A region of the Levant where many important events in the Bible took place, and referenced in a hymn sung during Black Diggers. Significantly, “Canaanites” refers to the indigenous people of this region, who were ostensibly wiped out by the Israelites (providing a salient parallel to the plight of Indigenous Australians).
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Canaan Term Timeline in Black Diggers
The timeline below shows where the term Canaan appears in Black Diggers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act Two
...Pat Daffy dying. Ern leaves, and Norm listens to an old hymn about looking to Canaan from the Jordan River, before pontificating about how nobody cared about color in the war,...
(full context)
...the hymn Norm was listening to, “On Jordan’s Stormy Banks I Stand.” Looking across to Canaan, “where my possessions lie,” they sing, “I am bound for the promised land.”
(full context)
