the negotiated peace

Gun Control
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Gun Control

Good Day Brave Heart

It’s seldom a bad day with so much to do.

Exit the warm contentment of the cozy, familiar structure to the bright snow-covered future that awaits you in the outdoors.  It’s a fantasy world of snow laden trees, martins leaping along the way and birds chattering to each other.  What do they say?  Only your own spirits will determine their message.  The sundog shines in a glorious ring around the sun, indicating a weather pattern on its way.  The brightness of this glory world is the psychedelic wonder of yesteryear.  It’s no wonder that they thought that LDS was safe.

Minds bend in the staggering difficulty of the task.    The unfathomable human experiment of the day.

Hunting and trapping, the need to survive, the human is a new predator in this place.  Now the competition for the food supply has increased and new hunters are on the land.  Hunters with families and small mouths to feed.  Tiny tots with growing pains, hunger pangs and shill cries.  Feed us! cloth us! save us! The howls stop when the hut vanishes in the snow and the hunt for animal tracks begin.

This new human brings a new kind of weapon to the wild world of big game hunting.  Gone is the bow and arrow, now it’s the rifle.  Guns.  Guns to protect us, guns to hunt with, guns to be dependent upon.  Guns for survival, guns for livelihood, guns for trade and barter.  Guns.   Only the need for ammunition is a drawback in the use of guns.  Stock the larder with as much provision for the winter as you can, and don’t forget the main one, your gun.

Unlicensed weapons have as many as you want to.  No one is watching.

The stealthy aboriginal makes his way to your shelter.  Maybe you don’t have to hunt today.  Maybe all that you have to do is to trade him a good gun and a round of ammunition for a side of moose, a rack of elk and a hind quarter of deer.  Maybe he will give his own much needed furs, from that rabbit, for a gun.  The indigenous people need the fur more than the fur trader do, but wildlife is plentiful, and trade brings wealth to this family.  Wealth to one, survival to another, a deal is struck.  It seems like a win, win situation.  The stealthy aboriginal so experienced in the ways of this land, looking to improve his own lot in life.  A gun for his hunt, a gun for his prosperity and a gun to protect him from the devil.

The homesteader is saved.  No more psychedelic sunshine.  No more mind-bending winter exposure.  No more lethargic, seemingly drug filled indecisive wanderings.   He is saved.  Saved by the aboriginal bell of necessity.  The gun is more powerful than the bow and arrow.

A shot rings out on the still land.  The skilled new hunter has already conquered.  More will come looking for this kind of trade.  More will seek the European for guns.

Guns for survival, guns to protect us.  Guns.  A new way of life.

The Wild Canadian Year: Canada’s toughest season, with only the hardiest prevailing – Winter – YouTube

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes

 

 

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A Brave and Perilous Journey

Hail Brave hearts

In the era of yesteryear,  the land was young, and people from Europe sought passage to this place, seeking a new freedom, a quest for new life, a new self fulfillment, a new community, a new start in the world.  This was Canada, when it was young, a place for settlers to, call their home.  Strong people, adventurous, industrious, hard working and courageous, they flocked to this land for their rights to a new life.  Free of the constraints of power in Europe, the new colonialists forged ahead, seeking refuge, land, a place to farm and a place to call home.  This is us, in Canada.  Young, welcoming, offering a life to those who were willing to make the journey and to work for a life  like no other.

The wild calls, with it’s howling voice, its watches with it’s thousand eyes, it hears with it’s sharp ears and vanishes into the bush, only to emerge at night and howl some more.

The crack of a branch in the forest.  Who’s out there?  Only a wild cat?  Only a bear?  Who lurks in the bushes and stalks us?  In the quiet of the forest, when the wind rushes through the trees, the clamour of restless birds, announce the presence of the stranger.  In the wild of the waterways, the rushing water tumbles over rapids and waterfalls.  Dangerous rivers, dangerous portages, dangerous stormy lakes, all lead to the wealth of a land of promise.  The new land of plenty, if you dare to seek it.  Follow the treasure map to the X that marks the place.  Here you will find what you seek, if you survive the perilous journey to reach it.

