The Lansdowne Letters: The Inevitable Happens

It was bound to happen and it finally did,
on a cold November afternoon in 1960
on Lake Attawapiskat in northwestern Ontario.

An Island on Lake Attawapiskat
Near Lansdowne House, Ontario, Canada

Fall 1960 

Photo by Donald MacBeath

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

Wednesday, November 2, 1960

My father wrote:

Hi There:
Well, I finally did it today.  
I upset the canoe and pitched myself into the lake.  
It happened when I was going back to school this afternoon.

 Looking toward the Mainland of Lansdowne House

This was the route that my father canoed to get to school.
Lake Attawapiskat

Fall 1960 

Photo by Donald MacBeath

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

My first action that contributed to my misadventure, 
though, happened when I was coming home for dinner.  
When I was getting out of the canoe on the Island, 
I tripped over this old paddle that was in the bottom of the canoe.
It was broken and not much good.  
When I tripped, I got one foot wet.

This afternoon when I was starting back, 
the first thing I did was to pick up 
the old broken paddle and heave it away.  
Then I started across.

There was a stiff wind
in from the north, and
the temperature was about 20 above. 
  

I was paddling like blazes, 
but because of the wind
and the current, 
I was not able to make
the HBC dock, 
so I laid a course
for the DOT dock.




I was doing wonderful, 
when all of a sudden my paddle, 
which was pretty well covered with ice, 
slipped out of my hand into the water and was away on me.  

I was only about fifteen feet from shore when I lost my paddle, 
and the old broken one would have gotten me in.  
Oh how I regretted throwing the old paddle away!!!!!!
Well there I was, as helpless as a newborn babe.  

Now I know exactly what is meant by the expression 
‘up the creek without a paddle.’ 
I was soon drifting rapidly out into the lake.  

Fortunately for me, Bill Mitchell was watching me 
paddle across and saw me lose the paddle and start to drift.  

Very soon I saw Brian and him come out of the house, 
run to the beach, launch the HBC canoe, 
and set out to my rescue.

By the time they got the canoe launched though, 
I had drifted over by the end of the Island 
and had fetched up on some submerged rocks, 
about twenty feet off the point of the Island.

They came across the lake after me, and 
because they were traveling with the wind, 
they were going almost as fast as if they 
had an outboard motor on the canoe.  
They almost hit me broadside and upset me, 
but at the last moment they managed 
to turn the canoe and miss me.  

In the excitement Brian tried to throw me the paddle, 
and it landed just out of my reach.  
I tried to reach for it, and splash, 
the next thing I knew 
I was above my waist in ice-cold water.  

Just at the time that I upset, 
Bill and Brian hit another rock, 
holed their canoe, and had to beach it on the Island.  

Well, I pulled my canoe ashore and emptied it, 
and left it there and ran up to the cottage to get warm and dry.  
An old Indian came down and paddled my canoe 
back to the beach in front of the Father’s.

The Father's Beach

Fall 1960 

Photo by Donald MacBeath

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

  

Bill and Brian left their holed canoe on the Island 
and managed to get back by way of 
the partly finished causeway.  

Goodness, but I was cold!!!!  
After I got undressed, dried off, and into warm dry clothes, 
it took me about two hours to stop shivering and get warmed up.  

Finally I succeeded in getting warm, 
and then I borrowed TWO paddles from the Father 
and went over to the HBC store 
and thanked Bill and Brian for my rescue. 

Did I ever get ribbed.  
However, they were surprised 
that I was brave (or foolhardy enough) 
to take the canoe out so soon after my misadventure.

Anishinaabe Thunderbird

Emblem of the Ojibwa and Other Anishinaabe Peoples

Wikimedia

I believe that I promised you 
the Lord’s Prayer in Ojibway.  
Here it is.  
It is the Catholic version though 
(I got it from the Father), 
and it ends at “but deliver us from evil.”

“Nossinan, kitci-kijikong eiaian, 
apatec kitcitwawinikoian,
ani tipenimiweian, kaie nanaitakoian aking, 
tapicko kitcikijikong.

Nin tassokijiko-pakwejikaniminan nongom mijicinam;
ponentamawicinam ki nickiiwe-iang, 
eji ponentamawangitwa neckiiiangitwa; 
keko pakitinicinakang tci matci aciikoiang.  
Maianatak itac ikonamawicinam.  

Apatec ing.” (Amen)

Flag of the Neskantaga First Nation

The Ojibwa or Oji-Cree of Lansdowne House

Wikimedia

Well, there it is.  
Please excuse any typing errors.  
It is awfully hard to copy a language like this.

I am awfully tired after my swim in the lake, 
so I will wind this up right now, 
and I will get this ready and send it out tomorrow, 
because there is a plane expected in tomorrow, 
and at this time of year, it could be the last one. 

Photo Likely by Uno Manilla

© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue

All Rights Reserved

See you all next week, 
if we aren’t frozen in by then.  
If we are, then I will be talking to you
after freeze-up.
  
As you can see, 
I am so tired that I am making
a lot of mistakes.

Bye now,
Love,
Don.

And I used to grumble if I had to drive to school
on a cold, windy day in my nice warm car.
I don't know how Dad did it, day after day.

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue


Yours Truly
Freeport, Long Island,
in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia
Photo by Roy MacBeath
© All Rights Reserved

Links to Earlier Posts:

TLL: Robinson Crusoe

TLL: Bush Planes and the Puzzle of Thanksgiving



Notes:



    1.  Bill Mitchell:  Manager of the
          Hudson's Bay Co. store  (left).
    2.  Brian Booth:  Clerk in the
          Hudson's Bay Co.  (right).
    3.  HBC:  Hudson's Bay Company
    4.  DOT:  Department of Transport
    5.  Father:  Father Maurice Ouimet, OMI


   


And for Map Lovers Like Me:

Location of Ontario

Wikimedia

Location of Lake Attawapiskat

Inland from Akimiski Island in James Bay

Wikimedia   edited

Map of Lansdowne House

10  HBC Dock

11  DOT Dock

8 Tip of Father's Island Dad Was Drifting Past

2  Dad and Uno's Shack