Standing Into Danger

Friday, May 12, 2017

The Lansdowne Letters: Imagination and Inventiveness Equal Barreling

Never underestimate the imagination and inventiveness of kids.
Set them loose in their environment and watch
what they come up with to entertain themselves.

I don't know who thought of the brilliant idea of barreling,
but surely it was the Ojibway boys;
for I, certainly,
and Roy, unlikely,
would not have conceived of such a thing.

Some of Dad's Ojibway Boys

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, 1960

Photo by Don MacBeath

Current thinking is that judgement is not fully developed
until twenty-five years old.
Well, I'm here to tell you that it is definitely not developed
by seventeen or eighteen years old.

Barreling was one of the most exciting and dangerous things
I have ever done and perhaps one of the stupidest.

Judgement

Pixabay

Quoting my twelve-year-old self:
"As the mud disappeared we turned to other amusements.
Looking around we saw only the dried up slope
between the nursing station and the playground,
the grassy spot at the bottom,
and several hundred empty oil drums.

Oil Drums: Hauled in and Out by Tractor Trains

An early cat train in Alaska.

A tractor pulling sleds of fuel drums, somewhere between Anchorage and Fairbanks.

It appears there is a second tractor following.

Credit: Mr. Floyd Risvold, USC&GS, 1923

Wikimedia

We looked no further.
Seizing ten drums apiece,
we lined them up several feet apart
at the top of the slope.

Then with a whoop,
we flung ourselves unto the barrels
and rolled down the slope.
We looked like logs bumping down a conveyer belt.

Logs on a Conveyer Belt

Painting: Lumber Industry, 1934, oil on canvas by William Arthur Cooper

Flickr: Cliff License

We did not sound like them, however.
We shrieked, screamed, laughed, and groaned.
What fun as the end of the ride approached!

We did a very unloggish thing.
Gathering our nerve,
we somersaulted off the drums
and rolled to the side
as ten, heavy, huge drums lumbered quickly by.

What a thrilling game!
Needless to say, our mothers soon put an end to this!"

Rolling Over Barrels

pixabay.com

Can you imagine?
I remember the thrill, the taste of death,
as I flung myself face down and straight out on the first oil drum,
and the rush as I flew from barrel to barrel.

As I hit each oil drum, it began rolling down the hill,
gathering speed as it went,
closely followed by the oil drums I had already rolled over.

Those steel drums were hard and unyielding,
and I can still feel my chest and hipbones banging from drum to drum
and see the purple-blue bruises the drums raised.

We flew so fast!
Before we knew it we were shooting off the last barrel
and rolling to the side,
completely aware of what ten 45 gallon oil drums rolling over us
could do if we did not get out of the way.

And did we go down the hill one by one?
No!

It was much more exciting to have two or three of us
lined up side-by-side at the top of the slope
and throwing ourselves on the oil drums at once!

That meant twenty or thirty oil drums barreling down the slope
between the nursing station and the school,
and two or three of us splayed out on the ground,
gasping for air, and congratulating each other on being alive.

Our undoing in this exhilarating drum sport was the nurse, Mike O'Flaherty.
We managed to enjoy ourselves for several recesses before we were caught.

I'm sure we only got away with barreling as long as we did
because it took so long to round up the 45 gallon drums,
roll them up the slope, and line them up at the top just so.
We couldn't get many runs in during our short recesses.

Rolling Oil Drums

Ground crew rolling drums of petrol to Hawker Hurricane Mark IVs of No. 6 Squadron RAF,

during refuelling operations at Araxos, Greece.

Date: between circa 1944 and circa 1945

Wikimedia

At some point Mike happened to glance out a nursing station window
and saw what was going on.

He was likely pausing in his work for a quick cup of coffee
like my father, blissfully ignorant, inside the school.

Mike came flying out of the nursing station
and brought barreling to a screeching halt.

He marched us all into the school
and told my father that this dangerous activity must stop immediately.
He made it graphically clear what could happen if one of us got injured
and just how ill-equipped he was to deal with it.

And for good measure he paid a visit to my mother
and the mothers of the Ojibway students
and repeated his graphic tale of broken bones and crushed heads.

And that was that!
No more barreling in the spring of 1961.

