TO DIE A 'CANADIAN': How Nineteenth-Century European Immigrants Influenced the Culture of Death in Canada

Abstract

To understand the mystery of why modern attitudes toward death assumed their current forms, it is necessary to explore their socio-historical roots. This thesis focuses specifically on the cultural interpretations of death shared by the Finns, the Ukrainians, and the Greeks, for each group represents a region in Europe affected by the developments of the Canadian immigration policy, and in turn influenced the cultural landscape of present-day Thunder Bay.