System (from Latin ''systēma'', in turn from Greek '''' systēma, "whole compounded of several parts or members, system", literary "composition") is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole.

A system is a set of elements and relationships which are different from relationships of the set or its elements to other elements or sets.

Fields that study the general properties of systems include systems theory, cybernetics, dynamical systems, thermodynamics and complex systems. They investigate the abstract properties of systems' matter and organization, looking for concepts and principles that are independent of domain, substance, type, or temporal scale.

Most systems share common characteristics, including:

Systems have structure, defined by components and their composition;

Systems have behavior, which involves inputs, processing and outputs of material, energy, information, or data;

Systems have interconnectivity: the various parts of a system have functional as well as structural relationships to each other.

Systems may have some functions or groups of functions

The term ''system'' may also refer to a set of rules that governs structure and/or behavior.

History

The word ''system'' in its meaning here, has a long history which can be traced back to Plato (''Philebus''), Aristotle (''Politics'') and Euclid (''Elements''). It had meant "total", "crowd" or "union" in even more ancient times, as it derives from the verb ''sunìstemi'', uniting, putting together.

In the 19th century the first to develop the concept of a "system" in the natural sciences was the French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot who studied thermodynamics. In 1824 he studied the system which he called the ''working substance'', i.e. typically a body of water vapor, in steam engines, in regards to the system's ability to do work when heat is applied to it. The working substance could be put in contact with either a boiler, a cold reservoir (a stream of cold water), or a piston (to which the working body could do work by pushing on it). In 1850, the German physicist Rudolf Clausius generalized this picture to include the concept of the surroundings and began to use the term "working body" when referring to the system.

One of the pioneers of the general systems theory was the biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy. In 1945 he introduced ''models, principles, and laws that apply to generalized systems or their subclasses, irrespective of their particular kind, the nature of their component elements, and the relation or 'forces' between them.''

Significant development to the concept of a ''system'' was done by Norbert Wiener and Ross Ashby who pioneered the use of mathematics to study systems.

In the 1980s the term complex adaptive system was coined at the interdisciplinary Santa Fe Institute by John H. Holland, Murray Gell-Mann and others.

System concepts

;Environment and boundaries :Systems theory views the world as a complex system of interconnected parts. We scope a system by defining its boundary; this means choosing which entities are inside the system and which are outside - part of the environment. We then make simplified representations (models) of the system in order to understand it and to predict or impact its future behavior. These models may define the structure and/or the behavior of the system.

;Natural and man-made systems :There are natural and man-made (designed) systems. Natural systems may not have an apparent objective but their outputs can be interpreted as purposes. Man-made systems are made with purposes that are achieved by the delivery of outputs. Their parts must be related; they must be “designed to work as a coherent entity” - else they would be two or more distinct systems.

;Theoretical Framework :An open system exchanges matter and energy with its surroundings. Most systems are open systems; like a car, coffeemaker, or computer. A closed system exchanges energy, but not matter, with its environment; like Earth or the project Biosphere2 or 3. An isolated system exchanges neither matter nor energy with its environment. A theoretical example of such system is the Universe.

;Process and transformation process :A system can also be viewed as a bounded transformation process, that is, a process or collection of processes that transforms inputs into outputs. Inputs are consumed; outputs are produced. The concept of input and output here is very broad. E.g., an output of a passenger ship is the movement of people from departure to destination.

;Subsystem :A ''subsystem'' is a set of elements, which is a system itself, and a component of a larger system.

;System Model :A system comprises multiple views. For the man-made systems it may be such views as planning, requirement (analysis), design, implementation, deployment, structure, behavior, input data, and output data views. A system model is required to describe and represent all these multiple views.

;System Architecture :A system architecture, using one single integrated model for the description of multiple views such as planning, requirement (analysis), design, implementation, deployment, structure, behavior, input data, and output data views, is a kind of system model.

Elements of System

Following are considered as the elements of a system in terms of Information systems: -

# Inputs and Outputs # Processor # Control # Environment # Feedback # Boundaries and Interface

Types of systems

Systems are classified in different ways: # Physical or Abstract systems # Open or Closed systems # 'Man-made' Information systems # Formal Information systems # Informal Information systems # Computer Based Information systems

Physical systems are tangible entities that may be static or dynamic in operation. For Example, the physical parts of the computer center are the offices , desk and chairs that facilitate operation of the computer. They can be seen and counted as they are static. In contrast, a programmed computer is a dynamic demands or the priority of the information requested changes. Abstract systems are conceptual or non physical entities.

An open system has many interfaces with its environment. i.e. system that interacts freely with its environment, taking input and returning output. It permits interaction across its boundary; it receives inputs from and delivers outputs to the outside. A closed system does not interact with the environment; changes in the environment and adaptability are not issues for closed system. -------------------------------------------------------------------------A$- Evidently, there are many types of systems that can be analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. For example, with an analysis of urban systems dynamics, [A.W. Steiss] defines five intersecting systems, including the physical subsystem and behavioral system. For sociological models influenced by systems theory, where Kenneth D. Bailey defines systems in terms of conceptual, concrete and abstract systems; either isolated, closed, or open, Walter F. Buckley defines social systems in sociology in terms of mechanical, organic, and process models. Bela H. Banathy cautions that with any inquiry into a system that understanding the type of system is crucial and defines Natural and Designed systems.

In offering these more global definitions, the author maintains that it is important not to confuse one for the other. The theorist explains that natural systems include sub-atomic systems, living systems, the solar system, the galactic system and the Universe. Designed systems are our creations, our physical structures, hybrid systems which include natural and designed systems, and our conceptual knowledge. The human element of organization and activities are emphasized with their relevant abstract systems and representations. A key consideration in making distinctions among various types of systems is to determine how much freedom the system has to select purpose, goals, methods, tools, etc. and how widely is the freedom to select itself distributed (or concentrated) in the system.

George J. Klir maintains that no "classification is complete and perfect for all purposes," and defines systems in terms of abstract, real, and conceptual physical systems, bounded and unbounded systems, discrete to continuous, pulse to hybrid systems, et cetera. The interaction between systems and their environments are categorized in terms of relatively closed, and open systems. It seems most unlikely that an absolutely closed system can exist or, if it did, that it could be known by us. Important distinctions have also been made between hard and soft systems. Hard systems are associated with areas such as systems engineering, operations research and quantitative systems analysis. Soft systems are commonly associated with concepts developed by Peter Checkland and Brian Wilson through Soft Systems Methodology (SSM) involving methods such as action research and emphasizing participatory designs. Where hard systems might be identified as more "scientific," the distinction between them is actually often hard to define.

Cultural system

A cultural system may be defined as the interaction of different elements of culture. While a cultural system is quite different from a social system, sometimes both systems together are referred to as the sociocultural system. A major concern in the social sciences is the problem of order. One way that social order has been theorized is according to the degree of integration of cultural and social factors.

Economic system

An economic system is a mechanism (social institution) which deals with the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in a particular society. The economic system is composed of people, institutions and their relationships to resources, such as the convention of property. It addresses the problems of economics, like the allocation and scarcity of resources.

Application of the system concept

Systems modeling is generally a basic principle in engineering and in social sciences. The system is the representation of the entities under concern. Hence inclusion to or exclusion from system context is dependent of the intention of the modeler.

No model of a system will include all features of the real system of concern, and no model of a system must include all entities belonging to a real system of concern.

Systems in information and computer science

In computer science and information science, system is a software system which has components as its structure and observable Inter-process communications as its behavior. Again, an example will illustrate: There are systems of counting, as with Roman numerals, and various systems for filing papers, or catalogues, and various library systems, of which the Dewey Decimal System is an example. This still fits with the definition of components which are connected together (in this case in order to facilitate the flow of information).

System can also be used referring to a framework, be it software or hardware, designed to allow software programs to run, see platform.

Systems in engineering and physics

In engineering and physics, a physical system is the portion of the universe that is being studied (of which a thermodynamic system is one major example). Engineering also has the concept of a system that refers to all of the parts and interactions between parts of a complex project. Systems engineering refers to the branch of engineering that studies how this type of system should be planned, designed, implemented, built, and maintained.

Systems in social and cognitive sciences and management research

Social and cognitive sciences recognize systems in human person models and in human societies. They include human brain functions and human mental processes as well as normative ethics systems and social/cultural behavioral patterns.

In management science, operations research and organizational development (OD), human organizations are viewed as systems (conceptual systems) of interacting components such as subsystems or system aggregates, which are carriers of numerous complex business processes (organizational behaviors) and organizational structures. Organizational development theorist Peter Senge developed the notion of organizations as systems in his book ''The Fifth Discipline''.

Systems thinking is a style of thinking/reasoning and problem solving. It starts from the recognition of system properties in a given problem. It can be a leadership competency. Some people can ''think globally while acting locally''. Such people consider the potential consequences of their decisions on other parts of larger systems. This is also a basis of systemic coaching in psychology.

Organizational theorists such as Margaret Wheatley have also described the workings of organizational systems in new metaphoric contexts, such as quantum physics, chaos theory, and the self-organization of systems.

Systems applied to strategic thinking

In 1988, military strategist, John A. Warden III introduced his Five Ring System model in his book, ''The Air Campaign'' contending that any complex system could be broken down into five concentric rings. Each ring—Leadership, Processes, Infrastructure, Population and Action Units—could be used to isolate key elements of any system that needed change. The model was used effectively by Air Force planners in the First Gulf War. In the late 1990s, Warden applied this five ring model to business strategy.

See also

;Examples of systems

List of systems (WikiProject)

physical system

conceptual system

Complex system

Formal system

Information system

Meta-system

Solar System

Systems in human anatomy

Market

;Theories about systems

Chaos theory

Cybernetics

Systems ecology

Systems engineering

Systems psychology

Systems theory

Thermodynamic systems

;Related topics

Glossary of systems theory

Complexity theory and organizations

Network (disambiguation)

System of systems (engineering)

Systems art

References

Further reading

Alexander Backlund (2000). "The definition of system". In: ''Kybernetes'' Vol. 29 nr. 4, pp. 444–451.

Kenneth D. Bailey (1994). ''Sociology and the New Systems Theory: Toward a Theoretical Synthesis''. New York: State of New York Press.

Bela H. Banathy (1997). "A Taste of Systemics", ISSS The Primer Project.

Walter F. Buckley (1967). '' Sociology and Modern Systems Theory'', New Jersey: Englewood Cliffs.

Peter Checkland (1997). ''Systems Thinking, Systems Practice''. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Robert L. Flood (1999). ''Rethinking the Fifth Discipline: Learning within the unknowable''. London: Routledge.

George J. Klir (1969). Approach to General Systems Theory, 1969.

Brian Wilson (1980). ''Systems: Concepts, methodologies and Applications'', John Wiley

Brian Wilson (2001). ''Soft Systems Methodology—Conceptual model building and its contribution'', J.H.Wiley.

Beynon-Davies P. (2009). ''Business Information + Systems''. Palgrave, Basingstoke. ISBN 978-0-230-20368-6

External links

''Definitions of Systems and Models'' by Michael Pidwirny, 1999-2007.

''Definitionen von "System" (1572-2002)'' by Roland Müller, 2001-2007 (most in German).

Theory and Practical Exercises of System Dynamics by Juan Martin (also in Spanish)

Category:Cybernetics Category:Systems theory Category:Systems science Category:Greek loanwords

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Coordinates	33°55′31″N18°25′26″N
Group	First Nations
Population	698,025
Languages	Aboriginal languages Canadian English Canadian French
Religions	Christian Anglican traditional beliefs traditional mythology}}

First Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The total population is nearly 700,000 people. Under the Employment Equity Act, First Nations are a "designated group", along with women, visible minorities, and persons with physical or mental disabilities. They are not defined as a visible minority under the Act or by the criteria of Statistics Canada.

The term ''First Nations'' (most often used in the plural) has come into general use for the indigenous peoples of the Americas located in what is now Canada, except for the Arctic-situated Inuit, and peoples of mixed European-First Nations ancestry called Métis. The singular, commonly used on culturally politicised reserves, is the term ''First Nations person'' (when gender-specific, ''First Nations man'' or ''First Nations woman''). A more recent trend is for members of various nations to refer to themselves by their tribal or national identity only, e.g., "I'm Haida," or "We're Kwantlens," in recognition of the distinctiveness of First Nations ethnicities.

North American indigenous peoples have cultures spanning thousands of years. Some of their oral traditions accurately describe historical events, such as the Cascadia Earthquake of 1700. Written records began with the arrival of European explorers and colonists during the Age of Discovery, beginning in the late 15th century. European accounts by trappers, traders, explorers, and missionaries give important evidence of early contact culture. In addition, archeological and anthropological research, as well as linguistics, have helped scholars piece together understanding of ancient cultures and historic peoples.

Although not without conflict or slavery, Euro-Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively noncombative compared to the often violent battles between colonists and native peoples in the United States. Combined with later economic development, this relatively noncombative history has allowed First Nations peoples to have a strong influence on the national culture, while preserving their own identities.

Terminology

Collectively, ''First Nations'', ''Inuit'', and ''Métis'' peoples constitute ''Aboriginal peoples in Canada'', Indigenous peoples of the Americas or ''first peoples''. "First Nations"' is a legally defined term that came into common usage in the 1980s to replace the term "Indian band". Elder Sol Sanderson says that he coined the term in the early 1980s. A band is a legally recognized "body of Indians for whose collective use and benefit lands have been set apart or money is held by the Canadian Crown, or declared to be a band for the purposes of the Indian Act."

