Inspired Writing by Leanne Dyck

Inspiration for my writing comes from a variety of sources. One of these sources is history, especially about the island I am proud to call home—Mayne Island. Recently I published Mrs. Kenneth James Stevens Wants A Baby on this blog. This story was inspired by...

Japanese Canadians substantially contributed to Mayne Island's economy and vibrancy. Why did they move away? Where did they go?

‘Japanese settlers were a major part of the Mayne community between 1900 and 1942. The very first Japanese to come was Gontaro Kadonaga. By the late 1930s, the Japanese community represented one-third of the population (half of the children enrolled in the school) and ran half of the economy of the Island. They played a key role in growing spring tomatoes in greenhouses and feeding the Vancouver market. They were also active in fishing, fruit growing, and coal producing. They were deeply integrated in the tight-knit Island community.’1

‘Japanese and non-Japanese worked side by side during harvesting, on community “bees” to care for the school and community hall, or on major tasks such as transporting steam boilers from the beach to a Japanese greenhouse. They also spent leisure time together at golf, badminton, dances, and card parties at the community hall.’2

‘This was in stark contrast to what had been happening elsewhere in BC and other parts of Canada where the success of the Japanese had for many years been a point of contention. More and more restrictions were imposed on them; they were not allowed to vote and they were prevented from entering such professions as law. By 1927, 60% of Japanese fishermen were forced out of the industry as a direct result of a federal government regulations. Increasingly racist and fearful rhetoric by municipal, federal politicians contributed to the growing antagonism towards Japanese-Canadians.’3

‘This radical antagonism towards the Japanese finally found a catalyst in Pearl Harbor, December [7], 1941.’4

‘Just before midnight on December 7, 1941, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police arrived at the door of Mayne Island tomato farmer, Zeji Terenoto, and arrested him. He was led away with little time to pack or say good-bye to his terrified family. Three other Mayne Island farmers were arrested later that night. Their crime? Being of Japanese origin.’3

‘Mackenzie King reluctantly gave in to the unified demands of city and district councils, MPs, political groups and prestige groups such as the Citizens’ Defense Committee, in late February 1942.’5

‘On Tuesday, April 21, 1942, the CPR steamship Princess Mary came for the fifty Japanese men, women and children who waited on the Miners Bay wharf.’3

‘During the war there was a broad federal policy of deportation of 21,000 Japanese Canadians who lived near the coast. All remaining Mayne Island residents gathered in Miners Bay to wave them goodbye that day. It is reported that most Islanders felt deep sadness and were opposed to this removal.

Soon enough, the Island economy collapsed and the school had to close. Between 1943 and 1946, breaking promises that were made to the departing Japanese, the BC government confiscated all their properties and personal goods with no or very minimal compensation. At the end of the war in 1945, unlike the US, Japanese Canadians were forbidden to return to the Coast until 1949…

Let us not forget that these injustices were, at their core, caused by racist political and social attitudes, which we must be vigilant to not repeat.’1

1 Yves Tiberghien and Jennifer Iredale, “Commemoration of the Japanese Heritage on Mayne Island

and Homecoming for Descendants of Original Settlers”

MayneLiner, November 2022

2 Marie Elliot, Mayne Island & The Outer Gulf Islands A History

, 1984

3David and Andrea Spalding, Georgina Montgomery and Lawrence

 Pitt, "Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia", 1995

4More Tales from the Outer Gulf Islands:

An Anthology of Memories and Ancedotes

The Gulf islands’ Branch of the British Columbia Historical

 Federation, 1993

In 1987, the Japanese Memorial Gardens were the brainchild of the newly formed Mayne Island Parks and Recreation Commission. Work commenced and donations of cherry trees and other plants were given by the Nagata and Otzuki families and other residents. Unfortunately, work stopped when drainage problems were encountered. As all solutions were expensive and money was required elsewhere in the park, the gardens were neglected for twelve years. In 1999, volunteer Commissioner Don Hubert led an army of volunteers who breathed new life into the gardens.

‘[The] Japanese Memorial Gardens… exists thanks to the enormous donations of time and support of Mayne Islanders, as well as the continuous work by the volunteers who manage it. This is a collective acknowledgment of the painful past and a celebration of our Japanese community members. It is a very significant act on our small island. The story of this garden is possibly unique in BC.’

“Commemoration of the Japanese Heritage on Mayne Island

and Homecoming for Descendants of Original Settlers”

Yves Tiberghien and Jennifer Iredale, MayneLiner, November 2022

July on this blog...

