The Lansdowne Letters: A School Party

My brother, and I were really curious about life 
in Lansdowne House in Northern Ontario.
We knew at some point we would join our father there.
My younger sisters, aged six, four, and one
understood less or very little.

But to Roy and me, the thoughts
of flying Way-Up-North in a bush plane
and of going to school with real Indians
was terribly exciting and adventurous.

Flying  Over the Albany River
Photo by Don MacBeath,  October 1960
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

Whenever one of our father's letters arrived in the mail,

we couldn't wait to hear about his adventures

in a place so different from Nova Scotia;

but most of all, we wanted to hear about Indian children.

Ojibwe Children

Wild Rice Camp, Minnesota. circa 1940

©The Ojibwe People's Dictionary          

http://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu

license

On Friday, October 21, 1960 

My father wrote:

Hi There Everyone:
There was no mail again this Friday.  
It was a real blizzard up here all day.  
There is quite a lot of snow on the ground, 
but the lake is still mostly open, although 
there is quite a bit of ice in some of the bays. 

I don’t expect that it will remain 
open much longer though. 

Albany River

wikimedia

Harry Evans, 
a pilot for Superior Airways 
out of Sioux Lookout, 
told Bill Mitchell 
that all the lakes 
north of the Albany River 
are frozen solid, 
except for Attawapiskat 
and one or two other larger ones. 

The Albany is a river halfway between 
Nakina and Lansdowne House.  
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if you don’t read 
what I am typing now till the last week 
in November or the first week in December.

Albany and Attawapiskat Rivers

(to the left of James Bay)

wikimedia

Well, I wish you could have seen me with my Indians.  
I decided to give them a party this afternoon.  
I bought a whole lot of candy and fruit down at the Bay, 
and I took it to school for prizes.  

The party lasted all afternoon, 
and I had a hard time to get rid of them at four o’clock.  
We played Musical Chairs, Blind Man’s Bluff, 
Pin the Tail on the Donkey, 
and lots of other games of this nature.

My Father's Students Dunking for Apples
(Note:  stoves in the background that caused problems)

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario
Photo by Don MacBeath,  October 1960
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

We cleared all the furniture out of the main part of the school 
and had races and other forms of entertainment.
  
Two of my boys even put on a boxing match for us.  
I am going to have to get a set of boxing gloves, 
and teach them how to box correctly 
as they are very interested in it.  

When the afternoon was over, I still had 
lots of prizes left over, so I had a drawing 
and a scramble to give them away. 
I took care to see that everyone won something. 

The children must have had a good time, 
because they were all after me to find out 
when I’m going to hold another one.  

I guess that I will have one on Halloween.  
I believe that I will start them making 
a paper mache pumpkin Monday.  
Also, I’m going to have them make 
masks and all that jazz.

I don’t relish operating that confounded canoe 
in this weather.  I will be awfully glad 
when I am able to walk over on the ice.  

That reminds me of a term 
that I have heard since I came up here.  
It isn’t the most delicate or respectable, 
but it is highly amusing. 

There was a character here last year 
who taught school in the school 
that Uno teaches in this year.

Uno's School

Roman Catholic Mission

Father's Island

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

  


Whenever he was over visiting on the other side, 
and it came time for him to put on his overboots 
and head across to the island in the winter, 
he always said, “Well, I guess it’s time for me 
to put on my Jesus Boots and head across the water."
  
He referred to his overshoes like this 
because he could walk on water 
(albeit the water was frozen) with them.

There was quite a bit of ice along the shore again 
when I went down to launch my canoe this morning, 
and I had to break a path through it for the canoe.

  
If it keeps getting any thicker, I will have to carry 
a little hand axe and sit right in the prow of the canoe, 
and chop my way along through the ice.

That ties it up for today.  
Will be seeing you all again tomorrow.

Bye for now,
Love,
Don.


Eventually Roy and I did fly Way-Up-North
in a bush plane and go to school with real Indians,
and it was every bit as exciting 
and adventurous as we had imagined.

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue












Notes:
Bill Mitchell:  Hudson Bay Store Manager, Lansdowne House

Photographs:
It's hard to find images to illustrate my northern posts.
My father could only afford to take a few photos,
so I scour the internet looking for things I can use.

Sometimes I use pictures from a different area,
like the photo of the Ojibwe children in Minnesota,
because they illustrate similar people, culture, or landscapes.

In my searches for this post,
I came across two archival photographs
related to the Indians and the Albany River.

I think they are interesting because they illustrate
a way of life that was vanishing just as my father
arrived in Lansdowne House in 1960.


The National Archives UK/flickr

CO 1069-279-22
Indian Summer Camp, Albany River, 1913
This image is part of the Colonial Office photographic collection 
held at The National Archives. 
Feel free to share it within the spirit of the Commons.

The National Archives UK/flickr

CO 1069-279-21
Cree Indian, Albany River, with unfinished canoe 1913
This image is part of the Colonial Office photographic collection 
held at The National Archives. 
Feel free to share it within the spirit of the Commons.