How long will this journey take depends on you.  It depends on your skills, your health, your aptitudes, fortitude and negotiation., or perhaps, stealth and quiet.  It’s a dangerous game, but for the many who sought this refuge in the wild, the high stakes must have been worth effort.  The right to own land, to have a freedom.

1670s in Canada – Wikipedia

The journey across the Atlantic Ocean is just the beginning.  A 5403 kilometer start to an uncertain finish in old Quebec City.  Such a long and tiresome journey for the the hopeful stalwarts of the day.   Alas, this is not the X on this map.  Old Quebec is not the treasure for this group of immigrants, longing for a fresh new start in a wild and uncompromising land.  This refuge in the storm is not for them.  This fabulous  colony, so fortuitous, the weary, grateful travellers can cast their eyes on the potential that awaits them.  A city!  It’s possible.  It’s possible to tame this land.  It’s possible to farm here, and to enjoy the benefits of a tenuous freedom.

There are freedoms from some things, but the land and it’s inhabitants are still in charge.  Push on, oh brave hearts, push on.  Seek your fortune.  Find the treasure.  It’s promised to you, if you survive.  So brave hearts, if you should choose to accept this challenge, your good fortune and perhaps fame awaits you.  Good luck.

written by Dr Louise Hayes

April 11, 2022

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Those Divine Weeds

Hail Brave hearts

Still exploring, still living that awesome adventure, still looking forward to the next great day.  Still working those muscles, still struggling with pain.  Not so!  Your diet could save you.

On and on the canoe is paddled, on and on, those muscles work.  Through rapids, portages, endless days on the water, trap the fur, bring it home, make a fortune for that clever, illustrious businessman.  Be the vehicle to their desires.  Work your body, your mind, your spirit to the bone.  Leave your loved ones, travel with courage, bring home that cherished dime.

The difficult life of the courier de bois, the homesteaders that followed them and the settling of Canada.  The price that was paid in life and livelihood, as the courageous Canadians make their way into the great wild.  Survive you must.

The land takes it’s toil and exhausts us.  The strain and stress of this life is full of great challenges.  There are dreams of gold but hardship is plenty.  Tell us your secrets.  How did you survive?

In the great wild, there is plenty, if you know what to look for.  There was game to catch, fish in the streams, fruit, berries and edible plants along the way.  Some of this is medicinal and works to cure that obvious.  Vitamin C for scurvy, vitamin A for your eyes.  The long days of sunshine gleaming off the water, the eyesore from reflections from the water without sunglasses, the sunburn, the pain of it.

Somewhere in the wilds of Canada is medicine for all of this.  Salves, ointments, tinctures, treatments for cuts, bruises, scrapes and burns.  Somewhere there are treatments for pain, vision loss, inflamed joints, sore muscles, pulls and sprains.  Somewhere there is treatment for disease and mental impairment.  Our healing is abundant and our forefathers prove it.  Somewhere in the great wild nutrition is abundant and the natural world gives us relief from aches and pain, from disease and keeps us well.  Somewhere in the wild, there is food that will save us, if you know what to look for.

 

Lambs Quarters:

Why was Lamb’s quarters used as an herbal remedy?
The plant was used traditionally as an herbal remedy for eczema, rheumatic pains, gout, colic, insect stings and bites. Also a decoction made from the herb was used to treat tooth decay. The sap extracted from the plant stems was used to reduce freckles and treat sunburns.

