Secret Alberta: The Former Life of Amber Valley
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- čas přidán 15. 06. 2024
- Winner of the 2018 Canadian Screen Award for Excellence in Digital Storytelling; About 100 km North of Edmonton is Amber Valley, one of the first all-Black settlements in Canada. Arriving in 1909, the pioneers of this community battled the elements and racism to not only survive but thrive.
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Thank you for this story! My son's grandfather Marvel Murphy was from Amber Valley.
Thank you for sharing, if you ever want to do a follow up story,,,my father James Kenneth Hinton Sr. was raised in Amber Valley with his Aunt and Uncle Rebecca and Thomas Mapp. I got goosebumps watching this video as the names and images were shown. There is definitely a mini series worth of historic tales. As a descendant of this Athabasca community of Amber Valley I am proud to share the Tales of my Grandfather Richard who came from the south with his sisters and helped weave the fabric of Canada's Black history. The parts about the baseball awesome and the Rail companies is how my Grandfather built his business's in Vancouver. Heck Jimi Hendrix and his brother Leon used to visit family in Amber Valley too.
Have all of the communities dispersed, or do you know of any that have endured in Alberta? Thanks for sharing, by the way.
james jr You should write your stories down or at least have someone record you telling them! I was born in 1964 and grew up on a farm outside of Olds. My father was the son of poor Germans who had immigrated from Russia to the United States in the early 1900's, then later on came to Canada where my grandparents homesteaded. My father can't read because he had to quit school when he was nine and didn't even know how to speak English when he started school. He worked in the fields for a farmer for 50 cents a day to help out his family. He's 93 years old now and still keeps cows and horses. I keep meaning to record him while I ask him questions to record events that no one will know about once he's passed
@@realcanadiangirl64 Yeah, Alberta is really a province full of folks with rich stories.... Where they came from, why they left and why they came, and how they got established. 93?!! You better get on it! :)
I am here three years late, but hoping that all your stories will be told. They are great and worthy stories that many of us would like to hear.
I remember in school when they'd teach us history in Toronto...always knew it was incomplete because it had nothing to do with me a Black Canadian or any other miniority for that matter. Again we all have been robbed of our rich Canadian history due to fear and ignorance.
Why would they teach about Amber Valley in Toronto? It's a small community in North Central Alberta that had very little to no influence on Canada or Western Canada. Local history is not even taught in the Alberta school system so it's very unlikely that you would learn about Amber Valley in Eastern Canada
@@greatwhitenorth5280 Would have been nice to at least know about the Underground Railroad....we had nothing related us. Absolutely nothing. Even now we know more about American Black experience than our own.
@@Michelle.56 it's weird that as a kid in Alberta, I learned about the underground railroad and John Ware but nothing about Amber Valley.
@@Michelle.56 The Underground Railroad is taught in school. Atleast in my province
@@greatwhitenorth5280 Depends on your age....and yes depends on your province.
I show this to my kids every year! It's so nice to hear more about our Albertan History.
This is an amazing piece of Alberta history! The title says it all: Secret Alberta! I'm almost 70 years old and had never heard of this astounding story of determination and survival.....with sweet and proud memories. This needs to be shared!
It was not a secret to people who lived in the surrounding areas of Athabasca like Boyle, Colinton, Grassland etc.
Loved this movie. I am an Albertan, from Holland. Alberta is rich with all kinds of history, good and bad. I'm so glad for these blacks that they could come up here, and am still scratching my head as to why the Canadian government was "scared" that there would come "too many" blacks over here. The one fellow said the word, "Mosaic", he's right. My favorite store to go to is the Superstore on South side Edmonton. As a white person, I'm just as minor as any other background in there, there is every color in the human rainbow shopping there. Love it. Not intimidated by it at all. That house, the Willis Bowen house, that was re furbished should be properly mowed around it, as all it would take is a runaway grass fire and it would be toast.
Whoever made this movie, THANKS for the history lesson!
Thanks so much for making this documentary.
Thank you for sharing this information. I hope that Canadian Social Studies textbook publishers will add this to students curriculum in future years if they have not already.
My Nana is Effie Jones...from Amber Valley. This was great!
What an inspiration. Coming from Texas and going to Alberta, Canada is a major change of life style, showing determination and resolve that can reside in each of us. It shows that courage and commitment will get us a long ways. Determination can be fired by desire for freedom, no matter how hard the lifestyle is, no matter how cold it gets, there is wonderment in freedom - the ability to build a neighborhood of basics: a fun time with sports, friendships, respect and love for one another. What a precious memory of ancestors who had this courage.