As individuals, First Nations people are officially recognized by the Government of Canada by the terms "registered Indians" or "status Indians" only if they are listed on the Indian Register and are thus entitled to benefits under the Indian Act. They are considered "non-status Indian" if they are not so listed and thus not entitled to benefits, according to the Canadian state. Administration of the Indian Act and Indian Register is carried out by the federal government's Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.

While the word "Indian" is still a legal term, its use is erratic and in decline in Canada. Some First Nations people consider the term offensive, while others prefer it to "Aboriginal person/persons/people". According to the 2006 Census, today more Canadians identify as being of East Indian ethnicity than there are members of First Nations, reflecting demographic changes due to increased 20th-century immigration. The use of the term "Native Americans", which the United States government and others have adopted in that nation, is not common in Canada. It refers more specifically to the Aboriginal peoples residing within the boundaries of the United States. The parallel term "Native Canadian" is not commonly used, but "Natives"' and ''autochthones'' (from Canadian French) are. Under the Royal Proclamation of 1763, also known as the "Indian ''Magna Carta''", the Crown referred to indigenous peoples in British territory as tribes or nations. The term "First Nations" is capitalised, unlike alternative terms. Bands and nations may have slightly different meanings.

History

:''For pre-history, see: Paleo-Indians and Archaic periods (Canada)'' According to archaeological and indigenous genetic evidence, North and South America were the last continents in the world to be inhabited by humans. During the Wisconsin glaciation, 50,00017,000 years ago, falling sea levels allowed people (Paleo-Indians) to move across the Bering land bridge that joined Siberia to northwest North America (present-day Alaska). Alaska was ice-free due to low snowfall, allowing a small population to exist. The Laurentide ice sheet covered the majority of Canada, blocking nomadic inhabitants and confining them to Alaska (East Beringia) for thousands of years.

Post-Archaic period

Among the First Nations peoples, there are eight unique stories of creation and their adaptations. These are the earth diver, world parent, emergence, conflict, robbery, rebirth of corpse, two creators and their contests, and the brother myth. Canadian Aboriginal civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies. Some of these civilisations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and are discovered through archaeological investigations. Others were contemporary with this period recorded in historical accounts of the time. When the Europeans arrived, natives of North America were semi-nomadic tribes of hunter-gatherers; others were sedentary and agricultural civilisations. New tribes or confederations formed in response to European colonisation.

thumb|upright|Hopewell Interaction AreaThe Old Copper Complex ancient societies dates from 3000 BCE to 500 BCE (5,000 – 2,500 years ago) and is a manifestation of the Woodland Culture, but is pre-pottery in nature. Found in the northern Great Lakes regions, they extracted copper from local glacial deposits and used it in its natural form to manufacture tools and implements. The Woodland Cultural period dates from 1000 BCE – 1000 CE and is associated with Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritime regions. The introduction of pottery distinguishes the Woodland culture from the Archaic stage humans. Laurentian people of southern Ontario manufactured the oldest pottery excavated in Canada. They created pointed-bottom beakers they decorated by a cord marking technique that involved impressing tooth implements into wet clay. Woodland technology includes items such as beaver incisor knives, bangles, and chisels. Sedentary agricultural lifeways resulted in a population increase engendered by a diet of squash, corn, and bean crops.

The Norton tradition is an archaeological culture that developed in the Western Arctic along the Alaskan shore of the Bering Strait from 1000 BCE and lasted through about 900 CE. The Norton people used flake-stone tools like their predecessors, the Arctic small tool tradition, but they were more marine-oriented and brought new technologies such as oil-burning lamps and clay vessels into use. They hunted caribou and smaller mammals as well as salmon and larger marine mammals. Village sites that contained substantial dwellings showed permanent settlement. The Hopewell tradition is the term used to describe common aspects of the Aboriginal culture that flourished along rivers in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States from 300 BCE to 500 CE. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a dispersed set of related populations connected by a common network of trade routes, known as the Hopewell Exchange System. At its greatest extent, the ''Hopewell exchange system'' ran from the Southeastern United States into the southeastern Canadian shores of Lake Ontario. Local expression of the Hopewellian peoples in Canada include the Point Peninsula Complex, Saugeen Complex, and Laurel Complex.

Nationhood

:''First Nations by linguistic-cultural area: List of First Nations peoples'' First Nations had settled across Canada by 500 BCE – 1000 CE. Hundreds of tribes had developed, each with its own culture, customs, legends, and character. In the northwest were the Athapaskan speaking peoples, Slavey, Tli Cho, Tutchone speaking peoples and Tlingit. Along the Pacific coast were the Haida, Salish, Kwakiutl, Nuu-chah-nulth, Nisga'a and Gitxsan. In the plains were the Blackfoot, Kainai, Sarcee and Northern Peigan. In the northern woodlands were the Cree and Chipewyan. Around the Great Lakes were the Anishinaabe, Algonquin, Iroquois and Wyandot. Along the Atlantic coast were the Beothuk, Maliseet, Innu, Abenaki and Mi'kmaq.

The Blackfoot Indians – also known as the Blackfeet Indians – reside in the Great Plains of Montana and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The name 'Blackfoot' came from the colour of the peoples' leather footwear, known as moccasins. They had dyed or painted the bottoms of their moccasins black, but one story claimed that the Blackfoot Indians walked through the ashes of prairie fires, which in turn coloured the bottoms of their moccasins black. They had not originally come from the Great Plains of the Midwest North America, but rather from the upper Northeastern area. The Blackfoot started as woodland Indians but as they made their way over to the Plains, they adapted to new ways of life and became accustomed to the land. They learned the new lands that they travelled to very well and established themselves as Plains Indians in the late 18th century, earning themselves the name "The Lords of the Plains." The Sḵwxwú7mesh history is a series of past events, both passed on through oral tradition and recent history, of the ''Sḵwxwú7mesh'' indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Prior to colonisation, they recorded their history through oral tradition as a way to transmit stories, law, and knowledge across generations. The writing system established in the 1970s used the Latin alphabet as a base. It was a respectable responsibility of knowledgeable elders to pass historical knowledge to the next generation. People lived and prospered for thousands of years until the Great Flood. In another story, after the Flood, they would repopulate from the villages of Schenks and Chekwelp, located at Gibsons. When the water lines receded, the first Sḵwxwú7mesh came to be. The first man, named Tsekánchten, built his longhouse in the village, and later on another man named Xelálten, appeared on his longhouse roof and sent by the Creator, or in the Sḵwxwú7mesh language ''keke7nex siyam''. He called this man his brother. It was from these two men that the population began to rise and the Sḵwxwú7mesh spread back through their territory. The Iroquois influence extended from northern New York into what are now southern Ontario and the Montreal area of modern Quebec. The Iroquois Confederacy is, from oral tradition, formed circa 1142. Adept at the Three Sisters (maize/beans/squash), the Iroquois were able to spread at the expense of the Algonquians until they too adopted agricultural practises enabling larger populations to be sustained.

The Assiniboine were close allies and trading partners of the Cree, engaging in wars against the Gros Ventres alongside them, and later fighting the Blackfeet. A Plains people, they went no further north than the North Saskatchewan River and purchased a great deal of European trade goods through Cree middlemen from the Hudson's Bay Company. The life style of this group was semi-nomadic, and they would follow the herds of bison during the warmer months. They traded with European traders, and worked with the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara tribes, and that factor is attached to their life style.

In the earliest oral history, the Algonquins were from the Atlantic coast. Together with other Anicinàpek, they arrived at the "First Stopping Place" near Montreal. While the other Anicinàpe peoples continued their journey up the Saint Lawrence River, the Algonquins settled along the ''Kitcisìpi'' (Ottawa River), an important highway for commerce, cultural exchange, and transportation from time immemorial. A distinct Algonquin identity, though, was not realised until after the dividing of the Anicinàpek at the "Third Stopping Place", estimated at about 2,000 years ago near present day Detroit. According to their tradition, and from recordings in ''wiigwaasabak'' (birch bark scrolls), Ojibwe came from the eastern areas of North America, or Turtle Island, and from along the east coast. They traded widely across the continent for thousands of years and knew of the canoe routes west and a land route to the west coast. According to the oral history, seven great ''miigis'' (radiant/iridescent) beings appeared to the peoples in the ''Waabanakiing'' to teach the peoples of the ''mide'' way of life. One of the seven great ''miigis'' beings was too spiritually powerful and killed the peoples in the ''Waabanakiing'' when the people were in its presence. The six great ''miigis'' beings remained to teach while the one returned into the ocean. The six great ''miigis'' beings then established ''doodem'' (clans) for the peoples in the east. Of these ''doodem'', the five original Anishinaabe ''doodem'' were the ''Wawaazisii'' (Bullhead), ''Baswenaazhi'' (Echo-maker, i.e., Crane), ''Aan'aawenh'' (Pintail Duck), ''Nooke'' (Tender, i.e., Bear) and ''Moozoonsii'' (Little Moose), then these six ''miigis'' beings returned into the ocean as well. If the seventh ''miigis'' being stayed, it would have established the Thunderbird ''doodem''. The Nuu-chah-nulth are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. The term 'Nuu-chah-nulth' is used to describe fifteen separate but related First Nations, such as the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations, Ehattesaht First Nation and Hesquiaht First Nation whose traditional home is in the Pacific Northwest on the west coast of Vancouver Island. In pre-contact and early post-contact times, the number of nations was much greater, but smallpox and other consequences of contact resulted in the disappearance of groups, and the absorption of others into neighbouring groups. The Nuu-chah-nulth are relations of the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Haisla, and the Ditidaht. The Nuu-chah-nulth language is part of the Wakashan language group.

A 1999 discovery of the body of Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi has provided archaeologists with significant information on indigenous tribal life prior to extensive European contact. Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi (meaning ''Long Ago Person Found'' in Southern Tutchone), or ''Canadian Ice Man'', is a naturally mummified body found in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park in British Columbia, by a group of hunters. Radiocarbon dating of artifacts found with the body placed the age of the find between 1450 AD and 1700 AD. Genetic testing has shown he was a member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. Local clans are considering a memorial potlatch to honour Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi.

European contact

Aboriginal people in Canada interacted with Europeans as far back as 1000 AD, but prolonged contact came only after Europeans established permanent settlements in the 17th and 18th centuries. European written accounts noted friendliness on the part of the First Nations, who profited in trade with Europeans. Such trade strengthened the more organised political entities such as the Iroquois Confederation. The Aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000 and two million in the late 15th century. Repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza, measles and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a forty to eighty percent aboriginal population decrease post-contact. For example, during the late 1630s, smallpox killed over half of the Huron, who controlled most of the early fur trade in what became Canada. Reduced to fewer than 10,000 people, the Huron were attacked by the Iroquois, their traditional enemies.

There are reports of contact made before Christopher Columbus between the first peoples and those from other continents. Even in Columbus' time there was much speculation that other Europeans had made the trip in ancient or contemporary times; Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés records accounts of these in his ''General y natural historia de las Indias'' of 1526, which includes biographical information on Columbus. Aboriginal first contact period is not well defined. The earliest accounts of contact occurred in the late 10th century, between the Beothuk and Norseman. According to the Sagas of Icelanders, the first European to see what is now Canada was Bjarni Herjólfsson, who was blown off course en route from Iceland to Greenland in the summer of 985 or 986 CE. The first settler of what is now Canada relied on First Nations, for resources and trade to sustain a living. First written accounts of interaction is predominantly Old world bias. Although not without conflict, European/Canadian early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful, compared to the experience of native peoples in the United States. National Aboriginal Day recognises the cultures and contributions of Aboriginal peoples of Canada. There are currently over 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands encompassing 1,172,790 ²⁰⁰⁶ people spread across Canada with distinctive Aboriginal cultures, languages, art, and music.

16th–18th centuries

The Portuguese Crown claimed it had territorial rights in the area visited by Cabot. In 1493, the Pope – assuming international jurisdiction – had divided lands discovered in America between Spain and Portugal. The next year, in the Treaty of Tordesillas, these two kingdoms decided that the dividing line would be drawn north–south, 370 leagues (from approximately depending on league used) west of the Cape Verde Islands. Land to the west would be Spanish, to the east Portuguese. Given the uncertain geography of the day, this seemed to give the "new founde isle" to Portugal. On the 1502 Cantino map, Newfoundland appears on the Portuguese side of the line (as does Brazil). An expedition captured about 60 Aboriginal people as slaves who were said to "resemble gypsies in colour, features, stature and aspect; are clothed in the skins of various animals ...They are very shy and gentle, but well formed in arms and legs and shoulders beyond description ...." Only the captives, sent by Gaspar Corte-Real, reached Portugal. The others drowned, with Gaspar, on the return voyage. Gaspar's brother, Miguel Corte-Real, went to look for him in 1502, but also failed to return. Scholars believe that Miguel Corte-Real carved inscriptions on the controversial Dighton Rock.

