Gilbert Oskaboose Writes About Grey Owl

Gilbert Oskaboose, was a journalist from the Serpent River First Nation,in Cutler, not far from my hometown of Blind River. For a time he was the editor of the Indian and Inuit News based in Ottawa, until government funding ceased and the publication folded.

Health problems forced him into a retirement but that didn't didn't slow down his writing activities all that much. During his 'retirement' he wrote some of his most insightful articles.

Gib was a fighter. As a residential school survivor, Gib was engaged in a class action law suit against the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the federal Department of Indian Affairs for their responsibilities in the operations of the residential school system. He was an outspoken critic of a shabby cleanup effort of the Serpent River system as a result of the uranium mining activities upstream, and as an outdoorsman he was adamant that native hunting and fishing traditions be respected.

In 2000, Gib suffered a stroke and he was no longer able to continue writing. He was forced to move in a nursing home and not long afterwards after he passed away.

I first met Gib Oskaoose at the North Shore Tribal Council office in Blind River. Prior to that we knew each other only by reputation. I was a reporter working for a small weekly newspaper and he was writing for a First Nations webzine publication. He called to talk to me about an upcoming public environmental meeting that he was scheduled to make a presentation. He had a lot of information that he wanted to share so I decided that the best would be for me to visit him at the Tribal Council office. I took an instant liking to Gib. He was a big man with such a warm smile and since he loved to hunt and fish we had a lot in common.






Grey Owl... Kindred to the Wind

by Gilbert Oskaboose, Ahnishnawbek Nation

Last night I sat down with my grandson and watched Lord Richard Attenborough's recently released movie: Grey Owl.

Didn't know what to make of it. It was a heavy mournful movie of James Bond in buckskins agonizing over who he really was, Grey Owl of the lost and lonely places or Archie Belamey of High Street in London, England.


Richard Attenborough

Who really cares? Grey Owl was Grey Owl. Grey Owl may have been born Archie Belamey out of London, England but he chose to come to Canada. He chose to live with the Ahnisnawbek of Bear Island. He chose to speak our language. He chose to marry into the tribe. He chose to become one with the land and it's people. How many of us get to choose who we will become? How many of us dare to follow our own dreams and visions?

As one would expect the scenery was magnificent, much like that of that other epic: Blackrobe, an insignificant little tale of an insignificant little white priest at odds with the wilderness and the people who chose to live therein. The Ontario woodlands and marshlands at their finest. The changing seasons, each with it's own grandeur. The delight of summer, the high colors of Autumn when the Creator takes a paintbrush to the distant blue hills and paints in crimson and gold. The stark silence of Winter when hunger and death and the spirit of Windigo walks the land. All these things are my beloved homelands, mystic and traditional lands of the Ahnishnawbek people.


Pierce Brosnan as Grey Owl

The only dialogue that touched me was when an old Sioux man spoke to Grey Owl. "Men are made up of their dreams, and you have dreamt well, Grey Owl." Anaherio, the Mohawk woman who followed Grey Owl into the deep woods was played by a young native woman as pretty as a Spring morning. One could only fall in love with her, along with Grey Owl. She was the beautiful, intelligent and nurturing native woman personified. Thank you, Lord Attenborough.

Humankind has yet to learn the truths Grey Owl was here to teach. Canada is still being regarded as a vast and empty land with limitless natural resources to plunder at will. Witness the passing of the Atlantic cod and the threatened extinction of the Pacific salmon. The beaver was saved but the land still grieves under thousands of metric tonnes of radioactive wastes. Our rivers run dark with the discarded effluence of modern industries. The air we breathe has been poisoned and polluted. Great forests are being strip-mined to feed what passes for culture today.

Lord Attenborough, with due respect, has missed the point on this one. There is no mention of the mighty Missasaugi and Little White rivers. There is not mention of the great Benedong River. There is no mention of the Missasaugi delta lands and no mention of the little northern Ontario town of Biscotasing where Grey Owl lived and played. There is no evidence of Grey Owl's mastery of the language and his struggles with alcoholism, and the way he lived life like the Creator meant to be lived - to the fullest. Grey Owl drank deep from the cup of Life.

Grey Owl has walked out onto the Wind to be with the Grandfathers, but his spirit lives on in the hearts of Ahnishnawbek people. He will always be with us, a part of the First People, a shining beacon of great strength and Hope for a better future.

Dream well, Grey Owl, my dearest brother - one who moves by night....



The 'real' Grey Owl. Photo taken in Biscotasing.

Long Line Of Story Tellers

I come from a long line of storytellers. I suppose you could say it's in my DNA.

My mother says the reason there are so many storytellers in our family is that we come from generations of Methodists. And since Methodists considered just about everything a sin, there was precious little left for entertainment, but to sit around and tell stories. That's mother's version anyway's.

She was an Anglican.



When I was a young boy I loved our visits to my grandfather's farm in the clay belt of Temiskaming,in Northern Ontario. If it were a special occasion like haying time,or hog killing time or some major holiday, my dad and all my uncles and cousins would all be there. After the day’s work they'd all sit around the back porch, drinking beer and bringing everyone up to date on what was happening in their lives and of course ..... telling stories.

Now, the thing about good storytelling is that it leaves images into your mind that last a lifetime. I like to think that knitted together, stories form a sort of intimate family history.

My father was an excellent carpenter. He had a reputation in our area for his skill and trustworthiness.

Long after he had passed away, folks would point with pride to some of his work that had endured the years. He was, in every sense, a good man.

I have a favorite story that I've shared at family gatherings.

I recall as a boy going with my father to a lake north of Sudbury. Raising seven kids, my Dad didn't have a whole lot of leisure time. But he did love the outdoors. We had canoed out onto a big lake and decided to make camp on one of the islands. Just after dusk we heard voices coming from a neighbouring island. A group of canoeists making the trip down the Mississagi River to Lake Huron. I could tell from their voices that they were European.

My Dad was busy poking at the campfire.
“What kind of language are they speaking?” I asked.

My father kept stirring at the red coals and then without looking up, said in a matter of fact way.
“Don't know ..... but they're laughing in english.”

I have told that story a number of times.

I look at the faces around the table. Most of the younger ones have never met my Dad but by their smiles, I know that for an instant they felt a closeness to a man who 50years earlier took his ten year old boy on a fishing trip.

The Cane

Bill and his father Frederick in later years. Bill was 15 when this picture was taken.

A prized possession of Bill Humphrey is a handmade walking stick his father Frederick had fashioned some 92 years ago. The cane is painted a rich reddish color and has a thin veneer of varnish. It could be made from a piece of driftwood that Frederick Humphrey happened upon while walking along the shore of the Irish Sea.

Near the handle is marked ‘KINMEL’. It’s a name that Bill says, gives him shivers.



Bill Humphrey holds the walking stick that his father made over 90 years ago. It brings shivers when he reads the inscription near the handle.



It was at the Kinmel Camp, at the village of Bodelwyddan in north east Wales that Bill's father, along with 15,000 other Canadian soldiers, waited to be repatriated to Canada. It was March of 1919 - 4 months after the end of the war – delays in shipments of supplies to the camp forced the men onto half rations, pay was delayed, and worse of all, transport ships were tied up because of a labour strike. To soldiers impatient to return to their native country to reunite with family and lovers, it must have felt as though Canada was a million miles away. There was no coal for the stove in the cold huts. Forty-two had slept in a hut meant for thirty, so they each took turns sleeping on the floor, with one blanket each."



Frederick Humphrey as a young soldier. A tough Ontario farm boy, Humphrey was not one to back down.


Health conditions in the camp began to deteriorate and a flu epedemic ripped through the Canadian contingent. The tiny cemetery in the nearby town became the final resting place for a number of Canadians.

At Kinmel Camp, there was the military bureaucracy to overcome. Troops awaiting transport had to fill in some 30 different forms with approximately 360 questions. The food they were fed was bad; it had been compared to “pigswill”.

At night, the troops had access to “Tin Town” a nearby group of shops and pubs that had inflated their prices to take advantage of the, comparatively, well paid Canadian soldier. After a month of these rates, many soldiers were broke. Sir Edward Kemp, the Overseas Minister, commented on the camp: “You cannot blame the soldiers for kicking and complaining … You are living in paradise in Canada as compared to this place”.

The men felt that they were stuck in the United Kingdom, with no way to influence their release. At Kinmel, probably because it was supposed to be a short term camp, the men did not receive regular pay.



Canadian soldiers on parade at Camp Kinmel Park

In late February it became common knowledge that a number of large ships had been reallocated to the American troops, who hadn’t been overseas for as long as the Canadians. As a last straw, at the beginning of March, General Sir Arthur Currie made a decision to transport the 3rd Infantry as a whole back to Canada, instead of the troops waiting at Kinmel Park, who were originally scheduled for these ships. There was no question that these were combat troops who deserved to return quickly, but they hadn’t been overseas as long as many of the men stationed at Kinmel Park


General Arthur Currie

On the evening of March 4, 1919 at around 9:00 PM, approximately 1,000 troops rebelled and started a riot. The idea likely came from a strike that the British troops staged a few months earlier, resulting in their early demobilization. Once the riot started it quickly got out of control.

It started with one of the canteens, spread to a sargeant's mess quarters and then into "Tin Town" where the troops took their revenge against the local profiteers. The mutineers remembered their dept to the Salvation Army, and these quarters were spared. The YMCA and the Navy and Army Canteen Board (NACB) were viewed to have inflated prices; their buildings were looted and damaged. The overall damage was calculated to be in the thousands of dollars, with stolen or destroyed cloths, food, alcohol, cigarettes and tobacco and equipment.

On the morning of March 5th, the officers tried to take control of the situation. They organized some of the ‘loyal’ troops to try to bring the situation under control. They encountered some of the mobs that had formed and things quickly got out of control.

Five Canadians were killed in the subsequent encounters and 28 wounded. In the aftermath, soldiers were arrested, and then quickly released fearing that arrests would lead to more outbreaks of violence.

In the end 51 Canadians faced a court marshal, 27 were convicted and sentenced anywhere from 3 months to 10 years. The government essentially covered the mutiny up, sealing all records of it for 100 years.

Local newspapers covered the affair, and added their own sensationalism. The London Times reported on March 7, 1919:

“The rioters then proceeded to the quarters occupied by the girls, who were in bed, and carried away their clothes. The girls were not injured, but had to remain in bed the next day because they could not dress themselves. Next day, the rioters were masquerading about the camp in girls' clothing.”

The Regimental Diaries report that, after investigation, the allegations of rioters going into the womens' quarters were unfounded; the clothes had been taken from the NACB store. The Times later recanted (March 8):

“The girls' camp was not attacked. As a matter of fact the girls were treated with the utmost chivalry. No man entered the girls' bedrooms while they were occupied.”

The Times also initially reported, and later recanted, that the rioters had killed a Victoria Cross winner. They did, however, accurately sum up the incident:

“In view of the splendid discipline and record uniformly maintained by Canadian troops since the beginning of the war in England and France, the ‘incident’ at Kinmel Park is regretted. It is considered that by comparison with others, discipline amongst the Canadian troops is of a high order. It is also regretted that reports of the incident have been exaggerated.”



The Aftermath

Although the means did not justify the end, the result of the mutiny was that troops stationed at Kinmel were given priority for returning to Canada, and by March 25th approximately 15,000 soldiers had been redeployed to Canada.