Roy and Me ~ No Fear!

School Photos, Fall 1960

When I look back on my childhood and remember
some of the escapades my brother, sisters, and I got into,
I wonder that we ever made it out alive.

But we did and, dangerous or not, I wouldn't have missed
the excitement and wild joy of barreling for anything!

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

On the Shore of the Annapolis Basin
Smith's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada
July 24, 2016
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

For Map Lovers Like Me:

Location of Lansdowne House

Known Today as Neskantaga

Wikipedia

Friday, May 5, 2017

The Lansdowne Letters: Puss, Puss, Puss!

Ask any elementary student what his or her favorite part of the school day is,
and chances are that he or she will exclaim "Recess!"
The Ojibway children in Landsdowne House a half century ago
were no different from children everywhere.

White or Ojibway, we loved our recess breaks
at my father's Church of England Indian Day School.
We had a fifteen minute recess in the morning and another in the afternoon,
as well as an hour break at lunch,
and we children crammed every bit of energy, movement, and noise
we could into those precious minutes of freedom.

Church of England Indian Day School

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, 1960

Photo by Don MacBeath

Our activities varied with the weather and season.
We had little in the way of playground equipment,
just a small swing set and a ball or two;
but like children the world over,
we had plenty of inventiveness and imagination.

The younger children, especially the girls,
liked to take turns swinging and pushing each other on the swings,
even in the coldest subzero temperatures.
But many of us opted for more energetic pursuits.

Swing Set at the Roman Catholic School

Father's Island, Lansdowne House, 1960

Photo by Don MacBeath

As I wrote at twelve, a year after I left Lansdowne House:
"Recess and noon hour were times we loved.
In the subzero weather we raced about laughing and shouting.

The Indians had no organized games of their own,
but they enthusiastically joined in ours with a vital interest
unparalleled by white children.

Even boys eighteen and nineteen lapped up Hide and Go Seek.
They plunged vigorously into Red Lights and Green Lights
and went wild over our Giant Steps and Hospital Tag.
But of all games, their favorite was undoubtedly Puss in the Corner.

Puss in the Corner

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Traditional Games of England, Scotland,

and Ireland (Vol II of II), by Alice Bertha Gomme

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with

almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or

re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included

with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Gutenberg

Each day we arranged ten to fifteen empty, navy-blue oil drums in a large circle.
We needed a "multi-cornered" space, one drum for each child playing,
except for the person who was "It."
The number who wanted to play was amazing!

The child who was "It" would step into the center,
pause while carefully considering the best corner to run to,
then screech "Puss, puss, puss," and the race was on!

There was a mad scramble as everyone changed drums.
The boys were a blur of black leather jackets, blue jeans, and caps,
the girls a maze of multi-colored cotton skirts, blue and red jackets, and flying black hair.
Shrieks and laughter filled the air.
The child who ended up without a drum became the new "It."

Again and again we repeated the cycle,
and the empty oil drums rocked from the noise and banging they took.

A scourge for some, but not for children with an imagination!

Oil Barrels or Drums in the North

Flickr: Provincial Archives of Alberta License

Oil drums were very useful in a number of games.
One winter "drum sport" in particular stands out in my mind.

Eight or nine of us would each select a sturdy looking drum, turn it on end, and mount it.
Carefullying balancing ourselves, we would begin to rock the drum back and forth.
Shortly we would be furiously rocking the drums around and around.
Inevitably the drums would tip, and we would tumble off.
The object of the game was to see who could rock the drum the longest."

Dad's Ojibway Girls at Play (Inside)

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, 1960

Photo by Don MacBeath

Dad's Ojibway Boys in Their Jackets and Caps

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, 1960

Photo by Don MacBeath

I look back on these happy times with my Ojibway friends with great fondness.
It was some of the best fun I ever had!
Dad was not out supervising us as we ran and played.
He was probably enjoying a quiet cup of coffee and a quick smoke at his desk
before we all tromped in to resume our lessons.

My Father, Just Before Leaving to Start the School Day

Father's Island, Lansdowne House, 1960

Photo likely by Uno Manilla

I think school would be much improved today
if teachers pushed back against the cutting and eliminating of recess
in the pursuit of improving high stakes test scores.