In 1604, Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons received the fur trade monopoly. Dugua led his first colonisation expedition to an island located near to the mouth of the St. Croix River. Samuel de Champlain, his geographer, promptly carried out a major exploration of the northeastern coastline of what is now the United States. Under Samuel de Champlain, the Saint Croix settlement was moved to Port Royal (today's Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia), a new site across the Bay of Fundy, on the shore of the Annapolis Basin, an inlet in western Nova Scotia. Acadia was France's most successful colony to date. The cancellation of Dugua's fur monopoly in 1607 ended the Port Royal settlement. Champlain was able to persuade First Nations to allow him to settle along the Saint Lawrence, where in 1608 he would found France's first permanent colony in Canada at Quebec City. The colony of Acadia grew slowly, reaching a population of about 5,000 by 1713. New France had cod fishery coastal communities and farm economies supported communities along Saint Lawrence River. French ''voyageurs'' travelled deep into the hinterlands (of what is today Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba, as well as what is now the American Midwest and the Mississippi Valley) trading with First Nations as they went – guns, gunpowder, cloth, knives, and kettles for beaver furs. The fur trade kept the interest in Frances overseas colonies alive, yet only encouraged a small population as minimal labour was required, and also discouraged the development of agriculture, the surest foundation of a colony in the New World.

The Métis

The Métis (from French ''métis'' – "mixed") are descended of marriages of Cree, Ojibway, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Menominee, Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and other First Nations in the late 18th and 19th century to Europeans, mainly French. According to Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Métis were historically the children of French fur traders and Nehiyaw women or, from unions of English or Scottish traders and Northern Dene women (Anglo-Métis). The Métis spoke or still speak either Métis French or a mixed language called Michif. ''Michif'', ''Mechif'' or ''Métchif'' is a phonetic spelling of the Métis pronunciation of ''Métif'', a variant of ''Métis''. The Métis today predominantly speak English, with French a strong second language, as well as numerous Aboriginal tongues. Métis French is best preserved in Canada, Michif in the United States, notably in the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation of North Dakota, where Michif is the official language of the Métis that reside on this Chippewa reservation. The encouragement and use of Métis French and Michif is growing due to outreach within the provincial Métis councils after at least a generation of steep decline. Canada's Indian and Northern Affairs define Métis to be those persons of mixed First Nation and European ancestry.

French and Indian War

French and Indian War or referred as part of the larger conflict known as the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). The name ''French and Indian War'' refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various Native American forces allied with them. The conflict, the fourth such colonial war between the nations of France and Great Britain, resulted in the British conquest of Canada. In British America etymology, the sitting British monarch became the war's namesake, such as King William's War or Queen Anne's War. Because there had already been a King George's War in the 1740s, British colonists named the second war in King George's reign after their opponents so it became the ''French and Indian War''.

The Franco-Indian alliance was an alliance between American and Canadian First Nations and the French, centred on the Great Lakes and the Illinois Country. The alliance involved French settlers on the one side, and on the other side were the Abenaki, Odawa, Menominee, Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), Mississaugas, Illiniwek, Huron-Petun, Potawatomi etc. It allowed the French and the Indians to form a haven in the middle-Ohio valley before the open conflict between the European powers erupted.

Slavery

First Nations routinely captured slaves from neighbouring tribes. The conditions under which such slaves lived were much more humane than the conditions endured by African peoples forcibly brought as chattel by Europeans to the Americas. Slave-owning tribes of the fishing societies, such as the Yurok and Haida lived along the coast from what is now Alaska to California. Fierce warrior indigenous slave-traders of the Pacific Northwest Coast raided as far as California. Slavery was hereditary, the slaves being prisoners of war and their descendants. Among Pacific Northwest tribes about a quarter of the population were slaves.

The citizens of New France received slaves as gifts from their allies among First Nations peoples. Slaves were prisoners taken in raids against the villages of the Fox nation, a tribe that was an ancient rival of the Miami people and their Algonquian allies. Native (or "pani", a corruption of Pawnee) slaves were much easier to obtain and thus more numerous than African slaves in New France, but were less valued. The average native slave died at 18, and the average African slave died at 25 (the average European could expect to live until the age of 35). 1790, the abolition movement was gaining credence in Canada and the ill intent of slavery was evidenced by an incident involving a slave woman being violently abused by her slave owner on her way to being sold in the United States. The Act Against Slavery of 1793 legislated the gradual abolition of slavery: no slaves could be imported; slaves already in the province would remain enslaved until death, no new slaves could be brought into Upper Canada, and children born to female slaves would be slaves but must be freed at age 25. The Act remained in force until 1833 when the British Parliament's Slavery Abolition Act finally abolished slavery in all parts of the British Empire. Historian Marcel Trudel has documented 4,092 recorded slaves throughout Canadian history, of which 2,692 were Aboriginal people, owned by the French, and 1,400 blacks owned by the British, together owned by approximately 1,400 masters. Trudel also noted 31 marriages took place between French colonists and Aboriginal slaves.

1775–1815

British agents worked to make the first nations into military allies of the British, providing supplies, weapons, and encouragement. During the American Revolutionary War most of the tribes supported the British. In 1779, the Americans launched a campaign to burn the villages of the Iroquois in New York State. The refugees fled to Fort Niagara and other British posts, and remained permanently in Canada. Although the British ceded the Old Northwest to the United States in the Treaty of Paris in 1783, it kept fortifications and trading posts in the region until 1795. The British then evacuated American territory, but operated trading posts in British territory, providing weapons and encouragement to tribes that were resisting American expansion into such areas as Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. Officially, the British agents discouraged any warlike activities or raids on American settlements, but the Americans were increasingly angered, and this became one of the causes of the War of 1812.

In the war, the great majority of First Nations supported the British, and many fought under the aegis of Tecumseh. But Tecumseh was killed in 1813 in battle, and the Indian coalition collapsed. The British have long wished to create a neutral Indian state in the American Old Northwest, and made this demand as late as 1814 at the peace negotiations at Ghent. The Americans rejected the idea, the British dropped it, and Britain's Indian allies lost British support. In addition, the Indians were no longer able to gather furs and American territory. Abandoned by their powerful sponsor, Great Lakes-area natives ultimately assumilated into American society, migrated to the west or to Canada, or were relocated onto reservations in Michigan and Wisconsin. Historians have unanimously agreed that the Indians were the major losers in the War of 1812.

19th century

Living conditions for Indigenous people in the prairie regions deteriorated quickly. Between 1875 and 1885, settlers and hunters of European descent contributed to hunting the North American Bison almost to extinction; the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway brought large numbers of European settlers west who encroached on former Indigenous territory. European Canadians established governments, police forces, and courts of law with different foundations than indigenous practices. Various epidemics continued to devastate Indigenous communities. All of these factors had a profound effect on Indigenous people, particularly those from the plains who had relied heavily on bison for food and clothing. Most of those nations that agreed to treaties had negotiated for a guarantee of food and help to begin farming. Just as the bison disappeared (the last Canadian hunt was in 1879), Lieutenant-Governor Edgar Dewdney cut rations to indigenous people in an attempt to reduce government costs. Between 1880 and 1885, approximately 3,000 Indigenous people starved to death in the North-Western Territory/Northwest Territories. Offended by the concepts of the treaties, Cree chiefs resisted them. Big Bear refused to sign Treaty 6 until starvation among his people forced his hand in 1882. His attempts to unite Indigenous nations made progress. In 1884 the Métis (including the Anglo-Métis) asked Louis Riel to return from the United States, where he had fled after the Red River Rebellion, to appeal to the government on their behalf. The government gave a vague response. In March 1885, Riel, Gabriel Dumont, Honoré Jackson (a.k.a. Will Jackson), Crowfoot, Chief of the Blackfoot First Nation and Chief Poundmaker, who after the 1876 negotiations of Treaty 6 split off to form his band. Together, they set up the Provisional Government of Saskatchewan, believing that they could influence the federal government in the same way as they had in 1869. The North-West Rebellion of 1885 was a brief and unsuccessful uprising by the Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel against the Dominion of Canada, which they believed had failed to address their concerns for the survival of their people. In 1884, 2,000 Cree from reserves met near Battleford to organise into a large, cohesive resistance. Discouraged by the lack of government response but encouraged by the efforts of the Métis at armed rebellion, Wandering Spirit and other young militant Cree attacked the small town of Frog Lake, killing Thomas Quinn, the hated Indian Agent and eight others. Although Big Bear actively opposed the attacks, he was charged and tried for treason and sentenced to three years in prison. After the Red River Rebellion of 1869–1870, Métis moved from Manitoba to the District of Saskatchewan, where they founded a settlement at Batoche on the South Saskatchewan River. In Manitoba settlers from Ontario began to arrive. They pushed for land to be allotted in the square concession system of English Canada, rather than the seigneurial system of strips reaching back from a river which the Métis were familiar with in their French-Canadian culture. The buffalo were being hunted to extinction by the Hudson's Bay Company and other hunters, as for generations the Métis had depended on them as a chief source of food.

Integration

From the late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged First Nations to assimilate into their own culture, referred to as "Canadian culture". The assumption was that it was the correct one because the Canadians of European descent saw themselves as dominant, and technologically, politically and culturally more advanced. These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Founded in the 19th century, the Canadian Indian residential school system was intended to force the assimilation of Canadian Aboriginal and First Nations people into European-Canadian society. The purpose of the schools, which separated children from their families, has been described by commentators as "killing the Indian in the child."

Funded under the Indian Act by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, a branch of the federal government, the schools were run by churches of various denominations – about 60% by Roman Catholics, and 30% by the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada, along with its pre-1925 predecessors, Presbyterian, Congregationalist and Methodist churches.

The attempt to force assimilation involved punishing children for speaking their own languages or practicing their own faiths, leading to allegations in the 20th century of cultural genocide and ethnocide. There was widespread physical and sexual abuse. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, and a lack of medical care led to high rates of tuberculosis, and death rates of up to 69%. Details of the mistreatment of students had been published numerous times throughout the 20th century, but following the closure of the schools in the 1960s, the work of indigenous activists and historians led to a change in the public perception of the residential school system, as well as official government apologies, and a (controversial) legal settlement.

20th century

As Canadian ideas of progress evolved at the turn of the century, the federal Indian policy was directed at removing Indigenous people from their communal lands and encouraging assimilation. Amendments to the Indian Act in 1905 and 1911 made it easier for the government to expropriate reserve lands from First Nations. The government sold nearly half of the Blackfoot reserve in Alberta to settlers.

When the Kainai (Blood) Nation refused to accept the sale of their lands in 1916 and 1917, the Department of Indian Affairs held back funding necessary for farming until they relented. In British Columbia, the McKenna-McBride Royal Commission was created in 1912 to settle disputes over reserve lands in the province. The claims of Indigenous people were ignored, and the commission allocated new, less valuable lands (reserves) for First Nations.

Those nations who managed to maintain their ownership of good lands often farmed successfully. Indigenous people living near the Cowichan and Fraser rivers, and those from Saskatchewan managed to produce good harvests. Since 1881, those First Nations people living in the prairie provinces required permits from Indian Agents to sell any of their produce. Later the government created a pass system in the old Northwest Territories that required indigenous people to seek written permission from an Indian Agent before leaving their reserves for any length of time. Indigenous people regularly defied those laws, as well as bans on Sun Dances and potlatches, in an attempt to practice their culture.

The 1930 Constitution Act or Natural Resources Transfer Acts was part of a shift acknowledging indigenous rights. It enabled provincial control of Crown land and allowed Provincial laws regulating game to apply to Indians, but it also ensured that "Indians shall have the right ... of hunting, trapping and fishing game and fish for food at all seasons of the year on all unoccupied Crown lands and on any other lands to which the said Indians may have a right of access."

First and Second World Wars

More than 6,000 Canadian First Nations, Inuit and Métis served with British forces during First World War and Second World War. A generation of young native Canadian men fought on the battlefields of Europe during the Great War and approximately 300 of them died there. When Canada declared war on Germany on September 10, 1939, the native community quickly responded to volunteer. Four years later, in May 1943, the government declared that, as British subjects, all able Indian men of military age could be called up for training and service in Canada or overseas.

Late 20th century

Following the end of the Second World War, laws concerning First Nations in Canada began to change, albeit slowly. The federal prohibition of potlatch and Sun Dance ceremonies ended in 1951. Provincial governments began to accept the right of Indigenous people to vote. In June 1956, section 9 of the Citizenship Act was amended to grant formal citizenship to Status Indians and Inuit, retroactively as of January 1947.

In 1960, First Nations people received the right to vote in federal elections without forfeiting their Indian status. By comparison, Native Americans in the United States had been allowed to vote since the 1920s.

1969 White Paper

In his 1969 White Paper, then-Minister of Indian Affairs, Jean Chrétien, proposed the abolition of the Indian Act of Canada, the rejection of Aboriginal land claims, and the assimilation of First Nations people into the Canadian population with the status of "other ethnic minorities" rather than as a distinct group.

Harold Cardinal and the Indian Chiefs of Alberta responded with a document entitled "Citizens Plus" but commonly known as the "Red Paper". In it, they explained Status Indians' widespread opposition to Chrétien's proposal. Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and the Liberals began to back away from the 1969 White Paper, particularly after the Calder case decision in 1973.

Health Transfer Policy

In 1970, severe mercury poisoning, called Ontario Minamata disease, was discovered among Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation and Wabaseemoong Independent Nations people, who lived near Dryden, Ontario. There was extensive mercury pollution caused by Dryden Chemicals Company's waste water effluent in the Wabigoon-English River system. Because local fish were no longer safe to eat, the Ontario provincial government closed the commercial fisheries run by the First Nation people and ordered them to stop eating local fish. Previously it had made up the majority of their diet. In addition to the acute mercury poisoning in northwestern Ontario, Aamjiwnaang First Nation people near Sarnia, Ontario experienced a wide range of chemical effects, including severe mercury poisoning. They suffered low birth rates, skewed birth-gender ratio, and health effects among the population. This led to legislation and eventually the Indian Health Transfer Policy that provided a framework for the assumption of control of health services by First Nations people, and set forth a developmental approach to transfer centred on the concept of self-determination in health. Through this process, the decision to enter into transfer discussions with Health Canada rests with each community. Once involved in transfer, communities are able to take control of health programme responsibilities at a pace determined by their individual circumstances and health management capabilities.

Elijah Harper and the Meech Lake Accord

In 1981, Elijah Harper, a Cree from Red Sucker Lake, Manitoba, became the first "Treaty Indian" in Manitoba to be elected as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba. In 1990, Harper achieved national fame by holding an eagle feather as he refused to accept the Meech Lake Accord, a constitutional amendment package negotiated to gain Quebec's acceptance of the Constitution Act, 1982, but also one that did not address any First Nations grievances. The accord was negotiated in 1987 without the input of Canada's Aboriginal peoples. The third, final constitutional conference on Aboriginal peoples was also unsuccessful. The Manitoba assembly was required to unanimously consent to a motion allowing it to hold a vote on the accord, because of a procedural rule. Twelve days before the ratification deadline for the Accord, Harper began a filibuster that prevented the assembly from ratifying the accord. Because Meech Lake failed in Manitoba, the proposed constitutional amendment failed. Harper also opposed the Charlottetown Accord in 1992, even though Assembly of First Nations Chief Ovide Mercredi supported it.

Women's status and Bill C-31

According to the Indian Act, indigenous women who married white men lost their treaty status, and their children would not get status. In the reverse situation (indigenous men married to white women), men could keep their status, and their children would get treaty status. In the 1970s, the ''Indian Rights for Indian Women'' and Native Women's Association of Canada groups campaigned against this policy because it discriminated against women and failed to fulfill treaty promises. They successfully convinced the federal government to change the section of the act with the adoption of Bill C-31 on June 28, 1985. Women who had lost their status and children who had been excluded were then able to register and gain official Indian status. Despite these changes, First Nations women who married white men could only pass their status on one generation, their children would gain status, but (without a marriage to a full status Indian) their grandchildren would not. A First Nations male who married a white woman retained status as did his children, but his wife did not gain status, nor did his grandchildren.

Bill C-31 also gave elected bands the power to regulate who was allowed to reside on their reserves and to control development on their reserves. It abolished the concept of "enfranchisement" by which First Nations people could gain certain rights by renouncing their Indian status.

Erasmus-Dussault commission

In 1991, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney created the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples chaired by René Dussault and Georges Erasmus. Their 1996 report proposed the creation of a government for (and by) the First Nations that would be responsible within its own jurisdiction, and with which the federal government would speak on a "Nation-to-Nation" basis. This proposal offered a far different way of doing politics than the traditional policy of assigning First Nations matters under the jurisdiction of the Indian and Northern Affairs, managed by one minister of the federal cabinet. The report also recommended providing the governments of the First Nations with up to $2 billion every year until 2010, in order to reduce the economic gap between the First Nations and the rest of the Canadian citizenry. The money would represent an increase of at least 50% to the budget of Indian and Northern Affairs. The report engaged First Nations leaders to think of ways to cope with the challenging issues their people were facing, so the First Nations could take their destiny into their own hands.

The federal government, then headed by Jean Chrétien, responded to the report a year later by officially presenting its apologies for the forced acculturation the federal government had imposed on the First Nations, and by offering an "initial" provision of $350 million.

In the spirit of the Eramus-Dussault commission, tripartite (federal, provincial, and First Nations) accords have been signed since the report was issued. Several political crises between different provincial governments and different bands of the First Nations also occurred in the late 20th century, notably the Oka Crisis, Ipperwash Crisis, Burnt Church Crisis, and the Gustafsen Lake Standoff.

Early 21st century

In 2001, the Quebec government, the federal government, and the Cree Nation signed "La Paix des Braves" (''The Peace of the Braves'', a reference to the 1701 peace treaty between the French and the Iroquois League). The agreement allowed Hydro-Québec to exploit the province's hydroelectric resources in exchange for an allocation of $3.5 billion to be given to the government of the Cree Nation. Later, the Inuit of northern Quebec (Nunavik) joined in the agreement. In 2005, the leaders of the First Nations, various provincial governments, and the federal government produced an agreement called the Kelowna Accord, which would have yielded $5 billion over 10 years, but the new federal government of Stephen Harper (2006) did not follow through on the working paper.

First Nations, along with the Métis and the Inuit, have claimed to receive inadequate funding for education, and allege their rights have been overlooked. James Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, listed the encouragement of indigenous young people as one of his key priorities. During his term that began in 2002, he has launched initiatives to promote literacy and bridge building. Bartleman himself is the first Aboriginal person to hold the Lieutenant Governor's position in Ontario.

As of 2006, over 75 First Nations communities exist in boil-water advisory conditions. In late 2005, the drinking water crisis of the Kashechewan First Nation received national media attention when ''E. coli'' was discovered in their water supply system, following two years of living under a boil-water advisory. The drinking water was supplied by a new treatment plant built in March 1998. The cause of the tainted water was a plugged chlorine injector that was not discovered by local operators, who were not qualified to be running the treatment plant. When officials arrived and fixed the problem, chlorine levels were around 1.7 mg/l, which was blamed for skin disorders such as impetigo and scabies. An investigation led by Health Canada revealed that the skin disorders were likely due to living in squalor. The evacuation of Kashechewan is largely viewed by Canadians as a cry for help for other underlying social and economic issues which Aboriginal people in Canada face.

On June 29, 2007, Canadian Aboriginal groups held countrywide protests aimed at ending First Nations poverty, dubbed the Aboriginal Day of Action. The demonstrations were largely peaceful, although groups disrupted transportation with blockades or bonfires; a stretch of the Highway 401 was shut down, as was the Canadian National Railway's line between Toronto and Montreal.

Canadian Crown and First Nations relations

The relationship between ''the Canadian Crown and the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis'' peoples of Canada stretches back to the first interactions between European colonialists and North American indigenous people. Over centuries of interaction, treaties were established, and Canada's First Nations have, like the Māori and the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand, come to generally view these agreements as being between them and the Crown of Canada, and not the ever-changing governments.

The associations exist between the Aboriginal peoples of Canada and the reigning monarch of Canada; as was stated in the proposed ''First Nations Federal Crown Political Accord'': "cooperation will be a cornerstone for partnership between Canada and First Nations, wherein ''Canada'' is the short-form reference to ''Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada''. These relations are governed by the established treaties; the Supreme Court stated that treaties "served to reconcile pre-existing Aboriginal sovereignty with assumed Crown sovereignty, and to define Aboriginal rights," and the First Nations saw these agreements as meant to last "as long as the sun shines, grass grows and rivers flow."

Political organisation

At contact, First Nations organisations ranged in size from band societies of a few people to multi-nation confederacies like the Iroquois. First Nations leaders from across the country formed the Assembly of First Nations, which began as the National Indian Brotherhood in 1968.

Today's political organisations are largely the by-product of interaction with European-style methods of government. First Nations political organisations throughout Canada vary in political standing, viewpoints, and reasons for forming. First Nations political organisations arise to have a united voice and express their opinions. First Nations negotiate with the Canadian Government through Indian and Northern Affairs Canada in affairs concerning land, entitlement, and rights. Independent First Nation groups do not belong to these groups.

Assembly of First Nations / National Indian Brotherhood

The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is a body of First Nations leaders in Canada. The aims of the organisation are to protect the rights, treaty obligations, ceremonies, and claims of citizens of the First Nations in Canada.

After the failures of the ''League of Indians in Canada'' in the Interwar period and the ''North American Indian Brotherhood'' in two decades following the Second World War, the Aboriginal peoples of Canada organised themselves once again in the early 1960s. The ''National Indian Council'' was created in 1961 to represent Indigenous people, including Treaty/Status Indians, non-status people, the Métis people, though not the Inuit. This organisation also collapsed in 1968 as the three groups failed to act as one, so the non-status and Métis groups formed the ''Native Council of Canada'' and Treaty/Status groups formed the National Indian Brotherhood (NIB), an umbrella group for provincial and territorial First Nations organisations.

Culture

Languages

:''Main articles: First Nations Aboriginal languages'' Today, there are over thirty different languages spoken by indigenous people, most of which are spoken only in Canada and are in decline. Among those with the most speakers include Anishinaabe and Cree, together totalling up to 150,000 speakers; Inuktitut, with about 29,000 speakers in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Nunavik (Northern Quebec), and Nunatsiavut (Northern Labrador); and Mi'kmaq, with around 8,500 speakers, mostly in Eastern Canada. Aboriginal peoples have lost their native languages and often all but surviving elders, speak English or French as their first language.

Two of Canada's territories give official status to native languages. In Nunavut, Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun are official languages alongside English and French, and Inuktitut is a common vehicular language in government. In the Northwest Territories, the ''Official Languages Act'' declares that there are eleven different languages: Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tłįchǫ. Besides English and French, these languages are not vehicular in government; official status entitles citizens to receive services in them on request and to deal with the government in them.

Art

One thing that distinguishes Indigenous art from European traditions is a focus on art that tends to be portable and made for the body rather than for architecture, although even this is only a general tendency and not an absolute rule. Indigenous visual art is also often made to be used in conjunction with other arts, for example the shaman's masks and rattles play an important role in ceremonialism that also involves dance, storytelling and music.

Artworks preserved in museum collections date from the period after European contact and show evidence of the creative adoption and adaptation of European trade goods such as metal and glass beads. The distinct Métis cultures from inter-cultural relationships with Europeans contribute new culturally hybrid art forms. During the 19th and the first half of the 20th century the Canadian government pursued an active policy of assimilation, both forced and cultural, toward indigenous peoples and one of the instruments of this policy was the Indian Act, which banned manifestations of traditional religion and governance, such as the Sun Dance and the Potlatch, including the works of art associated with them. While First Nations illegally continued their practices in secret, their art was continuously confiscated, stolen, and sold to museums. Ironically, there was an overwhelming demand from Northwest Coast art at this time in Europe and other non-aboriginal markets. This awkward double standard was common. First Nations people had no political rights or freedoms, but their heritage of totem pole sculptures were used to symbolise British Columbia on tourism brochures. The authorities allowed souvenirs of totem poles to be sold in gift shops and use the "exoticism" of aboriginal culture for their own capitalist gain but the actual practice of First Nations art remained against the law.

In another case in 1924, during the height of potlatch ban enforcement, BC luminaries held a mock "Royal Tyee Potlatch" to celebrate the visit of the British Royal Navy. This just three years after the police disbanded Dan Cranmer’s potlatch on Village Island, with 45 attendees arrested, with 22 given suspended sentences.

When the potlatch ban disappeared from the revised Indian Act in 1951, the whole culture was able to come to life once more. As Doreen Jensen writes, "For our painting and sculpture, our performance, oratory and song are our history, law political and philosophical discourse, sacred ceremony and land registry." Art was and continues to be deeply embedded in the sense of aboriginal identity.

It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that indigenous artists such as Mungo Martin, Bill Reid and Norval Morrisseau began to publicly renew and re-invent indigenous art traditions. Currently there are indigenous artists practicing in media across Canada and two indigenous artists, Edward Poitras and Rebecca Belmore, who have represented Canada at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 1995 and 2005 respectively.

Music

The First Nations peoples of Canada comprise diverse ethnic groups, each with their own musical traditions. There are general similarities in the music, but is usually social (public) or ceremonial (private). Public, social music may be dance music accompanied by rattles and drums. Private, ceremonial music includes vocal songs with accompaniment on percussion, used to mark occasions like Midewiwin ceremonies and Sun Dances.

Traditionally, Aboriginal peoples used the materials at hand to make their instruments for centuries before Europeans immigrated to Canada. First Nations people made gourds and animal horns into rattles, which were elaborately carved and beautifully painted. In woodland areas, they made horns of birch bark and drumsticks of carved antlers and wood. Traditional percussion instruments such as drums were generally made of carved wood and animal hides. These musical instruments provide the background for songs, and songs are the background for dances. Traditional First Nations people consider song and dance to be sacred. For years after Europeans came to Canada, First Nations people were forbidden to practice their ceremonies.

Demographics

In the 20th century, the First Nations population of Canada increased tenfold. Between 1900 and 1950 the population grew only by 29% but after the 1960s the infant mortality level on reserves dropped and the population grew by 161%. Since the 1980s, the number of First Nations babies more than doubled and currently almost half of the First Nations population is under the age of 25. As a result, the First Nations population of Canada is expected to increase in the coming decades.

The 2006 census counted a total Aboriginal population of 1,172,790 (3.75%) which includes 698,025 North American Indians (2.23%). There are distinct First Nations in Canada, originating across the country. Indian reserves, established in Canadian law by treaties such as Treaty 7, are the very limited contemporary lands of First Nations recognized by the non-indigenous governments. Reserves exist within cities, such as the Opawikoscikan Reserve in Prince Albert, Wendake in Quebec City or Stony Plain 135 in the Edmonton Capital Region. There are more reserves in Canada than there are First Nations, as First Nations were ceded multiple reserves by treaty.

First Nations can be grouped into cultural areas based on their ancestors' primary lifeway, or occupation, at the time of European contact. These culture areas correspond closely with physical and ecological regions of Canada.

Ethnographers commonly classify indigenous peoples of the Americas in the United States and Canada into ten geographical regions with shared cultural traits (called ''cultural areas''). The following list groups peoples by their region of origin, followed by the current location. See the individual article on each tribe, band society or First Nation for a history of their movements. See the Federally recognized tribes for the United States' official list of recognized Native American tribes. The Canadian (in whole or in part) regions are Arctic, Subarctic, Northeast Woodlands, Plains, and Plateau.