It All Started Here by Leanne Dyck

I was born in a rural hospital--E M Crowe Memorial Hospital. But who? And I wasn't the only one with that question. So I did some research, and... wow! 

E M Crowe Memorial Hospital

Elizabeth Mary Alexander was born in Clifton—a rural community located in Colchester County, Nova Scotia—on March 31, 1856. Yes, that's right, she was born at the height of the Victorian era. Queen Victoria reigned from June 20, 1837, until her death on January 22, 1901--63 years. The era was named in her honour. Victorians believed that a woman's place was in the home. Unless... unless you married rich. Then the societal expectation was that you would adopt a cause on your husband's behalf. You know, like a public relations agent. Elizabeth married wealthy grain merchant George Reading Crowe and set to work bettering the good name of Crowe. She held important positions in a number of organizations—the Manitoba branch of the YWCA Dominion Council, the Winnipeg YWCA, the Westminster Presbyterian Church Ladies' Society, the Women's Canadian Club of Winnipeg, and the Women's Missionary Society. 

It was as the president of the Women's Missionary Society that Elizabeth M. Crowe became involved with the community of Eriksdale. Under her leadership, the Women's Missionary Society searched for a location in rural north-central Manitoba to establish a much-needed hospital. They choose Eriksdale. 

'The building was soon started with a member of Mrs. Crowe's family as its architect. However, before the completion of the hospital, Mrs. Crowe died [on November 6, 1918] and as a memorial to her services and benevolent donations, the hospital was named after her... The hospital was officially opened in May of 1926.' 1

 

'In 1940...the upstairs of the hospital became the maternity ward with a delivery room, nursery, and six patient beds.' 2 

 

The E. M. Crowe Memorial Hospital was the site of an event that should be included in the history books. On November 13, 1962, at 4:46 PM, I was delivered by Dr. Gudmundur Paulson. Dr. Paulson served as Eriksdale's physician from 1939 to 1980.

Mom told me that an elderly patient protested my infant's cries by knocking on the ceiling of her room—the floor of ours—with her cane. 

'In November 1962, the digging began for a new hospital, and in September 1963, the new E. M. Crowe Memorial Hospital was opened.' 1--'a seventeen bed, plus five bassinet acute care hospital, with modern x-ray and delivery rooms, and wide spacious halls.' 2 

Mom--Olavia Willetts--had a long history of involvement with the hospital. In her twenties, she worked as a nurse's aide. In her forties and fifties, she worked first in the laundry room and later in the kitchen. Mom was an honorary member of the hospital guild—having served the guild for over 30 years. Over the years the guild helped to raise funds to support the hospital. On August 10, 1984, Eriksdale's Guild Memorial Park was officially opened to honour their tireless work. 

The E. M. Crowe Memorial Hospital has changed much over the years, but Elizabeth Mary Crowe's legacy remains. 

Helpful resources...

Elizabeth Mary Crowe by the Manitoba Historical Society  

Books about the E. M. Crowe Memorial Hospital in Eriksdale, Manitoba...

1 Memory Opens the Door, Lucy Lindell, 1970 and 1974

2 Beyond Beginnings, Eriksdale History Book Committee, 1996

 

On this blog in November...

Sunday, November 20

Writing Tips from 19 Guest Authors

My guest authors generously share writing tips and give insights into their own author journey.

Sunday, November 27

Island Invasion (short story) by Leanne Dyck

This short story was inspired by 

The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

Craigdarroch Castle

Even though I have no mind for dates, I love to learn about history.

Book review: The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

History is more than a little confusing. For example, let's try to solve the mystery of who discovered Canada.

I typed that question into a search engine. It spat back: Jacques Cartier in 1534. Huh?

What was that poem...? Oh, yeah, In 1492 Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. But he thought he'd discovered India.

When I typed in what did Leif Eriksson discover I was directed to biography.com

'Leif Eriksson was on his way back home

to Greenland...when he sailed off course

and landed at what is now Nova Scotia,

which he called Vinland. This account

comes from the Icelandic Eriks saga.

Another account, the Groenlendinga saga,

says he learned of Vinland from an Icelandic

trader who had been there 14 years earlier...

By most accounts, Eriksson sailed from

Greenland to Norway in 1000.'

That's 534 years before Jacques Cartier.

I typed in what does Canada mean?

Wikipedia informed me that...

