Canaan was Noah’s grandson who was cursed in the Genesis account after the flood.
Genesis 9 describes Noah becoming drunk and lying uncovered in his tent. Ham, identified as the father of Canaan, saw his father’s condition and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth then covered Noah without looking at him. After waking, Noah pronounced a curse on Canaan and a blessing involving Shem and Japheth.
The passage names Canaan, not Ham, as the recipient of the curse. This is a frequent source of confusion because Ham is the son who discovers Noah, and Canaan is explicitly identified as Ham’s son. Genesis does not state in the episode why Canaan, rather than Ham, receives the pronouncement.
Canaan later becomes the biblical name of the land and peoples associated with the eastern Mediterranean. The episode should not be used to justify racial interpretations; the text identifies a family and territorial relationship, not a modern racial category.