When one travels south from Moose Jaw one soon enters a vast upland area rising from the flat prairie. This is the Missouri Coteau. The water in the streams and rivers east of the Coteau flow into the Assiniboine River and eventually into Hudson’s Bay. Streams and rivers of the Coteau flow to the Missouri … Continue reading How Old Wives Lake Got its Name
Canadiana
Black Threads in Our Tapestry
This is Black History Month, so I decided to tell about some little-known aspects of Saskatchewan's history. The first people in Saskatchewan were those we now refer to as Indigenous: The Dené, Cree, Saulteaux (pronounced So-toe), Dakota, Lakota and Nakota. Then came the French and Scottish fur traders and explorers. Some of them stayed, took … Continue reading Black Threads in Our Tapestry
The Bluenose
The picture in yesterday's post showed Canada's most famous ship, the Bluenose, a fishing schooner launched at Lunenburg, Nova Scotia in 1921. The Bluenose won the International Fisherman's Race numerous times in the 1920's and 1930's, being defeated only once. It also set the record for the largest load of fish brought into Lunenburg harbour. … Continue reading The Bluenose
Will Harriet Tubman appear on the Canadian $100 bill?
Earlier this year, the Bank of Canada asked the public for suggestions for a woman to appear on the $100 bill. The woman selected must nor be fictional, must have died at least 25 years ago and must have played a significant role in Canadian history. Harriet Tubman was one of the names proposed. You … Continue reading Will Harriet Tubman appear on the Canadian $100 bill?
Why I wear a poppy
One hundred years ago Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote the poem, In Flanders Fields. McCrae was a surgeon with a Canadian artillery regiment in the First World War and a day earlier had buried a close friend on the battlefield near Ypres, Belgium. Poppy seeds lie dormant in the ground until the soil is disturbed … Continue reading Why I wear a poppy
What handicap?
Frances Kelsey died this morning in London, Ontario, at the age of 101. Why is that worthy of note? Well, Frances Kelsey was the Canadian lady who prevented the thalidomide tragedy from spreading to the USA. Thalidomide was developed by a German pharmaceutical company as a remedy for morning sickness. It went on sale there … Continue reading What handicap?
Josiah Henson learns to read
It so happened that one of my Maryland friends arrived in this neighbourhood, and hearing of my being here, inquired if I ever preached now. I had said nothing myself, and had not intended to say any thing, of my having ever officiated in that way. I went to meeting with others, when I had … Continue reading Josiah Henson learns to read
I’m on my way to the freedom land
As a slave, Josiah Henson received no formal education and did not learn to read and write. As is typical of people from oral cultures, he had a prodigious memory and could remember every Bible verse he ever heard. He was ordained to the ministry in the Methodist Church while still a slave, serving mostly … Continue reading I’m on my way to the freedom land
Human cargo for sale
As time went by, Josiah Henson married, began a family and was made overseer of the plantation. He was able in small ways to make life better for his fellow slaves and produced much better crops than the former white overseer. The owner, however, wasted all the profits of the plantation and decided to send … Continue reading Human cargo for sale
The conversion of Josiah Henson
I was born, June 15, 1789, in Charles County, Maryland, on a farm belonging to Mr. Francis N., about a mile from Port Tobacco. My mother was the property of Dr. Josiah McP., but was hired by Mr. N., to whom my father belonged. The only incident I can remember, which occurred while my mother … Continue reading The conversion of Josiah Henson
Flatlander Faith 