Lamb’s Quarters Uses in Cooking and Benefits as a …

http://www.herbal-supplement-resource.com/lambs-quarters-he…
See all results for this question
Why is it important to eat lambsquarter leaves?
Lambsquarter is an important source of food that can be considered a key staple, while at the same time it is also an extremely valuable medicine. When the leaves are chewed into a green paste and applied to the body, it makes a great poultice for insect bites, minor scrapes, injuries, inflammation, and sunburn.
  • https://www.joyfulbelly.com/Ayurveda/ingredient/Lambs-Quarters/267

    Lamb’s quarters contains more protein, calcium, and vitamins B1 and B2 than cabbage or spinach, making it a wild edible fit for Pop-Eye, our favorite green vegetable hero. It is also rich in iron, phosphorus, and vitamins B1, B2, C, and A. Lamb’s Quarters warms your mouth, is slightly salty, sour, and mildly spicy.

  • Lambs Quarter – Wild & Edible www.thegypsythread.org

    https://www.thegypsythread.org/lambs-quarter-wild-edible

    2021-07-27 · Internal uses range from treating diarrhea, relieving stomach aches, and for scurvy (due to the high Vitamin C content.) Lamb’s quarter tea is also known for decreasing inflammation and increasing circulation. Lamb’s quarter poultices are said to relieve itching, swelling, and relieve burn pain.

    Yarrow

    In short, Yarrow has the following medicinal uses:

    • wound treatment
    • stops bleeding
    • digestive herb
    • diuretic
    • anti-inflammatory
    • anti-spasmodic
    • anti-catarrhal (removes excess mucous from the body)
    • diaphoretic (reduces fever)
    • lowers blood pressure
    • stimulates blood flow in the pelvic area (especially the uterus)
    • antimicrobial
    • used for hemorrhage
    • used for treatment in pneumonia
    • used for treatment in rheumatic pain

    Purple Aster

    • Principally used in the cure of rheumatism in the form of infusion or tincture; recommended, however, in hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, spasms, irregular menstruation, etc., internally; and used both externally and internally in many cutaneous diseases, the eruption occasioned by the poison rhus, and in the bites of venomous snakes.

      Wild Asters medicinal uses | V I Farms

      Are there any medicinal uses for wild asters?
      Wild Asters medicinal uses. The warm infusion may be used freely in colds, rheumatism, nervous debility, headache, pains in the stomach, dizziness, and menstrual irregularities. This, together with A. cordifolius, has been compared in value with valerian. Aster aestivus …is recommended as an antispasmodic and alterative.

    •  Aster aestivus…is recommended as an antispasmodic and alterative. Principally used in the cure of rheumatism in the form of infusion or tincture; recommended, however, in hysteria, chorea, epilepsy, spasms, irregular menstruation, etc., internally; and used both externally and internally in many cutaneous diseases, the eruption occasioned by the poison rhus, and in the bites of venomous snakes

    • Aster Plant Uses – Learn About The Edibility Of Aster Flowers

      https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/flowers/asters/edibility…

      2020-08-30 · The flowers and leaves can be eaten fresh or dried when eating aster plants. The Native American people harvested wild aster for a multitude of uses. The roots of the plant were used in soups and young leaves were cooked lightly and used as greens.

       

    • Daisies

    The Medicinal Herb Daisy The herb may be used for loss of appetite as it has stimulating effect on the digestion system and it has been used as a treatment for many ailments of the digestive tract, such as gastritis, diarrhea, liver and gallbladder complaints and mild constipation.

    Wild daisy is a plant. The parts that grow above the ground are used to make medicinal tea. People take wild daisy tea for coughs, bronchitis, disorders of the liver and kidneys, and swelling ( inflammation ). They also use it as a drying agent (astringent) and as a ” blood purifier.”

    The young flower heads or buds can be added to salads, soups or sandwiches; or the flower heads used to decorate salad dishes. The leaves can be eaten raw despite their bitter aftertaste, but are better mixed in salads or cooked and might be used as a potherb. The buds can be preserved in vinegar and used in cooking as a substitute for capers.

    Nutritional profile

    It is both an anti-inflammatory herb and a vulnerary (improves circulation) herb. Drink daisy tea for the plant’s health-giving and restorative properties. A modern study of wild edibles used during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–95) showed that daisies contain 34 mg of vitamin C per 100 g.