'The name of Canada has been in use since the earliest European settlement in Canada,with the name originating from a Saint-Lawrence Iroquoian word kanada
(or canada) for “settlement”, “village', or “land”.'

Isn't that interesting? Maybe Canada didn't need to be discovered. Maybe it was never lost. A few white people were but not Canada.

So imagine, I'm at home on Mayne Island. It's a sun-filled day and say I'm outside working on the yard. A tourist from Vancouver Island shows up.

“Wow, it's a good thing I came,” he tells me. “You were lost. Here let me help you.” He moves into my house.

I'm forced to move down into the basement.

He tells me, “I like it here. I mean, it's pretty and all that but what do you do about this and this and this.”

So I teach him some tricks to make adjusting to rural life much easier. I think we're friends.

One day, he says, “You know you look really cramped, living in the basement.”

I think how nice of him to notice.

He says, “I'm sure you'll be much happier living in Victoria. We'll teach you how to be a city person. It'll be a much better life than the one you had on Mayne Island.”

With me out of the way, he's free to treat my island any way he wants. He builds fast food restaurants and paves over flowerbeds for parking lots. He pollutes the water and the air.

Now, of course, none of that will happen. I'm just a white woman wondering what it's like to be Aboriginal. All I can do is wonder. But Thomas King knows and he has opened my eyes.

The Inconvenient Indian is not a easy read, but it is a necessary one. And thanks to King's wit, it is doable.

He discusses three types of Indians.

'Dead Indians are dignified, noble, silent, suitably garbed. And dead. Live Indians are invisible, unruly, disappointing. And breathing. One is the romantic reminder of a heroic but fictional past. The other is simply an unpleasant, contemporary surprise.' (p.66)

'Legal Indians are those Indians who are recognized as being Indians by the Canadian and U.S. governments.'(p. 68)

'North America hates the Legal Indian... The Legal Indian was one of those errors in judgment that North America made and has been trying to correct for the last 150 years.' (p. 69)

I like how King answers the question of what do Natives want. It speaks to the diversity of a people. Aboriginals are a diverse people. It was the white man who lumped them all together under one title—Indian. King makes this point through out this book. Whites made the classification. Aboriginals did not.

Some may say the abuses done to Aboriginals is old news and they should just get over it.

King replies to this comment...

'[A]n examination of the past...can be instructive.It shows us that there is little shelter and little gain for Native peoples in doing nothing.' (p. 265)

If Native people want sovereignty and self-determination, they will have to fight for it, King concludes.

Favourite quote: 'The fact of Native existence is that we live modern lives informed by traditional values and contemporary realities and that we wish to live those lives on our terms.' (p. 266)

If you would like to gain better understanding of the Aboriginal experience in North America, I highly recommend...

The Inconvenient Indian

(buy this book)

Next post:  Where's the Head (a short story)

Sharing my author journey...
On Mayne Island, The Inconvenient Indian was not only a book but a challenge. A challenge issued...

Book Review The Orenda by Joseph Boyden

buy this book

Front cover blurb:  The Orenda opens with the kidnapping of Snow Falls, a spirited Iroquois girl with a special gift. Her captor, Bird, is an elder and one of the Huron Nation's great warriors and statesmen. Although it's been years since the murder of his family members, they're never far from his mind. In Snow Falls, Bird recognizes the ghost of his lost daughter; he sees that the girl possesses powerful magic, something useful to him and his people on the troubled road ahead. The Huron Nation has battled the Iroquois for as long as Bird can remember, but both tribes now face a new, more dangerous peril from afar.

Christophe does not see himself as a threat, however. A charismatic Jesuit missionary, he has found his calling amongst the Huron, devoting himself to learning and understanding their customs and language in order to lead them to Christ. As an emissary from distant lands, he brings much more, though, than his faith to the new world.

As these three souls dance one another through intricately woven acts of duplicity, small battles erupt into bigger wars, and a nation emerges from worlds in flux. Powerful and deeply moving, The Orenda traces a story of blood and hope, suspicion and trust, hatred and love. A saga nearly four hundred years old, it is at its roots timeless and eternal.

Tons of people have warned me that this book is very violent. (I don't know, I guess I look particularly fragile.) But I decided to disregard these warnings.
Why? 
Well... I'm a fan of Joseph Boyden. In fact Three Day Road got me through a bout of shingles. So you see, I owe him.
And also... The Orenda is a winner Canada Reads 2014 Selection
So you see, I had to read this book...