Amazing information to know! Bring Back AMBER VALLEY!
My father was a 1st baseman with the Weasel Creek baseball team. He always talked about how good the Amber Valley team was. Amazing baseball players. There is absolutely NOTHING available out there about the Mysterious Alberta Amber Valley . Thank you finally!
Great documentary. Beautifully done!
Thanks to the team that made this, and thanks to StoryHive for helping fund projects like this. Canada has a rich history that needs to be shared and told.
A pleasure to watch. I have many fond memories of Amber Valley picnics and ball games.
Awesome, being a native Albertan as well as my father raised in Edmonton and having worked in the Athabasca region I have never heard of Amber Valley. Thank you for providing this great insight.
Great educational video. I hope the story of Amber Valley never gets lost thank you very much.
Beautiful story, I’m born and raised in Alberta and never knew this story ♥️🙏
me too, except i came here because of class. finally they are teaching more of the history that they didn't before.
Wow, I had no idea.
Thanks for this…my family were part of that migration and settlement. My Great Grandfather Jason Calvin Jones settled there. Through marriage we were related to other founding families.
Born and raised in the US. I always wondered what happned to the black folks who left during and after slavery. This is beautiful. I never knew about this.
As an alberta this really makes me proud, grew up close to Amber Valley, i knew of it since a very young age. Respect everyone, we are all in this together.
Everyone should see this! Truly amazing what these brave men and women did.
Are they still there in the area?
This is one of the most even-handed documentaries I've ever seen. The descendants of the original Amber Valley settlers seem to recall both the good parts and the bad parts of the community's history vividly. I'm very glad to have seen this documentary.
Well it's been a long time but till this day my father.HORACE HINTON is still with us at 97.AMEN. 💯. TELL YOUR FRIEND'S.RESPECT
A beautiful, local story of the humanity immigrants brought and at times received here in Alberta.
I grew up near Athabasca and I recognize all these names in the video. I took the bus to school in Athabasca and students from Ferguson by Amber valley also came by bus to school in Athabasca. I remember driving through Amber Valley with my parents and the houses were painted beautiful colours. My family also occasionally attended a country church in Paxson just southwest of Amber Valley which was attended by families from Amber Valley and Ferguson. Families from the Black communities east of Athabasca also came to the church that I attended in Athabasca.
Beautiful thanks for making this documentary. 2020
Thanks very much for making and sharing this video.
Thank you for this video
I just stumbled upon this, what a great piece of history :)
Thank you Storyhive for sharing this as well as the one about Hogan’s Alley! Wow wow wow
Thank you for sharing your history and memories 🙏🏽I learned something i didn't know before God bless you all!
Thanks for sharing
Such an amazing story! I remember growing up in Edmonton, AB and seeing a black and white photo on the outside of a red bricked Grand McEwan Building College (it wasn't a university at that time). The photo captured a black family riding an wagon. I thought to myself OH MY GOD, Black Canadians have been here long before my family?! (my parents immigrated to Canada in the late 1980s). You mean to tell me that there is someone that looks like me!? I cannot tell you how many times I that about that photo and searched for answers that same how never come to light. I cannot tell you how many times was I've been the only black child/ teenage/ or adult in the room. Be that at the doctors office, elementary school, jr high, and even high school. Today I'm able to tie those pieces together. This needs to be taught in the Alberta's school curriculum. We often remember Black Americans for Black History Month but never talk about Black Canadians that have contributed to Canadian history, innovation, legacy and development. Thank you for bring this story to light and capturing a much needed ray on what it means to look and be Canadian.
A lot of the earlier Black Canadians were Black Americans. Alberta was a community full of African Americans who left for better opportunities.
Born and raised in Alberta (Cold Lake) (Calgary) and I have never heard of Amber Valley - thank you for sharing and this is definitely a story that needs to be told
why the hell was this not taught in school ?
FYI this year during Black History Month, my son’s teacher was speaking about Amber Valley in Social Studies class and the contributions that the people from that community have made to Alberta. My son was the only child in the class who knew about Amber Valley as my family is from the area and my dad and uncles have shared stories of their experiences with the people from there. It was such a remote area with very difficult living conditions that my uncle was 14yrs old when he had seen a black man for the first time and he was born and raised in the area. My dad always says that it is not the end of the world up there but it is pretty darn close. I am glad the history is being told now. Canada Post even made a commemorative stamp of Amber Valley in Feb 2021.