    Common Thistle

    The roots have been used as a poultice and a decoction of the plant used as a poultice on sore jaws. A hot infusion of the whole plant has been used as a herbal steam for treating rheumatic joints. A decoction of the whole plant has been used both internally and externally to treat bleeding piles.

    Save yourself, with the delicious, nutritious weeds of the wild!  Our great ancestors had nothing else to eat.  The knowledge  of the food value and medicinal value of these weeds offered to us by the aboriginal people of Canada, saved us then and could help us now.  Eat, drink and be well.

    written by Dr. Louise Hayes

    August 22, 2021

     

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Feast

Praises to the Magnificent Almighty Man

Eat hearty.  Tis the season for delicious cuisine.  A summertime of hours of work brings us the much needed harvest.  With gratitude for our living, our survival, and our fabulously healthy diet.  The smorgasbord has arrived.  Joy to us, for this magnificent and decadent celebration.  Thanksgiving is a must.

We turn our attention to the bounty of the Earth.  A time of joy, of family of friends and fellowship.  The hardship of the toil of planting culminates on this holiday which saves us.  Eat well and share. This holiday comes from giving, sharing, community, peace and fellowship.  It comes from caring for people and taking care of people.  It is a time for the home, for the harvest and the homecoming.  As usual, we feast and remember with gladness, the story of Thanksgiving and the happiness of the people.

Eat, drink and be merry, oh joyous ones, the nurturing of this gift of food is for your health, wellness and continued enjoyment.  A delight for the grand chef.

Recipes abound for this season with the additional goodness of the meal plan already resolved.  Traditional cooking at it’s best.  The larder is full, the guest list is easy.  We put aside our worries for a moment and retreat to our bubble.  The safety of a circle of close friends and relatives who we can share with.  This has been an unusual year, 2020, but we still persevere.  Our gatherings are small, our journeys limited in distance and number.  We are cautious with our meetings and grateful for the advances in technology that surrounds us with people who we care for and still need to communicate with.  We still dine in style and share our thoughts and conversation through the fortunate support of social media, cell phones, ipads , computer and other gadgets.  The life line is still present.  We are still able to connect ourselves to the wide wide world out there.

With praises we are thankful.  In history the wide ocean separates the people from their families.  There is no where to go.  There is nothing else to do, but to have faith in God and to trust in strangers who might help them.  They faced illness and hunger and so much despair.  One hundred and thirty lonely people, cast out into an unknown world of much hardship.  Save us!  They landed, and fell into a tribe of indigenous people, unknown strangers, perhaps murderers, they met them anyway, regardless of their fear.

How fortunate to meet a compassionate  person who extended an invitation of peace, food, fellowship and acceptance.  How fortunate to meet those kinds of people, even today.  The people who will break bread with you, share the larder, extend an invitation.  The days of yore, when a broken group of stranded people, encountered the unexpected in a strange and wild land.  Give thanks for those fortunate few who were so lucky as to be included.  Feast and be merry, joy to us all.  This celebration of food is the making of a great nation, of great friendships.  It is to overcome starvation, to live in peace, to be a community and a country.

These are our instructions, according to history.

\written by Dr. Louise Hayes

October 21, 2020

 

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Happy Birthday to Us

Good Day Brave hearts

A Happy Canada Day to you.

Today we celebrate the birthday of this great country. A village from the forest. A dream of national identity. A work of unity of life and lifestyle in a land so vast and diverse. The land, the people, the projects, all individually styled for an outcome of diversity and praises for all of it. The great land with its majestic mountains, it’s sweeping prairie, it’s thousands of lakes, it’s forests, it’s tundra, it’s landscapes so unique and awesome. The great land, filled with great people, great places, great adventure and great belonging.

Fill your cup, with the endless opportunity of Canada! The opportunity for exploration is immense, with so much enjoy. We are the second largest country in the world and have so much to see and to discover. The valuable history of sharing and caring for each other. The widespread plains of homesteaders striving to build a country from sea to shining sea. The great north, so wild and free.

