The Canadian Research Centre for Anthropology

Abstract

The Centre (C.R.C.A.) was established in the early 1950s by Rev. Joseph E. Champagne, O.M.I. [Oblates of Mary Immaculate], Director of the Institute of Missiology at the University of Ottawa, with the help of the National Museum of Canada. It now forms part of St. Paul University, a small private Catholic university run by the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The Oblates have a long history of missionary work in the Canadian North. St. Paul University is federated with the University of Ottawa. Until recently, the Centre functioned mainly as an informal clearing house for anthropological research in Canada. In the last two years, its research and publishing activities have been expanded. It has a particular interest in: social science and community development (socio-economic development and change) with specific emphasis on social, cultural, and applied anthropology; community development in large, sparsely populated frontier areas; and traditional peoples in situations of change and poverty. The geographic regions in which the Centre operates include the Canadian Middle North and Arctic, particularly the Yukon Territory and Northern Ontario. The northern research program is financed almost entirely by a grant from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development under its program of assistance to northern institutes and expeditions. The Centre has a vigorous publications program. It started in 1955 with the publication of Anthropologica, a bilingual journal in the social sciences, and has received support in the past from the Canada Council. The journal has carried a number of papers on the North. ... In its monograph series, it has published: "Eskimo Townsmen", a study of Eskimo adaptation to town life at Frobisher Bay, Baffin Island, by John and Irma Honigmann; "The Metis of the Mackenzie District", a study of people of Indian and White ancestry in the Northwest Territories by Richard Slobodin; and "Kabloona and Eskimo in the Central Keewatin", by Frank Vallee. ... The first of the Centre's Document series dealt with "Community Development in Canada" and included reference to activities in northern Canada; it was written by Antony Loyd, now with the School of Social Work at the University of British Columbia. The Centre's Handbook series was initiated with Aleksandrs Sprudzs' "Co-operatives: Notes for a Basic Information Course", which is a guide to establishing and running co-operatives, with particular reference to Eskimo co-operatives .... The Centre issues a small bilingual monthly newsletter called "Information," which describes its activities. ...