I took notes as I read...

Snow Falls:  'Wolves can't live on berries and twigs, after all, and their viciousness is what allows them to keep going, and will allow those who will one day follow to do the same....
It's a big decision, isn't it? I can hear your voice asking it, Father. Do I grow up to become a deer? Or do I grow up to become a wolf?' (p. 50)

I love the humour contained in this book. Clearly Christophe means 'live' instead of 'die' but his limited knowledge of the Wendat (Huron) language forces him to make this mistake. Yet he arrogantly believes that he has a gift for languages.

It overwhelms me, the cruelty that man can inflicted on man, because of desire.

The chapter titled I Saw You, Lord ends on such a sad note because we, of course, know that Bird is right. 

I like how Boyden recounts a scene through the eyes of more than one character. I thought such a treatment would seem redundant, but it doesn't--not at all.

The French send young priests to 'civilize' the dwellers of the harsh land. But Iroquois greet them with arrows and sink their canoes. Are we meant to rejoice--the land remains out of their clutches? 
Yet more and more of the Huron are listening to the priests. Will they turn from the old ways?
Of course, we know they will. It's only a matter of time. 
I wonder how different things would be if they hadn't? Would I be here? Would there be a country called Canada? Would our Prime Minister be Huron (Wendat)? What version of history would be taught to our children?

Gosling:  ' "Your wampum [Bible] says that man is the master and that all the animals are born to serve him...I say that humans are the only ones in this world that need everything within it... But there is nothing in this world that needs us for its survival. We aren't the masters of the earth. We're the servants." ' (p. 163)

Magic is alive in Gosling.

I think Joseph Boyden is using a balanced approach to recount the days of first contact. Instead of painting the priests as bad and the native warriors as good, he rises above such pat conclusions to fairly represent both.

'his face is like the sun rising' (p. 219)

The secret power of the priest and the secret power of Gosling--they spring from such a sacred place, defying reason. Are they truly that different?

I'm touched by the simplicity and love expressed on pages 380 and 381.

Is He Finds Villages (Aaron) symbolic of the natives who were so willing to embrace the white ways that they lost their own way?

The present tense is especially effective during the battle scene. It heightens my tension, making me feel like I'm right there. And I read on...

I'm very impressed by Boyden's ability to tell this story using three narrators. I, the reader, never get lost. And Boyden doesn't use the technique I would employ--labeling the chapters using the character's name. There's no need, I know the characters so well that I easily identify who is speaking.

Christophe's strength and his devotion to his faith can be clearly seen in the chapter titled The Stolen Fruit.

Inspired by this story I write...

Orenda

I walk with respect, thoughtfulness, and kindness 

on Turtle Island, my mother Earth

Orenda

Guest post Friday:  Who Me Idle? by Joel Harvey

Sharing my author journey...

Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

buy this book

The Help is set in Mississippi during 1962. It's a heart-warming story about the love between a black maid (Aibileen Clark) and a rich white girl (Skeeter Phelan). Aibileen raised Skeeter like her own child--Skeeter's parents are too busy with other matters. Skeeter never forgot the love she received and uses her skills as a writer to cry out for social justice for the black community. However, this puts Aibileen's life in jeopardy. 


More...


And closer to my Mayne Island home...
On one of our big sister islands, Salt Spring Island, there is a community of African-Americans. Many in this community can trace their family back to escaped slaves. I'm in awe of the courage it took to leave all you know, travel the underground trail way and start a new life in a foreign land. 
To learn more, read...

Every Goodbye Ain't Gone (book) (on Amazon)

Book Review: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Buy this book

I read slowly and because of this I seldom read books longer than 300 pages but on August 30th I undertook a challenge -- to read a book double this length. I left a trail of notes...

'[W]hen you handle books all day long every new one is a friend and a temptation.' (p. 12)

The Historian's old-fashioned charm captured me and I was helpless to do anything but continue to read. It was raining which added an atmospheric note to the experience.

Circles within circles within circles. We are told the story by the daughter, who in turn is told the story by her father, who in turn is told the story by his professor.

I continue to be intrigued by The Historian. I like how Kostova inspires the reader to invent her own answers to questions:  Why does the father have such a strange reaction to the matre d's story? What story is worse than the one being told -- and why? Has the father become a victim of the curse? Is the father a vampire? My creative mind gambles ahead in the rich, green meadow Kostova has led me to. Oh, if only I had all day to read.