This is our Canada. A vast and brilliant home to us. A place of nurturing our spirits, of learning, of wisdom. This is the country that we made ourselves, from our skills, our intelligence, our passions, and our sense of community. We built this. We chose this. We collectively decided that this is the Canada that we want, that we love and that is our home. We made this place special to us, ourselves.

This fabulous world of the wilderness and the great wild, is home for us. We save it because we adore it. It speaks to us, to adventure, to explore, to challenge ourselves to be smart, educated, strong and daring. This great land calls us to retain ancestral roots which tie us to a past time of athletic adventure, community and ingenuity. It calls us to the present, of eco tourism, the food supply, the great cities. It calls us to our future, to retain it all, to be proud, to learn from each other and to share our knowledge with each other. It calls us. Each and every Canadian, to do our duty of care for this great nation. This great country that we call our home.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDluztBSaBc

It is with great pleasure that we celebrate this birthday. 133 years of a community of people spread out over a vast countryside of unique places to live in and to visit. The differences in cultures, in heritage, in ties that bind us. We are not all the same, but we are. We are all different, but we are one. We are all diverse, but we are the same. This is how we choose to be. Individual, healthy, strong, with a courage to be culturally diverse and still be united. To live together in multicultural unity. This is our goal and one of our freedoms. Respect for each other and for the intellect that brings us peace and opportunity under a flag that flies so freely.

Happy Birthday Canada. May our dreams remain alive. May our hopes be fulfilled. May our way of life survive us. May we be filled with the glory of this great nation. Happy Birthday, Canada. May you live forever!

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

Canada Day, 2020

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Missionaries

 

Hail Brave Hearts

This is your duty, this is your strength, this is your chosen life, the destiny of your path, the choice that you made.  Follow it with courage and determination.  Follow it with all of your heart, with your soul, with your passion, your intellect and your being.  Not all paths are easy, not all times will be grand, not all  will understand and not all will help, but persevere regardless.  Your story must be told.  Told by you.

Bravely travel into the unknown, seek the refuge of the place, contact the people and share their lives.  This mission has been accomplished before and will continue.

Venture into the lives of early Canada, the history of this great land.  A sharing of cultures, of exchange, of markets, of language and peace.  This is the fortitude of the people, the strength of their character, the bond that ties.  A familiarity must be established, with honest communication and negotiation.   These are the people, this is their land, their customs and their beliefs.  A common bond must be found.

Now is the time of the Jesuit.  Holy fathers of the faith, looking to convert the aboriginal people to follow the path of righteous and salvation.  Hail almighty ones.  It is your duty to persevere during these difficult times.  Sometimes it’s easy, but frequently the work is difficult and ardurous.  Not all of the people have an interest in these fine words.  Not everyone views the world from this perspective and not everyone will listen.  Of the thousands of people to preach to, the message is received slowly.  One by one, over many years, the aboriginals start to convert.  The faith must be accepted.  People must understand each other and the world must be saved.  Peace among us, oh fine nation.  Peace among us, to the glory of God.

But it is with great joy that we travel these unknown, rugged and fabulously beautiful lands.  It is with great joy that we meet these curious and eager people.  It is with great joy that we pursue our mission to convert these people to Christianity and to help them to serve the Lord.  The Jesuits are here as a dedicated group of missionaries, intent on fulfilling the directions of their education.  These are the soldiers of God, intent on bringing the scripture to the aboriginal people of Canada.  All united in the same faith, all members of the same church.  It is with great joy that they fulfill their mission, their aptitude and their duty.  It is with one call that they come forward, with the demand from their leader, that all peoples come to Christ.

Difficulties are met with gladness, for the challenge of the body is usurped by the spirit within. The spiritual awakening of the joy of bringing the faith to a people who are unknown to the world, but known by God. Come to the parish, learn and worship. The Call to the worlds peoples to unite! Unite as brothers and sisters of the faith. Be Christians! Make Jesus your Lord. Unite in the joy of the love of Jesus. Join us, we prey! Join us in gladness and in praises. Jesus went to the cross for you and rises again. Believe in the scripture and have faith. Be saved by the divine. Pray and be saved. Jesus is Lord.

