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Times-Advocate, 1981-05-13, Page 25NOW BELONGS TO VILLAGE -- Although not very crowded this weekend, the north beach is a very popular spot in the summer. Most sunbathers probably thought that the beach belonged to the village of Grand Bend. In fact, the village only took possession of the beach Saturday, when Ella Mcllroy, daughter of the late George and Ida Eccleston, turned the beach over to the village from the Eccleston estate. The agreement stipulated that the beach remain open for public use. Staff photo Chippawa language and culture important to native woman While the simple know- ledge that our ancestors came over on a boat from the oldcountryissufficientfor most of us, some Canadians feel the need to know more about their roots. Usually the information is readily available — documents, records. books. But for Marcia Simon, the study of her heritage has not been so easy. She's a Chip- pawa of the Kettle Point and Stoney Point Indian band. She would like to know more about her native Indian history and culture, so that she can pass it on to her two sons, Marlin and Kevin. But, unfortunately, the books on the Chippawa culture and the Ojibway language are few and far between, and the documents and records are locked up at the Canadian Archives in Ot- tawa. And of course, some things were just never written down. Marcia lives on highway 21 Deer hit by .truck A truck driven by Thomas Smits of RR 2, Grand Bend suffered $750. in damages when it struck a deer on highway 21 near the Pinery Park, Thursday. Smith was not injured in the accident, which was investigated by Constable R.L. Hodge of the Ontario Provincial Police detachment at Pinery Park. On Sunday, Constable R.J. Sawyers investigated a car - motorcycle accident at the main intersection in Grand Bend. Drivers of the two vehicles were William Mate and Jeannie Posadowski, both of London. The Mate vehicle sustained $100.00 damage. He suffered minor injuries. During the week of May 3 to 9, Pinery OPP laid 18 charges under the liquor license act, and 11 charges under the highway traffic act. Two people were charged with obstructing a peace officer, and one person was charged for driving while suspended. Two charges were laid for willful damage, and 12 miscellaneous occurrences were investigated. just south of Grand Bend. She is raising her two young sons, and working part time at the Grand Bend library. She has attended theUniver- sity of Western Ontario and teachers college in London. Marcia grew up at Kettle Point. She has relied on her parents and her grand- mother to tell her about the history of the Chippawas. but she realizes that there is much more to know that just what she has assimilated over her lifelitme, and she worries about how much her young boys will know their background. For example, Marcia learned recently that Chip- pawa and the Ojibway are the same thing. Her grand- mother pointed out that one word is simply a slurring of the other. The "ch" and "p" in Chippawa and the "j" and "b" in Ojibway are essen- tially the same sound. Their language was never written down, until white missionaries visited the band and wrote the Indian words in English phonetics. One missionary wrote Chip- pawa, while another wrote Ojibway when they were talking about the same thing. If a third missionary had come along, it is to be expected that there would be a third name for the band. Over the years, they have come to call themselves Chippawas, while their language is called Ojibway — they did not write their language down in symbols the way the Cree did. However, some of the language still lives, thanks to the missionaries who put together the Ojibway hymn book. Marcia says her favourite hymn is "Oh for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" which she sings to the tune of "Amazing Grace". The Ojibway hymn book says the words are "o wah pa gish ke the nego' dwok." Marcia says that accor- ding to the Guiness Book of World Records. Ojibway is the most complex language in the world, with more than 6,000 verb forms. Marcia says that although there isn't much recorded about the Ojibway language, she doesn't believe there were any swear or curse words in it. However, many of the words changed meaning after the arrival of the white man. For example "Nishnaabe" meant simply human being. After white men arrived, it came to mean Indian. Marcia says she likes the original mean- ing — that of human being — because it points out that we are all part of the human race. She said that after the visit of missionaries, the word Jesus was readily adapted in the Ojibway. But the word God was already there. Their all-powerful being Kzhan-o-nido was very similar to the Christian God. Marcia's interest in the Chippawa culture did not always exist. She admits that as a teenager, she wasn't proud of her background, and later didn't take an interest until she was working on an Indian Education Advisory Com- mittee for the