The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast communities centred around ocean and river fishing; in the interior of British Columbia, hunting and gathering and river fishing. In both of these areas, salmon was of chief importance. For the people of the plains, bison hunting was the primary activity. In the subarctic forest, other species such as the moose were more important. For peoples near the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence river, shifting agriculture was practised, including the raising of maize, beans, and squash.

Today, Aboriginal people work in a variety of occupations and live outside their ancestral homes. The traditional cultures of their ancestors, shaped by nature, still exert a strong influence on their culture, from spirituality to political attitudes.

Issues

First Nations peoples face a number of problems to a greater degree than Canadians overall. They have higher unemployment, rates of crime and incarceration, substance abuse, health problems, fetal alcohol syndrome, lower levels of education and higher levels of poverty. Suicide rates are more than twice the sex-specific rate and also three times the age-specific rates of non-Aboriginal Canadians.

Life expectancy at birth is significantly lower for First Nations babies than for babies in the Canadian population as a whole. , Indian and Northern Affairs Canada estimates First Nations life expectancy to be 8.1 years shorter for males and 5.5 years shorter for females.

Self-government has given chiefs and their councils powers which combine those of a province, school board, health board and municipality. Councils are also largely self-regulating regarding utilities, environmental protection, natural resources, building codes, etc. There is concern that this wide-ranging authority, concentrated in a single council, might be a cause of the dysfunctional governments experienced by many First Nations.

Gangs consisting of Aboriginals are becoming an increasing problem, across Canada, due to the poor living conditions. Most are found in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

See also

References

Further reading

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External links

Aboriginal Canada Portal

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The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy act of the early to mid–20th century best known for their numerous short subject films. Their hallmark was physical farce and extreme slapstick. In films, the Stooges were commonly known by their first names: "Moe, Larry, and Curly" and "Moe, Larry, and Shemp," among other lineups. They first started as "Ted Healy and his Stooges" which contained Moe, Larry and Shemp. "The Three Stooges" film trio was originally composed of Moe Howard, brother Curly Howard and Larry Fine. Shemp Howard replaced brother Curly, when Curly suffered a debilitating stroke in May 1946.

After Shemp's death from a heart attack in November 1955, he was replaced by comedian Joe Besser, after the use of film actor Joe Palma to film four Shemp-era shorts. Ultimately, Joe DeRita (nicknamed "Curly Joe") replaced Joe Besser by 1958. The act regained momentum throughout the 1960s as popular kiddie fare until Larry Fine's paralyzing stroke in January 1970 effectively marked the end of the act proper. Moe tried unsuccessfully one final time to revive the Stooges with longtime supporting actor Emil Sitka filling in for Larry. Larry ultimately succumbed to a series of additional strokes in January 1975, followed by Moe, who died of lung cancer in May 1975.

History

Ted Healy and his stooges

The Three Stooges started in 1925 as part of a raucous vaudeville act called 'Ted Healy and His Stooges' (a.k.a. 'Ted Healy and His Southern Gentlemen', 'Ted Healy and His Three Lost Souls' and 'Ted Healy and His Racketeers'—the moniker 'Three Stooges' was never used during their tenure with Healy). In the act, lead comedian Healy would attempt to sing or tell jokes while his noisy assistants would keep "interrupting" him. Healy would respond by verbally and physically abusing his stooges. Brothers Moe and Shemp were joined later that year by violinist-comedian Larry Fine, and Fred Sanborn joined the group as well.

In 1930, Ted Healy and His Stooges (including Sanborn) appeared in their first Hollywood feature film, ''Soup to Nuts'', released by Fox Film Corporation. The film was not a critical success, but the Stooges' performances were singled out as memorable, leading Fox to offer the trio a contract minus Healy. This enraged the prickly Healy, who told studio executives that the Stooges were his employees. The offer was withdrawn, and after Howard, Fine and Howard learned of the reason, they left Healy to form their own act, which quickly took off with a tour of the theatre circuit. Healy attempted to stop the new act with legal action, claiming they were using his copyrighted material. There are accounts of Healy threatening to bomb theaters if Howard, Fine and Howard ever performed there, which worried Shemp so much that he almost left the act; reportedly, only a pay raise kept him on board. Healy tried to save his act by hiring replacement stooges, but they were inexperienced and not as well-received as their predecessors. In 1932, with Moe now acting as business manager, Healy reached a new agreement with his former Stooges, and they were booked in a production of Jacob J. Shubert's ''The Passing Show of 1932''. During rehearsals, Healy received a more lucrative offer and found a loophole in his contract allowing him to leave the production. Shemp, fed up with Healy's abrasiveness, decided to quit the act and found work almost immediately, in Vitaphone movie comedies produced in Brooklyn, New York.

With Shemp gone, Healy and the two remaining stooges (Moe and Larry) needed a replacement, so Moe suggested his younger brother Jerry Howard. Healy reportedly took one look at Jerry, who had long chestnut red locks and a handlebar mustache, and remarked that he did not look like he was funny. Jerry left the room and returned a few moments later with his head shaved (though his mustache remained for a time), and then quipped "Boy, do I look girly." Healy heard "Curly," and the name stuck. (There are varying accounts as to how the Curly character actually came about.)

In 1933, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) signed Healy and his Stooges to a movie contract. They appeared in feature films and short subjects, either together, individually, or with various combinations of actors. The trio was featured in a series of musical comedy shorts, beginning with ''Nertsery Rhymes''. The short was one of a few shorts to be made with an early two-strip Technicolor process, including one featuring Curly without Healy or the other Stooges, ''Roast Beef and Movies'' (1934). The shorts themselves were built around recycled film footage of production numbers cut from MGM musicals, such as ''Children of Pleasure'', ''Lord Byron of Broadway'', and the unfinished ''March of Time'' (all 1930), which had been filmed in early Technicolor. Soon, additional shorts followed (sans the experimental Technicolor), including ''Beer and Pretzels'' (1933), ''Plane Nuts'' (1933), and ''The Big Idea'' (1934).

Healy and company also appeared in several MGM feature films as comic relief, such as ''Turn Back the Clock'' (1933), ''Meet the Baron'' (1933), ''Dancing Lady'' (1933), ''Fugitive Lovers'' (1934), and ''Hollywood Party'' (1934). Healy and the Stooges also appeared together in ''Myrt and Marge'' for Universal Pictures.

In 1934, the team's contract with MGM expired, and the Stooges parted professional company with Healy. According to Moe Howard's autobiography, the Stooges split with Ted Healy in 1934 once and for all because of Healy's alcoholism and abrasiveness. Their final film with Healy was MGM’s 1934 film, ''Hollywood Party''. Both Healy and the Stooges went on to separate successes, with Healy dying under mysterious circumstances in 1937.

The Columbia years: Moe, Larry and Curly

In 1934, the trio – now officially christened "The Three Stooges" – signed on to appear in two-reel comedy short subjects for Columbia Pictures. In Moe's autobiography, he said they each got $600 per week on a one-year contract with a renewable option; in the Ted Okuda–Edward Watz book ''The Columbia Comedy Shorts'', the Stooges are said to have received $1,000 between them for their first Columbia effort, ''Woman Haters'', and then signed a term contract for $7,500 per film, to be divided among the trio.

Within their first year at Columbia, the Stooges became wildly popular. Realizing this, Columbia Pictures president Harry Cohn used the Stooges as leverage, as the demand for their films was so great that Columbia eventually refused to supply exhibitors with the trio's shorts unless they also agreed to book some of the studio's mediocre B movies. Cohn also saw to it that the Stooges remain ignorant of their popularity. During their 23 years spent at Columbia, the Stooges were never completely aware of their amazing drawing power at the box office. As their contracts with the studio included an open option that had to be renewed every year, Cohn would tell the boys that the short subjects were in decline, which was not a complete fabrication (Cohn's yearly mantra was "the market for comedy shorts is dying out, fellahs.") Thinking their days were numbered, the Stooges would sweat it out each and every year, with Cohn signing the trio up for another year at the last minute. This cruel deception kept the insecure Stooges unaware of their true value, resulting in them having second thoughts about asking for a better contract without a yearly option. Cohn's scare tactics worked for all 23 years the Stooges were at Columbia; the team never once asked for—nor were they ever given—a salary increase. It was not until after they stopped making the shorts in December 1957 did Moe learn of the game Cohn was playing, what a valuable commodity the Stooges had been for the ailing studio, and how many millions more the act could have earned.

The Stooges were required to churn out up to eight short films per year within a 40-week period; for the remaining 12 or so weeks, they were free to pursue other employment. Usually, the Stooges would either spend this time with their families or tour the country promoting their live act. The Stooges appeared in 190 film shorts and five features while at Columbia. Del Lord directed more than three dozen Stooge films; Jules White directed dozens more, and his brother Jack White directed several under the pseudonym "Preston Black".

According to a published report, Moe, Larry, and director Jules White considered their best film to be ''You Nazty Spy!''. This 18-minute short subject starred Moe as "Moe Hailstone", an Adolf Hitler-like character, and satirized the Nazis in a period when America was still neutral and resolutely isolationist. Curly played a Hermann Goering character, replete with medals, and Larry a Ribbentrop-type ambassador. ''You Nazty Spy!'' was the first Hollywood film to spoof Hitler, as it was released in January, 1940, nine months before Charlie Chaplin's ''The Great Dictator''. Reportedly this film caused the Stooges to be placed on Hitler's so-called "death list" because of its anti-Nazi stance. Chaplin, along with Jack Benny, would also be on this list due to their later anti-Nazi films. The Stooges made occasional guest appearances in feature films, though generally they stuck to short subjects. Columbia offered theater owners an entire program of two-reel comedies (15 to 25 titles annually) featuring such stars as Buster Keaton, Andy Clyde, Charley Chase, and Hugh Herbert, but the Three Stooges shorts were the most popular of all.

Curly was easily the most popular member of the team. His childlike mannerisms and natural comedic charm (he had no previous acting experience) made him a hit with audiences. The fact that Curly had to shave his head for the act led him to feel unappealing to women. To mask his insecurities, Curly ate and drank excessively and caroused whenever the Stooges made personal appearances, which was approximately seven months out of the year. His weight ballooned in the 1940s, and his blood pressure was dangerously high. His wild lifestyle and constant drinking eventually caught up with him in 1945, and his performances suffered. In his last dozen shorts (ranging from 1945's ''If a Body Meets a Body'' through 1947's ''Half-Wits Holiday''), he was seriously ill, struggling to get through even the most basic scenes.

It was during the final day of filming ''Half-Wits Holiday'' on May 6, 1946 that Curly suffered a debilitating stroke on the set, ending his 14-year career. Curly's health necessitated a temporary retirement from the act, and while the Stooges hoped for a full recovery, Curly never starred in a film again, except for one brief cameo appearance in the third film after Shemp returned to the trio, ''Hold That Lion!'' It was the only film that contained all ''four'' of the original Stooges (the three Howard brothers and Larry) on screen simultaneously; Jules White recalled Curly visiting the set one day, and White had him do this bit for fun. (Curly's cameo appearance was recycled in the 1953 remake ''Booty and the Beast''.) In 1949, Curly was supposed to play a cameo role in the Stooge comedy ''Malice in the Palace'', but he was physically unable to perform. His chef role was played by Larry.

Shemp returns

Moe Howard turned to his older brother Shemp Howard to take Curly's place. Shemp, however, was hesitant to rejoin the Stooges, as he had a successful solo career at the time of Curly's untimely illness. However, he realized that Moe and Larry's careers would be finished without the Stooge act. Shemp wanted some kind of assurance that his rejoining was indeed temporary, and that he could leave the Stooges once Curly recovered. Unfortunately, Curly remained gravely ill after 1950, dying of a cerebral hemorrhage caused by additional strokes on January 18, 1952.

Shemp appeared with the Stooges in 76 more shorts and a quickie Western comedy feature titled ''Gold Raiders''. Upon Shemp's return, the quality of the films picked up; the last few Curly efforts had been marred by his sluggish performances. Entries like ''Out West'', ''Squareheads of the Round Table'', and ''Punchy Cowpunchers'' proved that there was life after Curly, and that Shemp could easily hold his own. Though some say he lacked his younger brother's childlike charisma, Shemp was a gifted, professional comedian. More often than not, his astute gift of comedic timing buoys weak material. In fact, one the finest entries in the series, ''Brideless Groom'', was made during this period.

Another interesting plus from the Shemp era was that Larry was given more time on screen. Throughout most of the Curly era, Larry was relegated to a background role, only being called upon to break up a potential scuffle between Moe and Curly. By the time Shemp rejoined the Stooges, Larry was allotted equal footage, even becoming the focus of several films (''Fuelin' Around'', ''He Cooked His Goose'').

During this period, Moe, Larry, and Shemp made a pilot for a ''Three Stooges'' television show called ''Jerks of All Trades'' in 1949. The series was never picked up, although the pilot is currently in the public domain and is available on home video, as is an early television appearance from around the same time on a vaudeville-style comedy series, ''Camel Comedy Caravan'', originally broadcast live on CBS-TV on March 11, 1950 and starring Ed Wynn. Also available commercially is a kinescope of Moe, Larry, and Shemp's appearance on ''The Frank Sinatra Show'', broadcast live over CBS-TV on January 1, 1952. Frank Sinatra was reportedly a big fan of the Stooges and slapstick comedy in general. On this broadcast, the Stooges are joined by one of their longtime stock-company members, Vernon Dent, who plays "Mr. Mortimer", a party-goer who requests a drink. The Stooges oblige with disastrous results.