The endless work to meet people, connect, converse and to find a common bond. The mission to bring the people under one church, with only one God

Be saved, all you mighty ones. Join together, worship together and be saved.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

April 12, 2020

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Saint Marie Among the Hurons

Hail Brave hearts

It is with great courage that we settle this country, filled with new adventures and difficult times.  It is with bravery that we meet these new people in their own homeland and on their own terms.  It is with faith and prayer that we negotiate a peaceful settlement, and with determination and recognition of the mission, that is required, proceed to our duty.  To the new land, and to the people of it, we meet.

Such is the sturdy vow of the missionary, the Jesuits who landed to fulfill their duty.  Bring the people religion.  Bring them to Christianity.  It is the solemn vow of the faith, these people must be saved.  Saved in the eyes of God, save their everlasting soul.  Save the people, even in death.

The mission was built in Huron (Wendake) territory, 1200 kilometers from Quebec.  Started in 1639 and lasting only 10  years, it was the first settlement in New France, in the province that is now Ontario.   It was set on a large tract of land between Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay, in  Huron territory.  The the mission itself was on the Wye River.

Only a small group of men made the long journey from Quebec City to this remote place.  All martyred for their faith.  The Huron themselves, were curious and peaceful.  They allowed the mission on their land and allowed the Jesuits to preach to them.  Some converted, some did not, but pursue the faith is a must.  Fulfill the mission of their lives, they must.  Bring religion to the people.  Serve God.  No matter what the price is , it is not too high.  Serve God.  Bring Christianity to the people with the intention of everlasting peace.  Peace on Earth, goodwill to your fellow human.

Canada’s first Christmas Carol, the Huron Carol, written in 1642 probably by Jean de Brebeuf.

Saint Marie among the Huron is a historical place of hope, dreams, hardship and abandonment.  The security of the Jesuits, lost to the increasing hostility of the Iroquois in the insistent war with the Huron.  Iroquois with guns, Huron with bow and arrow, missionaries with prayer.  Peace among us, oh mighty human.  This territory belongs to the Huron, the land of the Wendake.

http://www.saintemarieamongthehurons.on.ca/sm/en/HistoricalInformation/TheSainteMarieStory/index.htm

But the dreadful incessant war proved the Iroquois to be a stronger and more aggressive people.  Intent on murder, they continued their assault on the Huron and would not leave.  Some of the Huron  who survived  fled to neighboring tribes, and to Quebec to re-establish themselves, on Ile de Orleans , just east of Quebec city in 1650.  By 1649 the mission was in ruin, burned by the Jesuits so that the Iroquois couldn’t inhabit it.  The Huron had departed, the Jesuits were gone.  Gone, but saved.  Other peace remained.  The fur trade was still active, with trade and negotiation still intact.  With the loss of this mission is an uncanny coincidence.  The city of Montreal, founded in 1649.

 

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

March 10, 2020

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Challenges of Discovery

Hail Brave Hearts

The never ending adventure to voyage and discovery to meet and greet the new people, to learn their ways.  Peace among us is a priority, gifts and exchange, routes of travel and a path to the new world.  Discover, trade and progress, learn the language, the customs, the society.  There are many peoples, many societies, many worlds to discover.  Come with this explorer into the heart of our land and meet the people, listen to their stories, share their passions, learn their wisdom.  This is New France, in 1615, with an exploration into the aboriginal territories of Ontario, as far as Georgian Bay and Lake Nippissing, in search of a route to the Orient.

