Tag Archives: Miqmaq First Nation

Eastbound and Back, Day 22: Victoria Day

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 20, 2024, Moncton- There was fury, then consternation, on the face of the well-coiffed woman, as she pulled around Sportage, after blaring her horn, twice, after I stopped at the edge of the gas station driveway to take a stranded couple a kilometer or two, up the road. It was not convenient, or easy, for any of the four of us. She, however, was able to just go around, and on her way. I moved a few things in the back seat, making room for the young woman, with her husband getting in the front. After they were dropped off, I moved everything back.

Ernie, Meena and Theresa Johnson

This transpired a short time after I visited some Baha’i friends in Eskasoni, NS, apprising them of the concerns of another Miqmaq friend who I visited in Corner Brook, on Saturday night. Mr. Ernie Johnson listened to my account of our mutual friend’s concerns and offered a history of that family’s contributions to the growth of the Baha’i Faith in Ontario, Alberta and Nova Scotia, especially in Cape Breton and Ottawa. Now, he surmised, our friend has yet another opportunity. After suggesting that he and others pay a visit to the Baha’is of Corner Brook, and being showered with gifts, including two delightful tuna salad sandwiches, I headed out towards the lower Maritimes, bidding farewell to blessed Cape Breton Island.

After the above incident at the gas station, I pondered whether I was biased in favour of the poor and downtrodden, over the seeming well-to-do, in terms of service acts. It was not long, before the Universe called me on that one. By the side of the road there stood a forlorn-looking man, the trunk of his car raised, and a spare tire resting against the rear right bumper. I stopped the SUV, pulling well into the gravel breakdown area, and went to see if I could assist.

It turned out that a tire was flat. He was having difficulty removing the lug nuts, with his rather small tire wrench. I offered to give it a try, and after several toggles between my stepping on the long part of the wrench and his adjusting his car jack downward, we managed to get the lug nuts removed, the tire off, spare tire on and lug nuts returned and suitably tightened. His drive to a speaking engagement, some distance eastward was assured. The gentleman turned out to be a former councilman from the capital city of Ottawa, whose focus was on public transportation. He is also a poet, and in gratitude, he gave me a copy of his latest book of verse. So, it matters little whether one is prince of pauper. I will help anyone in need, to the best of my ability.

I drove on, through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, stopping only in New Glasgow, to pick up a couple of items and here, the home of Magnetic Hill, to rest at a lovely Amsterdam inn & Suites.

Eastbound and Back, Day 15: Newfoundland Notes, Part II

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Posted by on in animal and plant life, collaborating, Community, Hiking and Nature, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 13, 2024, St. John’s-

It snowed a bit, across this vast island, on Mother’s Day, reminding a couple of ladies, at the small cafe in Hampden, of the sacrifices they end up making, even on their special days.

Rain and snow are always followed by sunshine, though, and so it was today. After a short walk around Botwood, and checking out the old North American Forces World War II murals, I headed towards Twillingate, on the off chance I’d catch a glimpse of an iceberg or two. It did not happen, but the terrain and crystal-clear waters of New World Island made for a splendid little visit.

So, too, was a stop at Beothuk Interpretation Centre, Boyd’s Cove.The building was closed, but I spent almost two hours walking the paths and sitting in meditation. I left a second rose quartz heart, between two birch trees, at a picnic area, just shy of the Spirit Garden, where I placed a wooden rose, fashioned by a Miqmaq elder on Cape Breton.

More text later, but for now, here are some scenes of Botwood, Twillingate and Boyd’s Cove.

Botwood’s War Memorial
Beothuk Memorial, Botwood
Annie’s Harbourside Restaurant, Twillingate
Water at Sleepy Cove, Twillingate
Long Point Lighthouse,Twillingate
View of Sleepy Cove
Beothuk Interpretation Centre, Boyd’s Cove
Levi’s Landing, Boyd’s Cove

The day ended with rain, darkness and another carefully-guided arrival at Memorial University. More on that and on First Nations people in Newfoundland, in the next few posts.

Eastbound and Back, Day 11: Practical Feet

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Education, Historical, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 9, 2024, Whycocomagh- As the master community activist explained his efforts, he referred back to ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s work, during and after World War I and the subsequent outbreak of influenza. No one, Jew, Arab or European, was left out of the food distribution effort, which were dependent on the storehouses He had set up and the fields He had seen be planted, for the very purpose of preventing hunger.

Ernie has spent the past thirty years or so, in establishing a food security system in Eskasoni, a community of Miqmaq (pronounced “Mehkamag”) First Nations people, on the southeast corner of Cape Breton Island. He hit upon this track, both because of his grandfather’s example of providing for those less fortunate and because of the time that he and his wife spent in Boston, where he noted a productive system of Food Banks had been in place.

‘Abdu’l-Baha counseled “walking the mystical path with practical feet”. Ernie was very clear, as I am, that “practical feet” does not mean “materialistic”. The wise use of resources will not leave anyone out and not unduly benefit one person or group to excess. While this has proven elusive, in a great many situations, it is not beyond our capacity as humans to establish an equanimical society.

This first of a two-day consultation on sustainability focused on the system that Ernie and his wife have set up, largely by shopping judiciously, for bargains-mostly in local markets on Cape Breton, but occasionally going to Halifax or Saint John. Being able to buy in bulk, they are better positioned to render strong assistance in hard times. Storage of grains, food dehydration, salting and drying of meat, and canning techniques are also high among this amazing couple’s skill sets.

I look forward to Day 2 of this learning session, which was a serendipitous outcome of the discussion around the 50th anniversary of the founding of Eskasoni’s Baha’i Spiritual Assembly. The intensity of the lessons I am learning are making this visit astonishingly illuminating.