This is one of the most misunderstood and undocumented parts of the Canadian effort in the First World War. The riot itself, was not unusual. There were many other mutinys by French and British troops, many more serious than the riot at Kinmel Park. During and after the War, the British military hierarchy tended to downplay the role the "Colonials" had played, and while they kept tight censorship on the British mutinys, they were more than happy to let the press know about the goings on at Kinmel Park.

Bill is not sure what role his father may have played in the mutiny, but he was a man well known for standing up for his rights.

After 5 years of war, it must have been suprising to the residents of Bodelwyddan to hear about soldiers waiting to go home being killed. They provided a custom tombstone for a soldier who was killed during the rioting. It reads:

“Someday, sometime we’ll understand”




The village graveyard contains many Canadian soldiers. Some died as a result of the mutiny while others died of influenza.



This monument to fallen Canadian soldiers was placed by local townspeople.

Mark Twain ... A Racists?

Is this world getting a bit nuts …. Or is it just me.

The latest madness comes in news that a new edition of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer will replace the n-word with "slave" in an effort to boost acceptance of the books.

It seems that Mark Twain's classics are frequently challenged because of the use of the 'racial slur' and appeared as recently as 2007 in the American Library Association’s list of most banned books.

"It's such a shame that 'n' word should be a barrier between a marvellous reading experience and a lot of readers," said Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who is working with the publisher on the new versions.

“There is a risk that a new generation may miss out on reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn or Tom Sawyer because of sensitivity about the use of the "n-word," Gribben said.

The word appears 219 times in Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and four times in Tom Sawyer, he said.


Huck Finn

Rob Morrison, an English professor at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., called the changes "wrong-headed."

"I don't believe that we can solve racism by pretending that word wasn't used during this time," he said in an interview with CBC News.

"If that word makes you uncomfortable — it should make you uncomfortable and the best way to solve that discomfort is to talk about it."

Morrison said he would be happy to see Twain's classics taught to children in Grades 7 and 8 (about age 11-13).

"They have heard that word," he said. "What they maybe haven't heard is an intelligent discussion of the word and what it meant at the time."

That kind of discussion takes good, committed teaching, he said, but if youngsters never hear racism discussed, they risk thinking that it is culturally acceptable, especially now that rappers have appropriated the word.

Twain published Huckleberry Finn in 1885, and it is set in pre-Civil War days when the character Jim was still in the grips of slavery. Twain set out to depict a southern U.S. of the past and Jim, a close friend of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, is frequently referred to with a racial slur.



Tom Sawyer and the famous fence painting.

In my opinion this isn't so much about racism as much as it is about erasing historical fact. So what if the N word was/is used in literature. In Twain's time, the word was used as an means of identifying a particular group.

The next step is to eliminate racial references from all literature, so this could go pretty far, to the point of seeing the words white, black, asian, or whatever removed. One could go even further with this and eliminate references to ideology (because politics causes fights) and religion. (ditto) You may even see gender neutral references removed (because weirdos are bugged by those) and a lot of other troublesome references cleaned out.

The fact is, that if youngsters never hear racism discussed, they risk thinking that it is culturally acceptable, especially now that rappers have appropriated the word.

Lets hope that some good sense prevails before we really start tobogganing down that slippery slope of political correctness.

Harrison United/Wesleyan Methodist Cemetery

9886 Torbram Road south of Bovaird Drive,Brampton, Ontario

On May 2, 1840, Emmanuel Harrison Sr. deeded one acre of land for a burying ground and the erection of a Wesleyan Methodist Church.

There was a gallery for the choir built over the front door and the pulpit was at the centre of the opposite end and was of the high closed-in type, common to that day and frequently called “the swallow’s nest”. The men sat on one side of the church during the services and the ladies on the other, although newly married couples were permitted to sit together for their first three Sundays.

This church was used until the present building was built in 1875-76. The old building was then used for concerts and tea-meetings until it was torn down in 1880.



The present building is located across the road from the original site (and you will note that the original cemetery is still on the west side of Torbram).