Columbia's short-subject division downsized in 1952. Producer Hugh McCollum was discharged and director Edward Bernds resigned out of loyalty to McCollum, leaving only Jules White to both produce and direct the Stooges' remaining Columbia comedies. Production was significantly faster, with the former four-day filming schedules now tightened to two or three days. In another cost-cutting measure, White would create a "new" Stooge short by borrowing footage from old ones, setting it in a slightly different storyline, and filming a few new scenes often with the same actors in the same costumes. White was initially very subtle when recycling older footage: he would reuse only a single sequence of old film, re-edited so cleverly that it was not easy to detect. The later shorts were cheaper and the recycling more obvious, with as much as 75% of the running time consisting of old footage. White came to rely so much on older material that he could film the "new" shorts in a single day.

Three years after Curly's death, Shemp Howard died of a sudden heart attack at age 60 on November 22, 1955. Archived footage of Shemp, combined with new footage of Joe Palma, were used to complete the last four films originally planned with Shemp: ''Rumpus in the Harem'', ''Hot Stuff'', ''Scheming Schemers'', and ''Commotion on the Ocean''.

Joe Besser replaces Shemp

Joe Besser replaced Shemp in 1956, appearing in 16 shorts. Besser, noting how one side of Larry Fine's face seemed "calloused", had a clause in his contract specifically prohibiting him from being hit too hard (though this restriction was later lifted). Besser was the only "third" Stooge that dared to hit Moe back in retaliation and get away with it; Larry Fine was also known to hit Moe on occasion, but always with serious repercussions. "I usually played the kind of character who would hit others back," Besser recalled.

With Besser on board, the Stooge films began to resemble sitcoms. Sitcoms, though, were now available for free. Television was the new popular medium, and by the time Besser joined the act, the Stooges were generally considered throwbacks to an obsolete era. In addition, Moe and Larry were growing older, and could not perform pratfalls and physical comedy as they once had. The inevitable occurred soon enough. Columbia was the last studio still producing shorts, and the market for such films had all but dried up. As a result, the studio opted not to renew the Stooges' contract when it expired in late December 1957. The final comedy produced was ''Flying Saucer Daffy'', filmed on December 19–20, 1957. Several days later, the Stooges were unceremoniously fired from Columbia Pictures after 24 years of making low-budget shorts. Joan Howard Maurer, daughter of Moe, wrote the following in 1982:

{{bquote|The boys' careers had suddenly come to an end. They were at Columbia one day and gone the next—no 'Thank yous,' no farewell party for their 24 years of dedication and service and the dollars their comedies had reaped for the studio.

Moe Howard recalled that a few weeks after their exit from Columbia, he drove to the studio to say goodbye to several studio executives when he was stopped by a guard at the gate (obviously, not a Stooges fan) and, since he did not have the current year's studio pass, was refused entry. For the moment, it was a crushing blow.}} Although the Stooges were no longer working for Columbia, the studio had enough completed films on the shelf to keep releasing new comedies for another 18 months, and not in the order they were produced. The final Stooge release, ''Sappy Bull Fighters'', did not reach theaters until June 4, 1959. With no active contract in place, Moe and Larry discussed plans for a personal appearance tour; meanwhile, Besser's wife had a minor heart attack, and he preferred to stay local, leading him to withdraw from the act. For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Stooges hit a dead end.

The comeback: Larry, Moe and Curly Joe

Seeing the success of how television, in its early years, allowed movie studios to unload a backlog of short films thought unmarketable, the Stooge films seemed perfect for the burgeoning genre. ABC television had even expressed interest as far back as 1949, purchasing exclusive rights to 30 of the trio's shorts. However, the success of television revivals for such names as Laurel and Hardy, Woody Woodpecker, Tom and Jerry and the ''Our Gang'' series in the late 1950s led Columbia to cash in again on the Stooges. In January 1958, Columbia's television subsidiary Screen Gems offered a package consisting of 78 Stooge shorts (mainly from the Curly era), which were well received. Almost immediately, an additional 40 shorts hit the market, and by 1959, all 190 Stooge shorts were airing regularly. Due to the massive quantity of Stooge product available for broadcast, the films were broadcast Monday through Friday, leading to heavy exposure aimed squarely at children. This led parents to watch alongside of their offspring, and before long, Howard and Fine found themselves in high demand. Moe quickly signed movie and burlesque comic Joe DeRita for the "third Stooge" role; DeRita adopted first a crew cut and then a completely shaven hairstyle and became "Curly Joe" because of his resemblance to the original Curly Howard (also to make it easier to distinguish him from Joe Besser, the earlier Stooge called Joe).

This Three Stooges lineup went on to make a series of popular full-length films from 1959 to 1965, most notably ''Have Rocket, Will Travel'', ''The Three Stooges Meet Hercules'' and ''The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze''. The films were aimed at the kiddie-matinee market, and most were Farce outings in the Stooge tradition, with the exception of ''Snow White and the Three Stooges'', a children's fantasy in Technicolor. They also appeared as firemen (the role that helped make them famous in ''Soup to Nuts'') in the film ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World''. Throughout the 1960s, The Three Stooges were one of the most popular and highest-paid live acts in America. The trio also filmed 41 short comedy skits for ''The New Three Stooges'', which features a series of 156 animated cartoons produced for television. The Stooges appeared in live-action color footage, which preceded and followed each animated adventure in which they voiced their respective characters.

Final years

In 1969, the Three Stooges filmed a pilot episode for a new TV series entitled ''Kook's Tour'', a combination travelogue-sitcom that had the "retired" Stooges traveling around the world, with the episodes filmed on location.

On January 9, 1970, during production of the pilot, Larry suffered a paralyzing stroke, ending his acting career, as well as plans for the television series. thumb|150px|lefgt|A proposed incarnation of the Three Stooges. A promotional picture taken after Larry Fine's death in 1975 features a very ill Moe Howard (who died shortly thereafter) flanked by Curly Joe DeRita to the left and Emil Sitka to the right.Plans were in the works for longtime foil Emil Sitka to replace Larry as the "Middle Stooge" in 1971, but nothing ever came of that idea other than the proposed publicity still reproduced here. Three years later, just before Christmas of 1974, Larry Fine suffered yet another stroke at the age of 72 and four weeks later, suffered a more massive one. Slipping into a coma, he died a week later of a stroke-induced cerebral hemorrhage on January 24, 1975.

Devastated by his friend's death, Moe nevertheless decided that the Three Stooges should continue. Several movie ideas were considered, one of which according to critic and movie historian Leonard Maltin, (who also uncovered a pre-production photo) was entitled ''Blazing Stewardesses''. Unfortunately, before pre-production could begin, after a lifetime of smoking, Moe fell ill from lung cancer, and died three months later on May 4, 1975, finally putting to rest the last original surviving member of one of the most famous comedy troupes of the 20th Century.

However, ''Blazing Stewardesses'', the last film idea that the Three Stooges had ever seriously considered, was eventually made, starring the last of the surviving Ritz Brothers comedy troupe and released to moderate acclaim later that year.

Curly Joe continued to perform live into the mid-1970s with Mousie Garner and Frank Mitchell as "The New 3 Stooges" enjoying recognition well into old age, before retiring by 1979.

Of the remaining “original-replacement” Stooges, Joe Besser died of heart failure on March 1, 1988, followed by Curly Joe DeRita of pneumonia on July 3, 1993.

Legacy and perspective

Some 50 years after their last short film was released, the Three Stooges remain wildly popular with audiences. Their films have never left the television airwaves since first appearing in 1958, and they continue to delight old fans while attracting a new legion of fervent admirers. A hard-working group of working-class comedians who were never the critic's darlings, the team endured several personnel changes in their careers that would have permanently sidelined a less persistent act. Despite watching two of his brothers die in a brief span of time, the Stooges would not have lasted as long as they did as a unit without Moe Howard's guiding hand. However, despite their massive popularity, they never received a raise during their entire employment at Columbia nor were they ever allowed to make a full-length feature film during the height of their popularity. Columbia Studios chief Harry Cohn preferred to use the popular Stooges shorts in packages with his weaker features so that exhibitors would have to accept the movies in order to show the shorts, which would bring in the public.

The Ted Okuda/Edward Watz-penned book ''The Columbia Comedy Shorts'' puts the Stooges legacy in critical perspective:

Beginning in the 1980s, the Stooges finally began to receive long-overdue critical recognition. More often than not, the praise was directed at Curly, usually at the expense of his castmates, most especially Shemp. With the advent of cable television and the burgeoning home video market, the praise was eventually spread more evenly throughout the team. Critics began to realize that Moe and Larry were gifted performers; though less flamboyant than Curly, they were by no means less talented. Curly was indeed brilliant and a one-of-a-kind, but taken for long periods of time, he could also be irritating and exhausting without Moe and Larry present to provide a counterbalance. This balance would be handled better after Shemp returned to the act, with Larry in particular receiving more screen time. The release of nearly all their films on DVD by 2010 has allowed critics of Joe Besser and Joe DeRita—often the recipients of significant fan backlash—to appreciate the unique style of comedy both comedians brought to the Stooges. In addition, the DVD market in particular has allowed fans to view the entire Stooge film corpus as distinct periods in their long, distinguished career instead of comparing one Stooge to the other (the Curly vs. Shemp debate continues to this day).

The team appeared in 220 films. In the end, it is the durability of the 190 timeless short films the Stooges made at Columbia Pictures that acts as an enduring tribute to the comedy team. Their continued popularity worldwide has proven to even the most skeptical critics that their films—quite simply—are funny. American television personality Steve Allen went on record in the mid-1980s saying "though they never achieved widespread critical acclaim, they achieved exactly what they had always intended to do: they made people laugh."

Line-ups

!	! Ted	! Moe	! Shemp	! Larry	! Curly	! Joe	! Curly Joe	! Emil Sitka
1.									1922–1924
2.									1925–1932
3.									1932–1934
4.									1934–1946
5.									1946–1955
6.									1956–1958
7.									1958–1971
8.									1971–1975

Ted Healy Real Name: Clarence Ernst Lee Nash Born: October 01, 1896 Died: December 21, 1937 Stooge Years: 1922–1931, 1932–1934

Moe Howard Real Name: Moses Harry Horwitz Born: June 19, 1897 Died: May 04, 1975 Stooge years: 1922–1927, 1928–1975

Larry Fine Real Name: Louis Feinberg Born: October 05, 1902 Died: January 24, 1975 Stooge years: 1925–1927, 1928–1971

Curly Howard Real Name: Jerome Lester Horwitz Born: October 22, 1903 Died: January 18, 1952 Stooge years: 1932–1946

Shemp Howard Real Name: Samuel Horwitz Born: March 04, 1895 Died: November 22, 1955 Stooge years: 1922–1927, 1928–1932, 1946–1955

Joe Besser Born: August 12, 1907 Died: March 01, 1988 Stooge years: 1956–1958

Joe DeRita Real Name: Joseph Wardell Born: July 12, 1909 Died: July 03, 1993 Stooge years: 1958–1975

Emil Sitka Born: December 22, 1915 Died: January 16, 1998 Stooge years: n/a

Shorts

The Three Stooges appeared in 220 films throughout their career. Of those 220, 190 short films were made for Columbia Pictures between 1934 and 1959, for which the trio are best known. Their contract was extended each year from 1934 until the final one expired on December 31, 1957. The last 8 of the 16 shorts with Joe Besser were released soon afterward.

C3 Entertainment, Inc.

Throughout their career, Moe acted as both their main creative force and business manager. Comedy III was formed by Moe, Larry and Curly-Joe in 1959 to manage all business and merchandise transactions for the team. Comedy III was basically in the background, with Moe's son-in-law Norman Maurer managing the comedy teams' film interests under Normandy Productions, and merchandising affairs under Norman Maurer Productions (NMP). Norman Maurer died in 1986.

In 1994 the heirs of Larry Fine and Joe DeRita filed a lawsuit against Moe's family, particularly Joan Howard Maurer and her son Jeffrey, who had inherited the NMP/Normandy business. The result reestablished Comedy III as a three-way interest of Fine/[Moe]Howard/DeRita. The DeRita heirs received the proxy to the Howard share, giving them majority control on the company's management. Curly-Joe's stepsons, Robert and Earl Benjamin, became the senior management of Comedy III. The Benjamins later incorporated the company, and C3 Entertainment, Inc. is currently the owner of all Three Stooges trademarks and merchandising. Larry's grandson Eric Lamond is the representative of the Fines' one-third interest in the company.

C3 has also, since 1995, authorized and provided the services of veteran actors Jim Skousen, Alan Semok, and Dave Knight (as Moe, Larry, and Curly respectively) for numerous "personal appearances" by the Stooge characters for a variety of merchandising and promotional events. This latter day trio has also provided voices for the characters in a variety of radio spots, merchandising tie-ins, and most recently for the first new Three Stooges short in fifty years. A CGI animation by Famous Frames Mobile Interactive, a first-wave "new media" company, entitled ''The Grate Debate'', has Moe, Larry and Curly running for President.