Black Albertans That Came Up From Texas & Oklahoma in 1905 (Alberta's & Sask founding) & Contributed To The Creation & Growth of This Great Province. Not all Blacks In Alberta Are First Generation Immigrants To Alberta. Some Helped Found It & Build It.
My prayer today is that all people can live free from discrimination, oppression, hate and violence. I pray that all people will have true equality and fairness in the communities in which they live.
Thank you for telling your story. I never knew about this place.
Heard about this place on the radio. I had to look it up.
A great and important story. Thank you
Very cool documentary. I didnt know much about Amber Valley before watching this, glad to know! Keep up the great work preserving your history & culture in Alberta!
My daughter is a descendent of Joseph maze/ Boyd and Myrtel Wagner,,we know they were from Amber Valley,but know little about them,just that the struggle was real.We also have pictures that we wish we could identify her relatives,,
Amazing history - Coming from Ontario...i was not aware of this community.- Thank you.
I greatly enjoyed this. It is a part of Alberta's history that should be taught in schools. -- I'm not sure if it is but it should be.
Thanks for sharing this significant part of Black Canadian history!!!
Thanks for this! I didn't know about Amber Valley, or its remarkable population. I am very glad to have found out.
I live really close to Amber Valley. Really great to have these stories told and remembered, I know there are occasionally music events at the hall there, I'm hoping to make it to one soon
I made a video on an Amber Valley Music Jam summer weekend. Google search "Wally Wychopen Amber Valley"
Hey Carrie, hope you and yours are doing well. Have you managed to get out to an event yet? Hopefully so!
Very interesting!
No mention of an all black hockey team ?
I’m now moved to amplify this history, so all of us here up In northern Alberta remember!
I have been aware of Amber Valley for a long time, actually drove by there last year but there was nothing of significance (signage, etc.) as far as I could tell regarding it's history.
there is a small stop on the highway with a historical sign going to see it to the east of amber valley road on the north side of the highway 55
And I Will show my father in the morning
Cool history
Amazing Story of Black History that no one speaks about in school. So Black children know the history of Blacks.
AMEN
are there any buildings left,or just the one?
Richard Cockerill Watch this.
czcams.com/video/6gJQcahO-2Q/video.html
I would like to ask permission to add this documentary to my online worship video for Black History Month. May I borrow it and use it in this way?
This is in my back yard. I live in Athabasca Alberta.
Where is Amber Valley in relation to Plamondon?
About halfway between Athabasca & Boyle on Highway 55. Watch for the Amber Valley Hall sign, North side of the road.
Wow! I didnt know there was a black community in the west.Good to know.thanks
Moorlife study study study then study urself ✌🏿🖐🏿🇲🇦 Free Palestine 🇯🇴
how do i get there?anyone know?
24.5 km east of the Grand Union Hotel in the town of Athabasca on highway 55. The Union is on the corner of Highways 2 and 55. There is a museum at or near Amber Valley, some buildings and homesteads remain. The area changed quite a bit with the economic challenges of farming, and the opening of a large pulp mill nearby in the 90's. If you're ever at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, you can view an exhibit there that includes a "Toles School" replica. www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/hist/phase2/mod7e.html
@@veritasgrows727 Thanks, hwy 55 hey? That's my racing number, now I really gotta go see this...
I find it somewhat depressing as I drive though Alberta and see so many forlorn communities that are slowly dying out as folk move to the bigger cities. I like how this movie exists.
@@Ironfurnaceroom The construction of the Alpac mill completed the demise of this version of the community of Amber Valley. Changes to farming and agriculture, society in general through the 70's and 80's already saw people of all stripes leaving rural Alberta for better jobs and living conditions. Alpac facilitated a huge demographic change in the area in the early 90's, and now the last couple of years the area is becoming populated with settlers from another land. Newfoundland.
@@veritasgrows727 You are quite the historian. How you know all this? Are you from the area or you focus on learning Canadian history?
GoogleMaps is really helpful. I used it as soon as I saw this video, in order to get my bearings, but also to see how far it is so we can go for a drive and see the area.
that was really good, I want so much more of this. maybe some more stuff on Ukrainian community as well given what's going on there now.
Canada was also very racist back then eh... Sad reality those people had to experience.
We met the Black man who looked after it before he retired. He would come to the music jam weekend to show us around.
Back then ?!?!?!? It still is!
Who cares
@@greatwhitenorth5280 angry guy commenting on multiple replies lolll. lots care, maybe not you
Verga