The Orient.  That spell binding, alluring destination of dreams.  Silk, spices, riches.  The Orient!  Find the route through Canada, we know it’s there.  Yes, it is, but not this time.  Not in 1615, when the world was forested and filled with mighty, turbulent rivers, with rapids and waterfalls to portage.  Not in 1615 when every few hundred kilometers brought new nations of aboriginals to meet and negotiate with.  As skilled and brilliant as these explorers were, the land is too large, the peoples too many, the dangers too difficult and the demands too great.  Still, the path to the Orient exists, but the people need to know these explorers, before extending such a substantial gift as the whereabouts of this sought after trail.

Samuel de Champlain 1604-1616

Travel and travel and travel, is a must.  Explore the world around and before you.  Go to these uncharted lands.  Bring peace, negotiation and prosperity with you, if you can.  It’s a daunting mission, to be the explorer, to discover and collaborate with people of unknown character.  Meeting them in their own land, on their own terms.  Peace and skilled negotiation.  The intellect soars as the negotiations are successful and the peoples minds are set at ease, with this friend.  Gratitude for such necessary gifts, as some burdens are lifted and some work is eased.  Sharing and caring, the beginning of a new world.  The start of a new land.  This is now New France, being explored and documented and carefully mapped.  Each river that is traveled, each new tribe that is encountered, each new language that is spoken and the forest of trees, plants and animals to marvel at as well.  All carefully described, by this well educated person, who knew the land so well.

This is the life of a great explorer, Samuel de Champlain.  His mission of discovery was so successful that it formed peaceful and prosperous relations with several aboriginal tribes and the French people, who earnestly sought common bonds and  well intended relationships with the people of the new world.  The needs for these negotiations for the fur traders were high.  In the end Champlain died in Quebec city with only 150 settlers living in the colony.

With the explorer, came the missionaries.  Jesuit priests from France, intent on bringing Christianity to the people of Canada.  This seemed necessary for the aboriginals to understand the religion of the French people  so that they would have a common bond in humanity to share.  Peace among the people, brothers in Christ.  Although the aboriginals had their own religion, with their own after life, it was deemed essential to bring these people to Jesus.  Such was the quest of the Jesuits who pursued this mission to the ends of their lives.

Carhagouha – 1615 site of first Mass in Ontario

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

February 28, 2020

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Hochelaga

Hail Bravehearts

It’s a fabulous notion, to start anew, with fresh ideas, community, land and skills. Exciting and enticing, to feel the fresh air, to feel freedom, adventure to call this land your home. The tingling sensation of anticipation and joy. At last, a home. It’s a long way to voyage, to come to Canada, to serve in the conquest of a voyage so rare. To build it, so live it, the adventure of the century, to dwell in the new colony, to be history.

Now venture along the St. Lawrence, with it’s turbulent waters. See the sweet little town called Quebec, but travel, just a little bit further. Another 255 kilometers to the new city of Montreal. A fabulous place, built with the dedication of the colonialist. A fine mind set on conquering a new frontier. Another test of strength and courage, but also negotiation, acceptance and peace. A chance for a new home, a new life, but sharing. To share the land with strangers who will be your neighbors, who will, in their own way, help to make the nation and the colony survive. An unusual friendship, the European and the aboriginal, but so it will be, in the commerce of trade and in the harmony of the land. Peace be with us.

Mystery of the missing village of Hochelaga persists

From the voyages of Jacques Cartier, to the new settlers of the land, the joy of adventure is with us.

Jacques Cartier. A voyage of discovery in Canada, the search for a new land. Fabulous! To travel so far, to strive so diligently, to be courageous and educated is such fine arts as navigation, weather, geography, negotiation and more. It’s the skills of human intelligence that wins this fine race across the Atlantic Ocean.

A daring adventure filled with the unknown. A curiosity that must be resolved, the question of what’s out there? Bring back gold, riches and spices. Find a way to the orient! Adventure, oh braves ones, out to the sea, into the winter and to the dangers that it brings. Rest in the camp, die in the land, but bring back gold, riches and spices. Find the path to Asia! Be fantastic, be noble, be brave, be successful be obedient. Bring back gold!

