In Genesis, Canaan was cursed after Noah became drunk and Ham saw his father’s nakedness.
Genesis 9:20–27 recounts Noah planting a vineyard, drinking wine, and becoming drunk inside his tent. Ham, identified as the father of Canaan, saw Noah’s nakedness and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth covered Noah without looking at him. When Noah awoke, he pronounced a curse on Canaan and blessings involving Shem and Japheth.
This passage is often called the Curse of Ham, but the text itself places the curse on Canaan, not directly on Ham. That distinction is important and has been obscured in some later interpretations.
The episode comes after the Flood narrative and the rainbow covenant. It is a genealogy-linked story explaining relationships among Noah’s descendants, not an account of another punishment during the Flood.