Lambton County Board of Education. She learned then that her ancestors had embraced Christianity as was presented to them by the missionaries, when in fact, the missionaries were ac- tually sent by the govern- ment to subdue the Indians. After discovering that the Christian missionaries were in fact agents of the govern- ment, she felt a great deal of bitterness towards religion. Marcia says she went then to visit her aging grand- mother, whom she had come to recognize as "calm" and "wise". "I was even com- forted by the smell of her old wood stove," Marcia remembers. Her grandmother defend- ed Christianity, giving Mar- cia the old Ojibway hymn book. She told Marcia about how her grandfather was a powerful singer in the choir at the Methodist Church at Stoney Point. "it was more her example than anything that calmed me," Marcia says. Marcia says she has come to realize that the Indian Act, supposedly beneficialto the natives, may be doing more harm than good. Sec- tions of the act, an agree- ment between the federal government and the Indians are discriminatory she says. Sometimes an outsider's lack of knowledge about In - KEEPING THE HERITAGE — Marcia Simon is working to preserve the native Indian culture so that children of the next generation, such as her son Kevin, con be proud of the Ojibway language and the Chippawa heritage. T -A photo dians can even be amusing, Marcia points out. She once remarked to some friends that her sister had been elected princess of her In- dian band. Her friends asked what instrument she played. Before moving to Grand Bend, Marcia lived at Kettle Point. There her son Marlin, in grade one then, was bus- ed to school in Forest. While the other children walked home at lunch time the Ket- tle Point students were herd- ed into a room for a lunch provided by the band coun- cil. Marcia says that while Marlin was only in grade one, he was developing an "us Indians versus them" feeling. The Kettle Point children were taunted about their "free" lunch and did tmix with the other no children. But since coming to Grand Bend Public School, Marlin is just one of the kids, Mar- cia says. She feels that because he has to pack and carry a lunch box just like everyone else who ride the bus, he is learning a sense of responsibility. A simple thing such as having a Lunch provided can start to take away a child's initiative, Marcia says. But Marcia worries about her children not receiving any native studies at the local school. She would still like to return to the reserve, and have the Kettle Point school re -opened. At present only kindergarten classes are held at Kettle Point. In the meantime, Marcia hopes to keep the Indian heritage alive for her sons. Grand Bend given ownershi of north lakefront property The village of Grand Bend is now the proud owner of the north beach. Although many ._people may have thought that the north beach was municipal property, it just came into the village's hands as of Saturday after- noon. Ella Mcllroy, daughter of the late George and Ida Eecleston, signed documents Saturday turning the beach over to the village. Prior to that the north beach, which includes the area from the casino to Oakwood, was part of the Eccleston estate. The docdments .were prepared by Mrs. Mcllroy's solicitor, Angus McKenzie, of London and Oakwood. Reeve Rboert Sharen told Mrs. Mcllroy that the village was very pleased to have been given ownership of the beach. He said that the village was paying $2 for the beach, plus legal and sur- veyors fees, which would amount to approximately $1000. "It was a very nominal sum, and we came to a nice agreement." the reeve add- ed. One of the stipulations of the agreement was that the beach always remain open to the public. The Ecclestons always allowed the public to use the beach. and many cot- tage owners were given a right-of-way over the beach to the lake. Sharen said that since he had been on the village's council, the village had not been very active in' the maintenance of the beach, since they were aware of the fact that the beach belonged to Mrs. Eccleston. and the Eccleston estate after her death. Sharen explained that previous councils had believ- ed that the village owned the beach, and did such things as plow the sand. and erect lighting. Sharen says that now that the village has the official ownership of the beach they wilt extend their maintenance of that area. He said that the village will be looking after litter pick- up on the beach, although he conceded that they may re- quire more equipment to get through the sandy area. "It will be difficult to get at," the reeve said. Sharen maintained that the village owns the main beach, adding that the ques- tion was before the courts, and he is unable to comment on it. Parkhill resident p Archie Gibbs is claiming ownership of the village's .main beach. Sharen con- firmed that the village owns the south beach. GRAND BEND GETS NORTH BEACH — Ella Mcllroy, daughter of the lote George and Ida Eccleston