Children need to run and play outside every day.
In my opinion children learn better when they do.

Till next time ~
Fundy Blue

Crossing Petite Passage
Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia
Photo Copy by Roy MacBeath
© M. Louise (MacBeath) Barbour/Fundy Blue
All Rights Reserved

For Map Lovers Like Me:

Map of Canada

Highlighting Ontario

Wikimedia

Location of Lansdowne House

Wikimedia edited

Lansdowne House

Sketch by M. Louise Barbour

Rough Sketch of Lansdowne House

by Donald MacBeath, Fall 1960

This sketch shows the Father's Island and the tip of the "Mainland" peninsula

that contained the community of Lansdowne House.

#23 My Father's Church of England Indian Day School

#15 Forestry Shack (Our Home)

Black Dots ~ Indian Homes

Thursday, May 4, 2017

The Lansdowne Letters: We Love Our Land

Terry and I spent last Wednesday and Thursday traveling
from Aurora, Colorado to Laughlin, Nevada.
We traveled across some of the emptiest
and most beautiful regions of the United States,
including one stretch of I-70 that passes through 106 miles
of nothing, just a wild, natural world.

Map Data: Google 2017, INEGI

Some people find these western landscapes desolate and intimidating,
with their rocks, deserts, mesas, dry rivers, canyons, and big skies.
But this striking wilderness makes my heart sing!
It speaks to me unlike any other.

Near Parachute, Colorado, USA

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

Arapaho National Forest

Near Frisco, Colorado, USA

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

For me, it is impossible not to think about the grand expanse of geological time
and about how land shapes people around the world.

Today, with over half of humanity living in urban areas,
I think we are at risk of losing our connection to land and to nature,
especially when we continually change the land
and try to bend the natural world to our will.

White River National Forest,

Near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

New Overpass Under Construction,

Near Henderson, Nevada, USA

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

For many of the years I taught, my students would study the land
different groups of Native Americans lived on and how its natural resources
provided people with the water, food, shelter, and clothing they needed to survive.

On the surface it seems a simple enough concept, but it is really profound.
If you look at people throughout time and the different environments in which they lived,
it is fascinating to consider how much of their beliefs, culture, arts,
ways of thinking and behavior is derived from their lands.

As I travel through wild areas, I think about how people learned to survive in them,
and how important it is to preserve them for future generations.

Mesa Verde Sandstone and Mancos Shale Palisades,

Near Palisade, Colorado, USA

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

The High Desert in Bloom

Near Laughlin, Nevada, USA

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

Atop San Rafael Swell,

Near Green River, Utah, USA

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

There are still people today for whom their land is home

in ways those of us in urban areas can only begin to grasp.

I feel a deep connection to the magnificent land I traveled across

in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada (plus a tiny piece of Arizona),

but I will never understand it or connect to it the way people for whom it is home do.

When I lived in Lansdowne House in Northern Ontario as a young girl,

I didn't realize that the Ojibwa didn't think
of the wilderness surrounding them as wilderness.

They thought of it as home.

When I came to that realization later, it was surprising,

first because the wild and remote land around Lansdowne House

had seemed harsh and dangerous to me,

and second because once I understood it was home to the Ojibwa,

I couldn't imagine why I had thought otherwise.

Meeting a Summer Plane at the Hudson's Bay Dock

Lansdowne House, Northern Ontario, Canada

Photo (Transparency) by John Macfie

Reference Code: C 330-14-0-0-95

Archives of Ontario, I0012712

www.archives.gov.on.ca

The Ojibwa in Lansdowne House, or Neskantaga as it is now called,
are currently engaged in a struggle to control
how mining development occurs on their land.

The land the Ojibwa love is could not be more different from the land that speaks to me,
one of the world's largest intact wetlands versus the southwestern desert.

In 2012 the Neskantaga Ojibwa released a documentary
We Love Our Land co-produced with PraxisPictures.

The documentary shows the stunning beauty of the Ojibwa land,
explains what it means to them,
and outlines the issues facing them
with the discovery of the Ring of Fire chromium deposits.

I invite you to take a look at one of the most remote
and least visited regions of Canada
to get a sense of what it is like
and the remarkable people who live there.

