HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1985-11-27, Page 28Page 12A—Crossroads—Nov. 27, 1985
We hear a lot of hogwash
about Canadian Identity..
That we don't know who we
are. I think the idea was
started by a few over -zealous
nationalists who forgot that
we are all living out brief
spans on a small planet in a
big universe about which we
know very little. We just
happen to have been born at
a certain time, in a certain
country, of certain diverse
cultures which have dove-
tailed into a certain way of
life.
We're lucky. We live in an
environment that has some
of the most beautiful and
useful natural resources in
the world. If we were as
smart as the birds and ani-
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mals and flowers we'd let it
stay that way, and enjoy it.
The North American In-
t dian understands that better
than the rest of us. But he
has the edge. He's been here
for centuries. It's his natural
environment and his needs
and desires blend into it.
Rick Nash, a young man
who came to Canada about
10 years ago, is aware of that
too. He was a successful
commercial photographer in
New York, but he has always
had a yen for nature and the
natural life. So he and his
wife and children moved
to the Haliburton Highlan
in the northeastern Ontar
He learned how to ma
canoes — the Indian way,
studied native culture a
traditional native methods
making things.
He found that authent
native -made snowshoe
were hard to find. He went
the eastern shores of Jam
Bay where a few Cree trib
were still making the rea
thing. He watched. He Learn
ed. He learned well. Both hi
canoes and snowshoes ar
now in national museums.
In, his log cabin worksho
framed by the forests sur
rounding Dorset, magnifi
cent authentic Indian snow
shoes hang on the walls.
I watched him as he squat
ted on the floor near the
woodstove, and began to
wield a crooked knife. The
birch he had cut from a near-
by forest was slowly trans-
formed. It would become the
frame of a Western Cree
snowshoe made in an un-
compromisingly traditional
way. -
Rick is almost alone in this
work, even among natives,
and as a result an important
Canadian tradition lives on.
Nash has no qualms about
Canadian Identity. He knows
its roots. He sees it every day
.in the forests and streams,
and senses it in his work.
The irdny of it is that he's
an American. Or he may be a.
Canadian. I didn't ask.
Somehow, it didn't matter.
up OTTAWA — Lt is only a
ds year since my wife and I
t9` moved to this city from To-
ke ronto. We have been back to
He Toronto in the last few
nd months, but not too often and
of not for very long. There was
a graduation late last Spring,
ie for instance, which took us to
s Toronto, and a wedding on a
to recent weekend. We didn't
es have very much time in To-
es ronto itself, since the wed -
1 ding was in Oakville, but we
were there long enough to
s begin to appreciate some of
e the things Torontonians
themselves may take for
p granted.
Toronto is quite simply one
of the world's great cities.
- This is not merely a question
of size, the city's natural en-
- vironment, architecture,
theatre, music, the arts, res-
taurants, shops and Toron-
to's wonderful ethnic and
racial mix, although those
things are part of it.
It hasto do with a kind of
metropolitan sophistication.
that is very hard to define,a
sophistication that goes be-
yond chic and charming. All
of the world's great cities
have it, whatever it is, but
Toronto has additional quali-
ties that you don't find in any
of them.
Toronto is pleasant to be
in, for one thing. It's clean. It
is also safe to be in, safe to
use and live in freely. Lon-
don
and New York are dirty
by comparison, and both are
dangerous.
Recently, in the Globe and
Mail, I read a despondent •
piece by, Robert Chessyre of
the Observer .who has just
returned to London after
ee-and-a-half years in the
ted States. And I have
ked to other recent v'si-
s who share his feelings
ut the London of 1985. The
er city riots appear only
e the tip on an iceberg of
wing brutishness. Mr.
essyre writes of a group of
nken youths in the Lon -
tube, who swore foully
n asked to stop smoking
hurled a beer can at the
d of the middle-aged
lenaan who had object -
e New York subway is '
h the same way. The
s: are dirty, covered with
itti, and full of loud
hs and the disapproving
dle class, hiding behind
ewspapers. I was think -
about that recently as I
the Toronto subway up '
The first free library in
Ontario was the Toronto
Public Library, established
in 1882
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MAMMOTH BONES
The skeleton of a young
mammoth was included in
half a ,fionne of fossils of ice -
age mammals collected in
the Old Crow, Dawson , and
Sixtymile regions of the
Yukon in the past year by the
National Museum of Natural
Sciences paleontologists
with the help of local
residents. .Several dozen
specimens were added to
what is regarded as one of
the best collection of mam-
moth teeth in North
America.
WINTER TUNE-UP!
Yonge Street. The car I was
in was clean, neat and quiet.
People were talking to each
other, even smiling a little.
I'm not saying there is no
unpleasantness in Toronto.
Of course there is. You can't
put two million people in ie
place and not have any fric-
tion. It's just that confronta-
tion hasn't yet become an
unremarkable event, an ac-
cepted part of the human
landscape. And it occurred
to me that Toronto would be
a wonderful place for an out -
of -towner to spend a week-
end.
RECEIVES GIFTS
Forty-one works by Inuit
artists were among the most
prominent gifts received by
the National Gallery of Ca-
nada. They are part of a
group of 1,000 Inuit sculp-
tures, drawings, prints and
stoneblocks collected by M.
F. Fehely and gradually do-
nated to the Gallery's ex-
panding native art collec-
tion. Sixteen prints by
Maurits Cornelis Escher
were given by the artist's son
George A. Escher. A collec-
tion of Canadian art was do-
nated by Mrs. Jules Leger
that includes works by Jean-
Paul Lemieux, Jean Dal-
laire, Jacques Godefroy the
Tonnancour and Alfred Pel-
lan.
CSB: COMING DUE
Three issues of Canada
Savings Bonds — Series 28,
Series 31 and Series 33 —
come due this year, worth
more than $3.3 billion in
principal. If you own any of
these bonds, you will want to
cash them in. After Nov. 1,
1985, they do not earn any
further intenest.
University of
'ritj Waterloo
.0ourse
Ston
Renison College of the University of Waterloo is offering a
course this winter at the Norwell District Secondary
School. It can be used for credit towards. a university
degree and/or the Renison Certificate in Social Work.
You may attend this class free of charge for personal
interest, or register to take it for credit at the first class .
meeting. For more information call the Palmerston Public
Library at 343-2573 or the UW Office of Part -Time Studies
at (519) 888-4002.
Mental Retardation and the Family
(Social Work 356R RZ)
Tuesdays, 7-10 pm
Jan. 7 - Apr. 8, 1986
Mrs. Bea Abbott
Prereq: SOCWK 120R or consent of instructor.
till Saturday, November 30
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Tradition continues with
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25 OFF
ALL GIFTS
TILL NOV. 30
WREATHS & GARLANDS
Grapevine, Straw & Evergreen Wreaths
112" to 30"
$3.9 to $46.95
Evergreen Garlands 9' x 8"
from :.19.95.
MINIATURE LIGHT SETS
35 Light Sets, Clear & Multi Colours,
Straight Line '
Sale Price
End to end connectors
Sale Price E5,
DECORATIONS &
ORNAMENTS
As a gift oras an addition
to your own collection of
memories. For your
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from
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Brass, Lucite and our
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wood frames, mats &
mounting boards
$3.50 - $34.95
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