Television broadcasts and rights issues

A handful of Three Stooges shorts first aired on television in 1949, on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network. It was not until 1958 that Screen Gems packaged 78 shorts for national syndication; the package was gradually enlarged to encompass the entire library of 190 shorts. In 1959, KTTV in Los Angeles purchased the Three Stooges films for air, but by the early 1970s, rival station KTLA began airing the Stooges films, keeping them in the schedule until early 1994. The Family Channel (now ABC Family) ran the shorts as part of their ''Stooge TV'' block from February 19, 1996 to January 2, 1998. In the late 1990s, AMC had held the rights to the Three Stooges shorts, originally airing them under the ''Stooges Playhouse'' block, but replacing it in 1999 with ''N.Y.U.K.'' (New Yuk University of Knuckleheads). Featuring host Leslie Nielsen in the form of a college instructor, the block aired several shorts often grouped by a theme, such as similar schtick used in different films. Although the block was discontinued after AMC revamped their format in 2002, the network still ran Stooges shorts occasionally. The AMC run ended when Spike TV picked them up in 2004, airing them in their ''Stooges Slap-Happy Hour''. By 2007, the network had discontinued the block. Although Spike did air Stooges shorts for a brief period of time after the block was canceled, as of late April 2008, Three Stooges has disappeared from the network's schedule entirely. The Three Stooges returned on December 31, 2009 on AMC, starting with the "Countdown with the Stooges" New Year's Eve marathon. AMC planned to put several episodes on their website in 2010.

Since the 1990s Columbia and its television division's successor, Sony Pictures Television, has preferred to license the Stooges shorts to cable networks, precluding the films from being shown on local broadcast TV. Two stations in Chicago and Boston, however, signed long-term syndication contracts with Columbia years ago and have declined to terminate them. Thus, WMEU-CA in Chicago currently airs all 190 Three Stooges shorts on ''Stooge-a-Palooza'', hosted by Rich Koz, and WSBK-TV in Boston airs Stooge shorts and feature films. KTLA in Los Angeles dropped the shorts in 1994, but brought them back in 2007 as part of a special retro-marathon commemorating the station's 60th anniversary. Since that time, the station's original 16mm Stooges film prints have aired occasionally as part of mini-marathons on holidays. Antenna TV, a network broadcasting on the digital subchannels of local broadcast stations (owned by Tribune Broadcasting, who also owns KTLA), began airing the Stooges shorts upon the network's January 1, 2011 launch, which run in multi-hour blocks on weekends; most of the Three Stooges feature films are also broadcast on the network, through Antenna TV's distribution agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment (whose Columbia Pictures subsidiary released most of the films).

Some of the Stooge films have been colorized by two separate companies. The first colorized DVD releases, distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, were prepared by West Wing Studios in 2004. The following year, Legend Films colorized the public domain shorts ''Malice in the Palace'', ''Sing a Song of Six Pants'', ''Disorder in the Court'' and ''Brideless Groom''. ''Disorder in the Court'' and ''Brideless Groom'' also appear on two of West Wing's colorized releases. In any event, the Columbia-produced shorts (aside from the public domain films) are handled by Sony Pictures Entertainment, while the MGM Stooges shorts are owned by Warner Bros. via their Turner Entertainment division. Sony offers 21 of the shorts on their web platform Crackle, along with eleven Minisodes. Meanwhile, the rights to the Stooges' feature films rests with the studios that originally produced them (Columbia/Sony for the Columbia films, and 20th Century Fox for the Fox films).

Home video release and public reception

Between 1984 and 1985, RCA Columbia Pictures Home Video released a total of thirteen Three Stooges volumes on VHS, Beta and Laserdisc, each containing three shorts. These titles were later reissued on VHS by its successor, Sony Pictures Entertainment, between 1995 and 1997, with a DVD reissue between 2000 and 2004.

On October 30, 2007, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released a two-disc DVD set entitled The Three Stooges Collection, Volume One: 1934–1936. The set contains shorts from the first three years the Stooges worked at Columbia Pictures, marking the first time ever that all 19 shorts were released in their original theatrical order to DVD. Additionally, every short was remastered in high definition, a first for the Stooge films. Previous DVD releases were based on themes (wartime, history, work, etc.), and sold poorly. Fans and critics alike praised Sony for finally giving the Stooges the proper DVD treatment. One critic states "the Three Stooges on DVD has been a real mix'n match hodgepodge of un-restored titles and illogical entries. This new...boxset...seems to be the first concerted effort to categorize their huge body of work chronologically with many shorts seeing the digital light for the first time." Videolibrarian.com critic added "finally, the studio knuckleheads got it right! The way that the Three Stooges have been presented on home video has been a real slap in the face and poke in the eye to fans. They’ve been anthologized, colorized, and public domain-ed, as their shorts have been released and re-released in varying degrees of quality. Highly recommended." Critic James Plath of DVDtown.com added, "Thank you, Sony, for finally giving these Columbia Pictures icons the kind of DVD retrospective that they deserve. Remastered in High Definition and presented in chronological order, these short films now give fans the chance to appreciate the development of one of the most successful comedy teams in history."

The chronological series proved very successful and wildly popular, and Sony wasted little time preparing the next set for release. Volume Two: 1937–1939 was released on May 27, 2008, followed by Volume Three: 1940–1942 three months later on August 26, 2008. Demand exceeded supply, proving to Sony that they had a hit on their hands. In response, Volume Four: 1943–1945 was released on October 7, 2008, a mere two months after its predecessor. The global economic crisis slowed down the release schedule after Volume Four, and Volume Five: 1946–1948 was belatedly released on March 17, 2009. Volume Five is the first in the series to feature Shemp Howard with the Stooges. Volume Six: 1949–1951 was released June 16, 2009. and Volume Seven: 1952–1954 was released on November 10, 2009.

The eighth and final volume was released on June 1, 2010, bringing the series to a close. For the first time in history, all 190 ''Three Stooges'' short subjects became available to the public.

Music

Several instrumental tunes were played over the opening credits at different times in the production of the short features. The most commonly used themes were:

* The verse portion of the Civil War era song "Listen to the Mockingbird", played in a comical way, complete with sounds of birds and such. This was first used in ''Pardon My Scotch'', their ninth short film, in 1935. (Prior to that comedic short, the opening theme varied and was typically connected to the storyline in some fashion.)

* "Three Blind Mice", beginning in 1939 as a slow but straightforward presentation (dubbed the "sliding strings" version), often breaking into a "jazzy" style before ending. In mid-1942, another more driving version, complete with accordion was played fast all the way through.

The Columbia short subject ''Woman Haters'' was done completely in rhyme, mostly recited (not sung), in rhythm with a Jazz-Age underscore running throughout the film, but with some key lines sung. It was sixth in a ''Musical Novelties'' short subject series, and appropriated its musical score from the first five films. The memorable “My Life, My Love, My All,” was originally “At Last!” from the film ''Um-Pa''.

"Swinging the Alphabet" (a.k.a. B-A-bay, B-E-be, B-I-bicky-bi…) from ''Violent Is the Word for Curly'' is perhaps the best-known song performed by the Stooges on film.

The “Lucia Sextet” (''Chi mi frena in tal memento?''), from the opera ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' by Gaetano Donizetti (announced by Larry as “the Sextet from Lucy”), is played on a record player and lip-synched by the Stooges in ''Micro-Phonies''. The same melody re-appears in ''Squareheads of the Round Table'' as the tune of “Oh, Elaine, can you come out tonight?”. ''Micro-Phonies'' also includes the Johann Strauss II waltz “Voices of Spring” ("Frühlingsstimmen") Op. 410. Another Strauss waltz, "The Blue Danube", is featured in ''Ants in the Pantry'' and ''Punch Drunks''.

The song “Fredric March” (named after the actor) was a favorite of director Jules White; it appeared in at least six different Columbia shorts:

* ''Termites of 1938'' - the Stooges "play" this song on a violin, flute, and string bass at a dinner party in an attempt to attract mice.

* ''Dutiful But Dumb'' - Curly is hidden inside a floor-standing radio, and plays the song on a modified harmonica.

* ''Three Little Twirps'' - heard as background music at the circus while Moe and Curly sell tickets.

* ''Idle Roomers'' - Curly plays the song on a trombone to calm a wolf man.

* ''Gents Without Cents'' - three girls perform acrobatics on stage while this song is playing

* ''Gents in a Jam'' - Shemp and Moe have a problem with a radio that will not stop playing this song

* ''Pardon My Backfire'' - the song plays on a car radio

The Moe–Larry–Curly Joe lineup of the Stooges recorded several musical record albums in the early 1960s. Most of their songs were adaptations of nursery rhymes. Among their more popular recordings were "Making a Record" (a surreal trip to a recording studio built around the song "Go Tell Aunt Mary"), "Three Little Fishes", "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth", "Wreck the Halls with Boughs of Holly", "Mairzy Doats" and "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas".

In 1983, a group called the Jump 'N the Saddle Band recorded a track called "The Curly Shuffle", which featured the narrator singing about his love of the Stooges mixed with a chorus of many of Curly's catchphrases and sound effects. In the mid-1980s, the song became a popular mid-game hit for New York Mets fans in the Shea Stadium bleachers, who would dance in small groups to the tune whenever the song was played between innings. The music video, which featured clips of the classic Stooges shorts, was also included as a bonus feature on one of the 1984 VHS releases.

Feature motion pictures

The Three Stooges also made appearances in many feature length movies in the course of their careers:

{|class="wikitable" |- ! Film || Year || Moe || Larry || Curly || Shemp || Joe || Curly Joe |- |''Soup to Nuts'' || 1930 || Moe || Larry || || Shemp || || |- |''Turn Back the Clock'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Meet the Baron'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Dancing Lady'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Broadway to Hollywood'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Myrt and Marge'' || 1933 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Fugitive Lovers'' || 1934 || Moe || Larry ||Curly || || || |- |''Hollywood Party'' (cameos) || 1934 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''The Captain Hates the Sea'' (cameos)|| 1934 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Start Cheering'' || 1938 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Time Out for Rhythm'' || 1941 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''My Sister Eileen'' (cameos) || 1942 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Rockin' in the Rockies'' || 1945 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Swing Parade of 1946'' || 1946 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Gold Raiders'' || 1951 || Moe || Larry || || Shemp || || |- |''Have Rocket, Will Travel'' || 1959 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''Stop! Look! and Laugh!'' (compilation)|| 1960 || Moe || Larry || Curly || || || |- |''Snow White and the Three Stooges'' || 1961 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Three Stooges Meet Hercules'' || 1962 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Three Stooges in Orbit'' || 1962 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze'' || 1963 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (cameos)|| 1963 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''4 for Texas'' || 1963 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''The Outlaws Is Coming'' || 1965 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |- |''Kook's Tour'' (TV pilot) || 1970 || Moe || Larry || || || || Curly Joe |} Joe Besser never appeared with the Stooges in a feature film.

Three feature-length Columbia releases were actually packages of older Columbia shorts. ''Columbia Laff Hour'' (introduced in 1956) was a random assortment that included the Stooges among other Columbia comedians like Andy Clyde, Hugh Herbert, and Vera Vague; the content and length varied from one theater to the next. ''Three Stooges Fun-o-Rama'' (introduced in 1959) was an all-Stooges show capitalizing on their TV fame, again with shorts chosen at random for individual theaters. ''The Three Stooges Follies'' (1974) was similar to ''Laff Hour'', with a trio of Stooge comedies augmented by Buster Keaton and Vera Vague shorts, a Batman serial chapter, and a Kate Smith musical.

Museum

Gary Lassin opened the Stoogeum in 2004 in a renovated architect's office in Spring House, Pennsylvania, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Philadelphia. The museum-quality exhibits fill three stories (10,000 square feet or 929 square meters), including an 85-seat theater. Peter Seely, editor of the book ''Stoogeology: Essays on the Three Stooges'' said that the Stoogeum has "''more stuff than I even imagined existed''." 2,500 people visit it yearly, many during the annual Three Stooges Fan Club gathering in April.

In other media

Comic books

Over the years, several Three Stooges comics were produced.

St. John Publications published the first Three Stooges comics in 1949 with 2 issues, then again in 1953–54 with 7 issues.

Dell Comics published a Three Stooges series first as one-shots in their ''Four Color Comics'' line for five issues, then gave them a numbered series for four more issues (#6–9). With #10, the title would be published by Gold Key Comics. Under Gold Key, the series lasted through issue #55 in 1972.

Gold Key Comics then published the ''Little Stooges'' series (7 issues, 1972–74) with story and art by Norman Maurer, Moe's son-in-law. This series featured the adventures of three fictional sons of the Three Stooges, as sort of modern-day teen-age versions of the characters.

Eclipse Comics published the ''Three-D Three Stooges'' series (3 issues, 1986–1987) which reprinted stories from the St. John Publications series.

Malibu Comics did a couple of one-shot comics, reprinting stories from the Gold Key Comics in 1989 and 1991.

Music

Beginning in 1959, the Three Stooges began to appear in a series of novelty records. Their first recording was a 45 rpm single of the title song from ''Have Rocket, Will Travel.'' The trio released additional singles and LPs on the Golden and Coral labels, mixing comedy adventure albums and off-beat renditions of children's songs. Their final recording was the 1966 ''Yogi Bear and the Three Stooges Meet the Mad, Mad, Mad Dr. No-No'', which incorporated the Three Stooges into the cast of the Yogi Bear cartoons.

The Stooges are referenced in the video for Weird Al Yankovic's Like a Surgeon with a hospital PA system asked for "Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard."

Radio

Sirius XM Radio aired a special about the Stooges hosted by Tom Bergeron on Friday, July 31, 2009, at 2:00PM on the Sirius Howard 101 channel. Bergeron had conducted the interviews at the age of 17 back when he was still in high school in 1971. The television host had the tapes in storage for many years and was convinced on air during a Howard Stern Radio interview to bring them in and turn it into a special show by Howard Stern himself, upon learning how much of a fan Bergeron was of the Three Stooges, as is he. Bergeron agreed.