Elizabeth Kostova skillfully weaves the threads of these stories around and around each other, like weaving a tapestry. She creates such a complicated design but the reader never gets lost -- always sees the pattern.

'It is a fact that we historians are interested in what is partly a reflection of ourselves perhaps a part of ourselves we would rather not examine except through the medium of scholarship; it is also true that as we steep ourselves in our interests, they become more and more a part of us.' (p. 250)

These vampires don't shimmer in the sunlight -- they lurk in the shadows. They aren't romantic but the embodiment of evil. Bram Stoker would be very pleased with Elizabeth Kostova's dark, mysterious tale.

Elizabeth Kostova has filled my mind with her tale and I'm finding it hard to sleep for fear of a dark figure lurking in the shadows. Yet I read on...

The professor had returned and we, the reader, dance from father to daughter as we travel ever nearer to Dracula.

I really enjoy how Elizabeth Kostova drops clues like petals along the path. If the reader isn't careful the petal will be overlooked, mistaken for just another blade of grass.

One member of the family is chosen to receive a dragon tattoo. What tattoo (talkative, secretive, demonstrative) do we receive from our family? Who is tattooed? Who isn't? Why?

'I'm on a quest of sorts, an historian's hunt for Dracula -- not Count Dracula of the romantic stage, but a real Dracula -- Drakulya -- Vlad III, a fifteenth-century tyrant who lived in Transylvania and Wallacia and dedicated himself to keeping the Ottoman Empire out of his land as long as possible.' (p. 391)

Male-female, we are mammals, primitive, uncivilized, wild, untamed, driven by desire, uncontrollable, capable of the unthinkable...evil? 

We bear the mark but must we do the deed?

The love of a mother for a child--and what would cause her to leave?

I wonder if Elizabeth Kostova is Hungarian or...Romanian? From what sense of cultural knowledge is this tale drawn?


'I would return to you immediately, but I know that if I do, the same thing will happen. I will feel my uncleanness,...I will feel the horror of it...How can I be near you knowing that I am tainted? What right do I have to touch your smooth cheek?' (p. 564 - 565)

What would make a parent feel this way about his child? Where would he go for comfort?
A father fearing that he will physically abuse his child may enlist to kill the 'enemy'.

'If there is any good in life, in history, in my own past, I invoke it now. I invoke it with all the passion with which I have lived.' (p. 621)

Would Dracula truly see himself as evil or would he justify his actions? Does anyone ever see himself as evil?

Within a book lies a trail of a book to a book.

No book is flawless. I felt that the last chapter was not written with as much care as the prior ones. So I wonder, did the author lose interest, did an editor instruct her to cut words, or did she simply have trouble finding the end? For me, it seems rushed--a lot of telling very little showing.

Regardless, The Historian was a titillating, captivating read. This book has me searching my bookshelves for the next read, something like it...horror...it must be, horror. My teeth long to sink into the flesh of the genre; taste another author's blood...

Knitting--An Ancient Craft by Leanne Dyck

In 2004, I wrote Knitting-An Ancient Craft for my blog. I was thrilled to receive an emailed request from Judy Brown to include it in her soon-to-be-published book Knitting Notes:  A Journal of Knitting Memories (2006)

Knitting -- An Ancient Craft

There is some speculation that Stone Age men wore knitted garments. 

The oldest knitted garment on record was found in Egypt and dates back to the 6th Century. The small red socks were made in twisted stockinette stitch.

The first item found on Canadian soil was a knitted cap discovered at Red Bay, Labrador, formerly a 16th-century Basque whaling site.

West Coast Salish women have been knitting Cowichan sweaters and blankets since, approximately, 1860.  These sweaters and blankets have been presented as gifts to royalty and heads of state. They are knit with un-dyed wool and are water-resistant because the natural oils have been retained. 

Knitting was, at first, considered to be a humble craft in Europe. However, when Queen Elizabeth the First started wearing knitted silk stockings, the craft gained favour and was, henceforth, looked upon as being quite a fashionable hobby. The knitting terms garter and stockinette (stocking) stitch date back to this period. 

17th-century Knitting Guilds were not fun places to click and chat. To qualify for membership, the mainly male artisans had to make a lengthy commitment to learning the craft--the same amount of time it takes to become a doctor today. 

Every time we make a stitch, we contribute to the history of knitting. Teach two to knit, and you ensure that our craft will not fade into history.

Re-written on Thursday, August 26, 2021.