societies developed only in two regions: the Northwest coast, because of its rich sea and rain-forest resources; and southern Ontario, where the climate and fertile soil allowed farming. For example, the Hurons and Iroquois living in Ontario built fenced2 villages and grew crops of corn, beans and squash3. Even among them, however, relocations4 took place every ten to fifty years, when the land, firewood or game5 became exhausted. Sedentary peoples developed hierarchical clans in which chiefs, nobles and commoners were classed according to wealth and heredity. Outside these classes were the slaves, often war prisoners. Peoples who were mobile gatherers and hunters had a simpler social organization, but could count on an intimate knowledge of the land. Whatever their lifestyle, these peoples had a complex spirituality. According to their worldview, all living beings were related and humans were part of a larger order that depended on a balance of forces. Helping to maintain this balance by means of rituals, taboos and everyday practices was a deeply felt responsibility. The Canadian Constitution Act of 1982 divided the indigenous peoples of Canada into three groups: First Nations, Métis and Inuit. 1. gathering: collecting berries, nuts and plants. 2. fenced: surrounded by a structure like a small wall. 3. squash: vegetables like pumpkins and zucchini. 4. relocation: migration. 5. game: wild animals or birds. 100 

First Nations are the largest group, comprising more than 600,000 people. The term has been adopted to replace words such as Indian, Native Tribe and Band. First Nations people often use the name of their Nation to describe who they are, for example: Dakota or Hurons. Métis are a distinct cultural group composed of people of mixed indigenous and European ancestry6. They were born when the French coureurs de bois7 (almost exclusively men) settled in the Prairies8 with Indian women.They lived like a Native nation but spoke French (which actually became a Creole named  mistchiff , or Métis). In the 2001 census, 292,000 people identified themselves as Métis. The Inuit are approximately 45,000 in number and live primarily in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and the northern parts of Labrador and Quebec. Culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabit Arctic regions such as Siberia, Greenland and Alaska, where they are called Eskimo. They have traditionally been hunters and fishers.They still hunt whales, caribou, seal and polar bears.They used to make clothes and footwear from animal skins; their tools were mainly made from animal bones. As it was not possible to cultivate plants in the Arctic, they gathered what was naturally available (grasses, tubers, roots, berries and seaweed9). During the winter their homes were a temporary shelter made from snow called an iglu, and during the summer they lived in tents made of animal skins. Before the 1940s, the Inuit had minimal contact with Europeans. Nowadays, they have partly assimilated Western culture and technology. However, they are also fighting to defend their cultural identity and heritage. 6. ancestry: the family or race you come from. 7. coreurs de bois: itinerant, unlicensed fur-traders. 8. Prairies: a region of Western Canada. 9. seaweed: plants growing in the water. Canadian Indians (Hurons). 101 

Una prospettiva storica sull'Impero britannico con cinque storie rappresentative dai cinque continenti: Africa, India, Australia, Sudafrica e Canada.

The British Empire - Collana Rainbows

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

The British Empire

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