signs over the north beach to the village of Grand Bend, from the Eccleston Estate. Mrs. Mcllroy's solicitor Angus McKenzie prepared the documents which turned the north bench over to the municipality, while Reeve Robert Sharen, left, looks on. Staff photo 11, Page IA MAY 13, 1981 Price Per Copy 40 Cents Pinery Park gets ready The Pinery Park is ready for the Victoria Holiday weekend, with over 1000 campsites available. Other years, only two-thirds of the park would be open on Vic- toria holiday, with the rest opening gradually until the entire park was available by July 1. Assistant superintendent James Bass was recently named superintendent.. The previous superintendent Bruce Houck was promoted and left the park earlier this spring. Head of the Pinery inter- pretive staff Terry Crabe says that the campsite rehabilitation program has been going well, allowing the park to open up all three areas, Dunes. Riverside and Burley, for the first busy weekend. Crabe says that at present about 85 sites are closed for rehabilitation. This allows grass to grow over areas that have been worn down to sand by heavy use, and makes the campground more attrac- tive. he.e Cained. Crabe says that tree sand dune rehabilitation program is going well. and it will con- tinue. The Pinery is planting sand grasses to prevent wind erosion damage on the sand dunes. Board walks have been built to allow people to walk across the sand dunes without damaging the en- vironment. Crabe says that he and Case Vandenbygaart of in- terpretive staff are planning several new events for the Pinery. Crabe suggested that they might be doing "historical role playing" to Mary's musings BY MARY ALDERSON On Teamwork They say that husbands and wives should not wallpaper together if they hope to have a good marriage. The same holds true for pain- ting, interior or exterior. 1 have learned to stay out of any room where my husband is wallpapering. If we're painting inside the house, we work in separate rooms. If we're painting outside, we work at opposite ends of the building. Better yet. he paints the house. while i do the garage on the other side of the yard. it is also true that a husband and wife team should not install a new kitchen sink and countertop together. We've only done that once: consequently i can't really offer advice on that situation - other than hire a plumber. carpenter. and maybe an electrician - depen- ding on whether or not you want that outlet behind the new countertop to work. As of Saturday. we have a new item to add to the growing list. Never clean the garage together. You see. Saturday was Open -house -at -the - dump - oops! f mean. waste management site. Grand Bend council has been trying to tell me for two years that "dump" is a dirty word. Anyway. if you missed Open -house -at the dump -day it will he another whole year before you can do a thorough spring cleaning in your garage. I bet that just breaks your heart. You see. once or twice a year, Grand Bend council and Bosanquet township council agree on something. They agree to open up their dump - waste management site - so that the ratepayers can bring in all the goodies they were tooembarrassedto set out for the garbage collector - sanitation engineer. It's a social day at the dump, and see folks you haven't seen since last year. The very congenial sanitation engineers help you un- load your junk. and get this - they actually thank you for bringing it!! The only thing missing at Open -house -at - the -dump -day is free coffee and donuts, or lemonade for those who don't like coffee. As an aside to my aside, I must explain about thelemonade. A few weeks ago, I wrote a columns on how i never learned to -drink coffee, how much i dislike it, and how many times a day I have to say "no thanks" to a cup of coffee. Well. Grand Bend council. the school board. and the School is Essential to our Community group held a joint meeting. with Pauline Lingard in charge of refreshments. Pauline had read my column, and brought a pitcher of cold lemonade just for me. It was surprising how many other people set aside the coffee when they learned that a cold drink was available Refreshment committees take note. Anyway. back to the problem of husbands and wives cleaning garages together. The main issue is agreeing on the identification of junk. To me. a small. splinter piece of plywood with some rusty nails in it. is a good can- didate for Open -house -at -the -dump -day. Un- fortunately. my husband calls such an item "good kindling". On the other hand. 1 have to stop him as he is carting off a perfectly good hibachi to the back of the already iunk-filled Bronco. So what if it's a little rusty° tThe hibachi, not the Bronco). We can clean it up. and we'll need it. if we have company and the barbeque is filled. Once you have agreed on the identification of the "good" things and the "junk", you can tidy up the garage. and enjoy your visit to the dump. Now. just so you don't think that a husband and wife can't work well together. I'll have to come up with some examples of team ac- complishments. This may take sorne time. After practising the trial and error method. my husband and i can now expertly launch our motorboat together. I can tell him how far to back the trailer into the river. and we know just how much of a push "Shampoo" (the boat) needs to get off the trailer. Victor knows just when to jump in the boat. and 1 know that 1 have to stay on dry land and hold the rope until we're sure the motor is go- ing to start. Letting the boat drift into the middle of the river with one of you in it and one of you on shore is not a good idea. Once the motor Starts, Victor can manoeuver the boat hack to the dock and i can jump in. All it takes is team work - and. as 1 said, a little trial and error. add to the interest of the nature hikes. He said that they hope to act out characters from the past, to teach visitors some of the history of the Pinery and Grand Bend. He hopes to bring to life historical characters such as Brewster -- who built the first mill in Grand Bend. or Cantin. who planned td dig a canal from St. Joseph to Lake Erie. Other characters might include Indians. early French explorers. or ghosts of the 1913 shipwreck in Lake Huron. Crabe said that nature trails are being opened up, and the park hopes to expand parking space at these trails. The parking area at the nature display centre is also being expanded and im- proved. These im- provements to parking facilities will also be beneficial to the park in winter. because the nature trails are used for cross country skiing. and the nature display centre doubles as the ski chalet. with the toboggan run and skating rink nearby. This area may also be used as a parking lot for second vehicles Campers are only allowed one vehicle per site. Parking will also be up- graded at the outdoor theatre. to allow for greater audiences at the outdoor theatre nature movies. The old Ausable River which runs through the park was recently stocked with 4.- 000 trout. Stocking the river is an annual event at the Pinery. A new attraction at Pinery this summer will be a wind surfing school. A group will have surf -sailers available for rent. along with lessons. The school will be in picnic area nine. Crabe says that the Ministry of Natural Resources has let the wind- surfing school into the park in a desire to promote ac- tivities for those in the 15-25 age group. As well. the park store will be offering canoe and paddle boat rentals. This year. for the first time. the store will be having bicycles for rent. too Again this year. the school of archeology of th 1'niversi- ty of Western Ontario in London. will he returning to the park for a dig The students will he looking for early Indian artifacts Last year. as this year. the school stayed in the park for a week in August during the dig. Crabe says the inter- pretive staff will be holding another corn roast this summer. Last year on the Civic Holiday weekend. more than 2.000 people join- ed the corn roast put on by park staff Another feature which the park has expanded recently is their weather information station. Stevenson Screens (those white louvered boxes ) containing thermometers record daily high and low temperatures. They also keep track of relative humidity. The amount of evaporation is measured. as is the ground wind. Rainfall and snowfall is recorded. and soil thermometers indicate daily temperatures at a 10 and 20 centimeter depth. As well. the wind speed and direction is measured by an anemograph on the side of the fire tower. and a barograph. located in the nature centre. records at- mospheric changes. The weather station is set up just outside the nature display centre. near the winter skating rink. Vanden - Please turn to page 3A Sergeant Don Pettigrew, i• alligia Grand Bend detachment OPP names new detachment heads As another summer season approaches. the On- tario Provincial Police are once again opening their detachment office in Grand Bend This summer's sergeant is Don Pettigrew Sergeant Pettigrew conies to Grand Bend detachment after spen- ding five years at Pinery detachment Prior to that. he was stationed with Forest OPP Sergeant Pettigrew and his family live near Forest. The Grand • Bend detach- ment will include 20 con- stables and three corporals. as well as the sergeant. Four of the 20 constables are women The staff is coining from Peterborough. Toron- to. Burlington and London They will again be living at the F'ountainblue Motel The Grand Bend detach- ment will he opening today. and staying open until September 9 Replacing Sergeant Pet- tigrew at the. Pinery detach- ment is Corporal Steve McFadden Corporal Mc'F'adden has been with the Grassy Narrows detachment for the past two ye.trs Prior to that he was .at Oakndges near Toronto Them are presently six on staff at the i'rnery detach- ment 'Starting today three extra constables will be ioin- ing the Pinery lot the summer Corporal Steve McFadden, Pinery detachment