Canadian folklore

[1] It includes songs, legends, jokes, rhymes, proverbs, weather lore, superstitions, and practices such as traditional food-making and craft-making.

The classic definitions of folklore were created by Europeans such as William Thoms, who coined the term in 1846 to refer to "manners, customs [...] of the olden times".

[2] The study of folklore grew out of the European concept of folk, often understood to mean "common, uneducated people mostly in villages or rural communities".

Even 19th century folklorists collecting and attempting to translate Indigenous oral literature recognized the immense challenge of bridging the culture gap.

"[4] As one Native chief explained, It is very difficult for a stranger to rightly understand the morals of their stories [...] And when you have learned all that language can convey, there are still a thousand images, suggestions and associations recurring to the Indian, which can strike no chord in your heart.

"[6] Indigenous folklore and mythology are sometimes collected and studied according to language families, such as Algonquian, Athabaskan, Iroquoian, Kutenai, Salishan, Siouan, and others.

[12] Loup-garou (werewolves) and shape-shifting sorcerers turning into animals such as owls or bears "to torture their enemies" are widespread in French-Canadian legends.

The folklore of the coureur des bois and voyageurs has been much studied, particularly the chansons (songs) they created to help them paddle in unison when canoeing and to build morale.

Early English-Canadian folklore has several points of origin, due to the various settler groups that came to the country from England, Scotland, Ireland, and as Loyalists following the American Revolutionary War.

In the generations since the early settlers, waves of immigrants have come to Canada from around the world, adding their own folklore to the country's mix.

[18] Folklorists have often focused on specific regional or ethnic communities, as with Helen Creighton's work recording and documenting Nova Scotia sea-songs and ballads, or the many studies of the folklore of Newfoundland.

[22] Some popular folklore in Canada involves lore connected with actual historical people, such as the "Black Donnellys", a family from Lucan, Ontario.

Folklore traditions brought from Central and Eastern Europe have survived in Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Doukhobor, Mennonite, and other communities of the region.

Verse ballads by poet Robert Service told tall tales about colourful Klondike characters, such as The Cremation of Sam McGee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew.