And the Award Goes to…The Harris Family Songbook

And The Award Goes To The Harris Family Songbook

Eldon House holds a sheet music collection of over 40 hand-inscribed songs from the 1830s to the 1850s which has been recently digitized, allowing the museum to explore the pieces with greater attention. Many of the songs are “parlour music” intended for voice and keyboard and performed by amateurs, including patriotic selections, religious songs, and pieces written for the musical stage. What makes this collection so interesting today is the lack of truly “Canadian” music that speaks of the lives of those dwelling in the region prior to 1867. The popular European and American songs in the pre-confederation collection would soon be replaced by “Canadian” tunes and can be seen as the country’s first instance of “Can-Con.”

We acknowledge that we are on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Attawandaron. We honour and respect the history, languages and culture of the diverse Indigenous people who call this territory home.

We acknowledge all the treaties that are specific to this area: the Two Row Wampum Belt Treaty of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy/Silver Covenant Chain; the Beaver Hunting Grounds of the Haudenosaunee NANFAN Treaty of 1701; the McKee Treaty of 1790, the London Township Treaty of 1796, the Huron Tract Treaty of 1827, with the Anishinaabeg, and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum of the Anishnaabek and Haudenosaunee.

The three Indigenous Nations that are neighbours to London are the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation; Oneida Nation of the Thames; and the Munsee-Delaware Nation who all continue to live as sovereign Nations with individual and unique languages, cultures, and customs.