Historica Canada Education Portal

This lesson is based on viewing the Katherine Ryan biography from The Canadians series (external resource). Katherine Ryan, more commonly known as "Klondike Kate," has become a legend of the Yukon Gold Rush. Her decision to join the Gold Rush went against the expectations of women in her time.

A study of Katherine Ryan's life provides students with the opportunity to learn about the Klondike Gold Rush as well as the suffrage movement, women's roles in society, and women's roles...

The beginning stages of the First World War saw increasing suspicion by the Canadian populace of immigrants from Germany and Eastern Europe, particularly Ukrainians, Austrians, Poles, Czechs and Slovaks. Over 80,000 immigrants from these nations were forced to carry special identity cards and report for regular interviews with local authorities. Further, 8,579 "enemy aliens" (5,000 of which who were of Ukrainian origin) were interned in twenty-four detention camps during the course...