It is 12:25 minutes long,
so I am also posting a shorter version
that is 3:24 minutes long for your convenience.

We Love Our Land

You Tube Long

We Love Our Land

You Tube Short

Here are a few more photos from Terry's and my trip

across the southwestern wilderness of the United States.

These are from the Virgin River Gorge, one of my most favorite places.

The I-15 highway through the Virgin River Gorge is a marvel of engineering

and remains one of the most expensive portions of the interstate system ever built.

This portion of the Virgin River, some 24 miles long,

drops down from the Colorado Plateau to the Mojave Desert.

The Virgin River Gorge as seen from 20,000 feet.

Interstate 15 crosses the river in this photo.

Wikipedia

The interstate highway passes through the Beaver Dam and Virgin Mountains,

a landscape of eroded, stepped cliffs and sandstone terraces.

Near the Beginning of the Virgin River Gorge

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

In the Middle of the Gorge

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

The Virgin River carved this long canyon and the beautiful canyon of Zion Nation Park.

I have driven through this canyon many times, and never tire of its magnificent rocks.

Along the Virgin River in the Gorge

Photo by M. Louise Barbour

Personal Note:
My apology for missing another Northern Post last Friday. Apple solved my computer issues, but then I ran into frustrating connectivity issues. I hope I'm finally back on track.

For Map Lovers Like Me:

Location of Lansdowne House

Known Today as Neskantaga

Wikipedia

Location of Lansdowne House

Wikimedia edited

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

IWSG: Wednesday, May 3, 2017 ~ Flint Knapping

It's the first Wednesday
of the month ~
the day when members of the
Insecure Writer's Support Group
share their writing struggles
and offer their encouragement
and support to other members.

To visit the IWSG website, click here.

To become a member of the IWSG, click here.

Our wonderful co-hosts who are stepping up to help IWSG founder Alex J. Cavanaugh are:
Nancy Gideon, Tamara Narayan, Liesbet@ Roaming About, Michelle Wallace, and Feather Stone.

I hope you have a chance to visit them and thank them for co-hosting.
I'm sure they would appreciate an encouraging comment!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Every month the IWSG announces a question
that members can answer with advice, insight,
a personal experience, or story in their IWSG posts.

Or, the question can inspire members if they are struggling with something to say.

Remember, the question is optional!!!
This month's IWSG featured question is:
What is the weirdest/coolest thing you ever had to research for your story?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'm on the road again:
This time in the Mojave Desert of Nevada and Arizona.
It's been a frustrating few weeks with way too many computer and connectivity issues.

Laughlin River Run Time

Aquarius, Laughlin, Nevada, USA

With regard to this month's IWSG question,
much of my writing throughout my life has been non-fiction
and centered on professional or academic pieces.

The weirdest and coolest thing I ever had to research was flint knapping
for a unit I wrote about the early people who lived in North America.

Flint knapping is the shaping of flint, or other stone
that fractures conchoidally, by striking it with a hammer stone
to produce edged cutting tools and weapons such as arrowheads.

At the time I was a volunteer at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science,
and I had the opportunity to take a flint knapping workshop.

So, so cool!
After a background lecture,
we watched a demonstration of flint knapping
by one of the museum's employees.

A Man Demonstrates Flint Knapping

(Not DMNS's)

Wikimedia

Then we students struck flint with stone to produce sharp edges on our pieces of flint.
Finally we used our cutting tools to slice strips of meat off raw roasts.
Yes, it was weird, messy, bloody, and a little dangerous,
but it was beyond cool!

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is an excellent museum.
I've found it and other museums to be wonderful resources for writing research,
whether through taking courses or viewing exhibits.

My research would not have been complete
without a visit to one of my favorite exhibits in the museum:
The Folsom Point.

An Exciting Archeological Find

Stone Projectile with Bison Bones

DMNS

This 1926 archeological find near Folsom, New Mexico,
proved that humans lived in North America
more than 10,000 years ago,
hundreds of years earlier than previously thought.

Excavating the Folsom Site or Wild Horse Arroyo revealed
that it was marsh-side kill site or camp.
It contained the remains of twenty-three extinct Late Pleistocene bison.

The Folsom Points,
found directly associated with the bison remains,
were indisputably made by humans. Wikipedia