Text from the plaque on side of building:

"THIS BUILDING, ORIGINALLY ERECTED IN 1876 ON LAND DONATED BY JOHN STUBBINGS, IS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE GOTIC REVIVAL STYLE. WITH LEGACIES FROM EMMANUEL HARRISON AND GEORGE ELLIOT, IT WAS THE HOME OF THE METHODIST CONGREGATION UNTIL IT BECAME HARRISON UNITED CHURCH IN 1925. THE FOUR BAY SINGLE STOREY STRUCTURE, WITH FULL BASEMENT, AN A STONE FOUNDATIONIS OF RED BRICK ACCENTED WITH BEIGE BRICK IN THE BUTTRESSES, CORNER KEYING, CORBELLING AT THE ROOFLINES AND PARTICULARLY AT WINDOWS OPENINGS. HERE THE LANCET ARCHES ARE EDGED IN BEIGE BRICK WITH DISTINCTIVE POINTED BRICK TRIM COURSING; ELSEWHERE ALTERNATING BRICK COLOURS WERE USED FOR PICTURESQUE EFFECT COMPLEMENTING A STAINED GLASS ROSE WINDOW. IN 1984 THIS BUILDING WAS PURCHASED AND USED BY THE HAR TIKVAH CONGREGATION AS A SYNAGOGUE."

DESIGNATED UNDER THE ONTARIO HERITAGE ACT
BY THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF BRAMPTON
ON AGUST 13, 1984



The original design of the Church had a balcony over the west end and a two-story section on the east. A circular stained-glass window was installed above the vestibule which originally had a flat roof with a steeple-shaped tower on each front corner. In 1925, Harrison Methodist Church became Harrison United Church, following Church Union. In 1947, the building was renovated to raise the auditorium 35 inches and the lower level was dug down three feet.




In 1983, Har Tikvah Congregation of Brampton purchased the church and converted it into a synagogue, where it continues to serve the Jewish community of Brampton and Caledon. The synagogue is a Reform temple. When the building was purchased, many changes took place. New stained glass windows were installed on the east wall, and an ark was custom built to house the Torahs (scrolls). In 1998, land was purchased to the north of the building, to accommodate future growth of Har Tikvah Congregation of Brampton.

In 1999, portables were moved onto the site to house the Hebrew school.



Many of these graves date back to the 1860's and 70's. The City of Brampton manages the cemetery now.



Emanuel Harrison founder of the cemetery



Thomas Nixon 1866-1948



George, Thomas, Rachel and Annie Boyd



William Moon and Wife



Arthur Shaw



Thomas McLaughlin



William Lindsey



William T. Black



Margaret Lindsey



Ward Maltby died 1882



Daniel Lotherington died 1850. His daughter Fanny died 1851



Children of Joseph and Eliza Newlove



Unknown



Richard Robins died 1867



James Hewson



Annie Violet Maltby 1901-1938 wife of George Duncan



(Top and bottom) Isaac Modeland d. 19 Sept, 1829, aged 31 yrs, 4 mos., 15 days, Native of Cumberland, England. The headstone is badly damaged

Unknown Grave



Unknown Grave



Unknown Grave

New Years Eve 2010 In Downtown Brampton

New Years 2010.What a party this was! A Mardi Gras! The streets of downtown Brampton where dedicated to one thing and to one thing only --- the celebration of the New Year! There were theatre for the kids, fire pits for roasting and toasting marshmellows, fantastic ice sculptures, stilt walkers mingling with the crowds, great stage performances by Faber Drive and The Sam Roberts Band. And of course fireworks. Actually there were two firework events. One for at 9 oclock (in consideration of families with small kids) and another one at 12 midnight to allow adults to usher in the new year with style.




Lyn trying her hand at toasting marshmellows.



Faber Drive in Concert



Gage Park was all lit up. Since it was an incredibly mild evening the parks skating circle was crowded.





Kid's theatre. Shrek and Company



Lyn has always favored tall men.









Ice sculpturing