People have lived in what is now Canada for many thousands of years. The First Peoples recorded their memories in song, dance, story-telling, and art. The oldest documents in the Archives are maps, drawings, manuscripts and journals, mostly created by Europeans, as they began to establish their claims here centuries ago.

The rivalry between France and England for the land we now call Canada is central to our history. New France endured and grew from the arrival of Jacques Cartier in 1534 until1760, when England defeated the forces of New France on the Plains of Abraham, commonly known as the Conquest.

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	Imaginary Portrait of Jacques Cartier 1534 Documentary Art		Map of the world 1560 Maps
	Sir Humphrey Gilbert 1582 Manuscripts and Private Collections		La Duchesse 1650 Documentary Art
	Le Canada 1653 Maps		Letters of Nobility 1658 Manuscripts and Private Collections
	Montagnais-French dictionary 1678 Manuscripts and Private Collections		Aboriginal totem signatures 1701 Manuscripts and Private Collections
	Sa Ga Yeath Qua Pieth Tow 1710 Documentary Art		Medal of Louis XIV 1713 Documentary Art
Period 1565-1760 Next