It’s a brave new world, filled with brave new people who must be met and communicated with. It is with hard work and toil, that this endevour pays off so well. The people are kind. Joy be with us! Good luck and good fortune have found the explorers as they land on these shores among strangers who are congenial, or intended to be.

October 2, 1535 was a grand day, for a great nation. The expedition lands in Hochelaga an Iroquois village which will become part of the modern city of Montreal. Share the joy, share the harvest, share the land, meet the people, be our friends. Come, Jacques Cartier, eat with us, talk to us. Don’t be strangers. But the discourse lasted only a few hours before the Europeans returned to the camp upstream, after naming the hill behind Hochelaga, Mont Royal.

Foiled again! The wintry blasts of icy cold are too much of a burden to bear. By more good fortune, the camping party is saved from scurvy, which did claim 25 lives during the winter.

Come, oh fine humans, drink the Iroquois tea of white pine needles, to cure your scurvy and to save your lives. Drink to your good health, literally.

When spring finally came, in the merry month of May, the beleagured group of adventurers return to France with positive reports of a river to the west. The pathway to Asia, to riches, spices and gold, lay through the continent, in the land called Canada.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

December 17, 2019

The Mighty River Flows
by

The Mighty River Flows

Hail Brave hearts

Yes, it’s here, the spring has arrived, in snowy, blustery style,  In like a lion, with  heavy snow falls, March has ended the winter with a cold snap, that keeps us bundled up and happy.  Of course, the summer will eventually come, but now the trails are white.  The forest floor is covered, a late spring, with no drought in sight.

The itch is on, to turn the seasons, pull out the canoe and test the current.  Ice flows passing with the water as the melting winter turns to spring.  Catch us in our history, as we wave farewell to winter, the icy highways turn to melt waters and the dangerous ice flows temp.  No  more the sleighs to speed us along the slippery, white rivers, now it’s canoes and boats and water craft, to take our time away.

Go back, fine fellows, to days gone by, to times of yesteryear.  To the fur trade and the brave at heart the times of the voyageur.  A dangerous time of year, this is, when winter turns to spring.  The trails are wet, the rivers are thin ice and the progress becomes slow.  Take a nap and wait a week, a well deserved holiday.  The harshness of this difficult time, will melt the winter away.  Soon the canoe will be laden, with supplies to take inland.  To visit with the natives and to find a brand new land.  Off come the winter fur coats, hats and mitts are stored.  Onto another adventure, to the watery highways of this world.

A well traveled route, the St. Lawrence, filled with Coureur de Bois.  One of the most dangerous occupations of that lifetime, to travel, explore and trade in the great unknown wild.

http://www.patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca/rpcq/detail.do?methode=consulter&id=25887&type=pge     Trois Riviers, Quebec

The canoes are large enough, they carry several men.  All trained and skilled in many ways, to tackle the obstacle at hand.  Come from far away, in European style, to make a living the hard way, adventure, in the Canadian wild.  A fearsome, mighty river, the St. Lawrence is cracking up.  Pretty soon, it will be show time, pack your bags and liven up.  No more naps or holidays, the spring torrents are flooding.  It’s an adventure too dangerous for us,  spring break up is not even for the daring.  Icy flows and chilly woes, we’ll wait for another day.  This is not the best of times, for watery, river play.

But if you were an itchy voyageur, with bills at home to pay, perhaps the tempting season, would  cast him adrift anyway.

A lovely camping trip, with lakes and rivers to follow, the Canadian rivers of highway, still bind us to our past.  Traditions of camping and canoeing, following well traveled routes.  Today, we love this great wild land and praise the nations splendor.  Our ancestors did a very fine job, of protecting and implementing the heritage that we covet today.  A land of unspoiled wonder, with historical routes to travel.  This is our fine country we still travel in style.  From winter sleigh to summer canoe, the adventure has never left us.

written by Dr.  Louise Hayes

April 18, 2018

Northern Ontario Canoe Trip,  The Nat River

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6ie5jptrgY