After finding "the lost tapes," Bergeron brought them into Howard Stern's production studio. He stated that the tapes were so old that the tapes with the Larry Fine interviews began to shred as Howard Stern's radio engineers ran them through their cart players. They only really had the one shot, and fortunately for Three Stooges fans, the tapes were saved.

"The Lost Stooges Tapes" were hosted by Tom Bergeron with modern commentary on the almost 40 year old interviews that he had conducted with Larry Fine and Moe Howard. At the times of these interviews, Moe was still living at home and Larry had suffered a stroke and was living in a Senior Citizen's home.

Television

In addition to the unsuccessful television series pilot ''Jerks of All Trades'' (see "History", above) and the incomplete ''Kook's Tour'', the Stooges appeared in a show called ''The New Three Stooges'' which ran from 1965 to 1966. This series featured a mix of thirty-nine live-action segments which were used as wraparounds to 156 animated Stooges shorts. That cartoon program became the only regularly scheduled television show in history for the Stooges. Unlike other films shorts that aired on TV like the ''Looney Tunes'', ''Tom and Jerry'', and ''Popeye'', the film shorts of the Stooges never had a regularly scheduled national television program to air in, neither on network nor syndicated. When Columbia/Screen Gems licensed the film library to television, the shorts aired in any fashion the local stations chose (examples: late-night "filler" material between the end of the late movie and the channel's sign-off time; in "marathon" sessions running shorts back-to-back for one, one-and-a-half, or two hours; etc.)

Two episodes of Hanna-Barbera's ''The New Scooby-Doo Movies'' aired on CBS featuring animated Stooges as guest stars: the premiere, "Ghastly Ghost Town" (September 9, 1972) and "The Ghost of the Red Baron" (November 18, 1972). There also was a short-lived animated series, also produced by Hanna-Barbera, titled ''The Robonic Stooges'', originally seen as a featured segment on ''The Skatebirds'' (CBS, 1977–1978), featuring Moe, Larry, and Curly (voiced by Paul Winchell, Joe Baker and Frank Welker, respectively) as bionic cartoon superheroes with extendable limbs, similar to the later ''Inspector Gadget''. ''The Robonic Stooges'' later aired as a separate half-hour series, retitled ''The Three Robonic Stooges'' (each half-hour featured two segments of ''The Three Robonic Stooges'' and one segment of ''Woofer And Whimper, Dog Detectives'', the latter re-edited from episodes of ''Clue Club'', an earlier Hanna-Barbera cartoon series). There are also many ''Stooges'' references in the sitcom ''ALF''.

In the episode "Beware The Creeper" of ''The New Batman Adventures''. the Joker retreats to his hide-out after a quick fight with Batman. He yells out for his three henchmen "Moe? Larr? Cur?" only to find that they are not there. Shortly after that, Batman comes across these three goons in a pool hall; they have distinctive accents and hair styles similar to those of Moe, Larry, and Curly. These henchmen are briefly seen throughout the rest of the season.

2000 television film

In spring of 2000, longtime Stooge fan Mel Gibson executive-produced a TV movie (''The Three Stooges'') about the lives and careers of the comedians. Playing Moe was Paul Ben-Victor; Evan Handler was Larry; John Kassir was Shemp; and Michael Chiklis was Curly. It was filmed in Sydney, Australia and was produced for and broadcast on ABC. It was based on Michael Fleming's authorized biography of the Stooges, ''The Three Stooges: From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons''. Its unflattering portrayal of Ted Healy led Healy's son to give media interviews calling the film inaccurate. Additional errors of fact included the hints that Moe Howard was down on his luck later in life, and worked as a gofer at the studio where he and his brothers had formerly worked as actors, and that he never owned his own house. In reality, Moe was the most careful with his money, which he invested well. He and his wife Helen owned the comfortable house in Toluca Lake in which they raised their children.

The film regularly runs on the American Movie Classics (AMC) channel.

Feature film revival

A film about the Three Stooges, simply titled ''The Three Stooges'', is currently in development with 20th Century Fox and will be directed by the Farrelly Brothers. The film has been in what one critic has dubbed "development hell". The Farrellys, who have wanted to make this film since 1996, have said that they were not going to do a biopic or remake, but instead new Three Stooges episodes set in the present day. The plot of the episodes is said to be an adventure that revolves around the Stooges characters.

The studio has had a difficult time putting together a cast to play the Three Stooges. Originally slated were Sean Penn to play Larry, Benicio del Toro to play Moe and Jim Carrey to play Curly. Both Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro left the project but returned while no official confirmation has been made about Jim Carrey. When del Toro was interviewed on MTV News for ''The Wolfman'', he spoke about playing Moe. He was later asked who was going to play Larry and Curly in the film and commented that he still thought that Sean Penn and Jim Carrey were going to play them, though he added "Nothing is for sure yet." A story in the Hollywood Reporter stated that Will Sasso will play Curly in the upcoming comedy and that Hank Azaria is the front runner to play Moe. Sean Hayes of ''Will & Grace'' fame has officially been cast as Larry Fine, while Chris Diamantopoulos was cast as Moe. On April 27, Jane Lynch joined the cast; she will be playing a nun.

Video games

In 1984 Gottlieb released an arcade game featuring the Stooges trying to find three kidnapped brides. Later in 1987, game developers Cinemaware released a successful Three Stooges computer game, available for Apple IIGS, Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Based on the Stooges earning money by doing odd jobs to prevent the foreclosure of an orphanage, it incorporated audio from the original films and was popular enough to be reissued for the Game Boy Advance in 2002, as well as for PlayStation in 2004.

In foreign languages

In most other languages, the Three Stooges are known by their English name. However, in Chinese, the trio is known as ''Sānge Chòu Píjiàng'' (三個臭皮匠) or ''Huóbǎo Sānrénzǔ'' (活寶三人組). ''Sānge Chòu Píjiàng'', literally "Three Smelly Shoemakers", derives from a saying in the ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'': ''Sāngè chòu píjiàng shèngguò yīgè Zhūgě Liàng'' (三個臭皮匠，勝過一個諸葛亮) or "Three smelly shoemakers (are enough to) overcome one Zhuge Liang [a hero of the story]", i.e. three inferior people can overpower a superior person when they combine their strength. ''Huóbǎo Sānrénzǔ'' translates as "Trio of Buffoons".

In Japanese they are known as ''San Baka Taishō'' (三馬鹿大将) meaning "Three Idiot Generals" or "Three ''Baka'' Generals". The Japanese term ''baka'' (馬鹿, "fool" or "idiot", lit. "horse deer") is associated with the Chinese idiom ''zhǐlù wéimǎ'' (指鹿為馬; lit. "point at a deer and call it a horse", in Japanese ''shika o sashite uma to nasu'' [鹿を指して馬と為す]) meaning "deliberate misrepresentation for ulterior purposes". In Spanish they are known as ''Los tres chiflados'' or, roughly, "The Three Crackpots". In French and German usage, the name of the trio is partially translated as ''Les Trois Stooges'' and ''Die drei Stooges'' respectively. In Thai, the trio is known as 3 สมุนจอมป่วน (''3 Samunčhǭmpūan''; ) or 3 พี่น้องจอมยุ่ง (''Phīnǭngčhǭmyung''; ). In Portuguese, they are known as ''Os Três Patetas'' in Brazil, and ''Os Três Estarolas'' in Portugal, being "estarola" a direct translation to "stooge", while "pateta" being more related to "goofy".

See also

The Three Stooges in popular culture

References

;Notes

;Bibliography

Besser, Joe (with Lenburg, Jeff, and Lenburg, Greg), ''Not Just a Stooge'' (1984) Excelsior Books, Inc. (reissued 1987 as ''Once a Stooge, Always a Stooge'') Roundtable Publications (Autobiography of Joe Besser, including anecdotes about Abbott and Costello and Olsen and Johnson)

Bruskin, David N., ''Behind the Three Stooges: The White Brothers: Conversations with David N. Bruskin'' (1993) Directors Guild of America (In-depth interviews with producer-directors Jules White, Jack White, and Sam White)

Comedy III Productions, Inc., ''Pop, You’re "Poifect!": A Three Stooges Salute to Dad'' (2002) Andrews McMeel

Cox, Steve and Terry, Jim, ''One Fine Stooge: Larry Fine's Frizzy Life in Pictures'' (2005) Cumberland House Publishing

Davis, Lon and Davis, Debra (eds.), ''Stooges Among Us'' (2008) BearManor Media ISBN 1-59393-300-2

Feinberg, Morris, ''Larry: The Stooge in the Middle'' (1984) Last Gasp of San Francisco (Biography of Larry Fine, attributed to his brother but actually ghostwritten by Bob Davis)

Fericano, Paul, ''Stoogism Anthology'' (1977) Poor Souls Printing

Fine, Larry (with Carone, James), ''Stroke of Luck'' (1973) Siena Publishing Co. (Larry Fine's autobiography, transcribed from interviews toward the end of his life)

Flanagan, Bill, ''Last of the Moe Haircuts'' (1986) McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books, Inc.

Fleming, Michael, ''The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, from Amalgamated Morons to American Icons'' (2002) Broadway Publishing

Forrester, Jeffrey, ''The Stoogephile Trivia Book'' (1982) Contemporary Books, Inc.

Forrester, Jeffrey, ''The Stooges Chronicles'' (1981) Contemporary Books, Inc. (Comprehensive overview of the team's career; also discusses the various Ted Healy stooges)

Forrester, Jeffrey, and Forrester, Tom, ''The Stooges' Lost Episodes'' (1988) Contemporary Books, Inc. (Discussion of obscure Stooges appearances, including solo films by individual Stooges)

Forrester, Jeff, with Forrester, Tom, and Wallison, Joe, ''The Three Stooges: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the Most Popular Comedy Team of All Time'' (2004) Donaldson Books (Revised, updated edition of ''The Stooges Chronicles'')

Garner, Paul, ''Mousie Garner: Autobiography of a Vaudeville Stooge'' (1999) McFarland & Co.

Hansen, Tom and Forrester, Jeffrey, ''Stoogemania: An Extravaganza of Stooge Photos, Puzzles, Trivia, Collectibles and More'' (1984) Contemporary Books, Inc. (Overview of Three Stooges memorabilia)

Howard, Moe, ''Moe Howard and the Three Stooges'' (1977) Citadel Press (Moe Howard's autobiography, completed and released posthumously by his daughter)

Koceimba, Bill, with Kaufman, Eric A., and Sack, Steve, ''The Three Stooges Golf Spoof and Trivia Book'' (1999) Gazelle, Inc.

Kurson, Robert, ''The Official Three Stooges Encyclopedia: The Ultimate Knucklehead's Guide to Stoogedom, from Amalgamated Association of Morons to Ziller, Zeller, and Zoller'' (1999) McGraw-Hill

Kurson, Robert, ''The Official Three Stooges Cookbook'' (1998) Contemporary Books, Inc.

Lenburg, Jeff, with Maurer, Joan Howard, and Lenburg, Greg, ''The Three Stooges Scrapbook'' (1982, revised 1994, 2000) Citadel Press

Longley, Maximillian, ''The Conservative In Spite of Himself: A Reluctant Right-Winger's Thoughts on Life, Law and the Three Stooges'' (2007) Monograph Publishers

Maltin, Leonard, ''The Great Movie Comedians'' (1978) Crown Books

Maltin, Leonard, ''Movie Comedy Teams'' (1970, revised 1985) New American Library

Maltin, Leonard, ''Selected Short Subjects'' (first published as ''The Great Movie Shorts'', 1972) Crown Books, (revised 1983) Da Capo Press

McGarry, Annie, ''The Wacky World of the Three Stooges'' (1992) Crescent Books

Maurer, Joan Howard, ''Curly: An Illustrated Biography of the Superstooge'' (1985, revised 1988) Citadel Press

Maurer, Joan Howard (ed.), ''The Three Stooges Book of Scripts'' (1984) Citadel Press

Maurer, Joan Howard and Maurer, Norman (eds.), ''The Three Stooges Book of Scripts, Volume II'' (1987) Citadel Press

Okuda, Ted and Watz, Edward, ''The Columbia Comedy Shorts'' (1998) McFarland & Co. (Comprehensive history of the Columbia short subject department; Stooge colleagues Edward Bernds and Emil Sitka are quoted extensively)

Seely, Peter and Pieper, Gail W., ''Stoogeology: Essays on the Three Stooges'' (2007) McFarland & Co.

Smith, Ronald L., ''The Stooge Fans' I.Q. Test'' (1988) Contemporary Books, Inc.

Solomon, Jon, ''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion'’ (2000) Comedy III Productions

External links

Three Stooges Online Filmography at threestooges.net

The Three Stooges Official Website (sanctioned by C3 Entertainment, Inc. - threestooges.com)

The Stoogeum (Three Stooges Museum) – stoogeum.com

Portrait (2009) of The Three Stooges (with Shemp) by noted illustrator Drew Friedman

Interview with Moe Howard on new success with the younger generation from the Ocala Star-Banner – Feb 22, 1959 accessed via Google News

Category:Television series by Sony Pictures Television Category:1925 introductions Category:Jewish comedy and humor Category:The Three Stooges films Category:Pie throwing Category:Slapstick comedians Category:Gold Key Comics titles Category:Dell Comics titles Category:Jewish comedians

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