And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 1999 09:53:17 -0400
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: Lynne Moss-Sharman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Halifax: 1/8 Oneida 7/8 German/lone "Native"
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Sunday, June 27, 1999 Lone native included
By CHRIS LAMBIE -- The Halifax Daily News
There were no Mi'kmaqs participating in yesterday's re-creation of the
first British settlers arriving in Halifax, but that didn't stop organizers
from placing a lone native warrior in the bow of the first longboat to row
ashore.
Local natives remember the former governor, Edward Cornwallis, as a man who
paid for the scalps of men, women, and children during a war against
Mi'kmaqs. They boycotted yesterday's celebration marking the city's 250th
birthday because a Cornwallis actor was originally scheduled to attend. "I
wish there was more, but there's nothing we can do about that," said Mayor
Walter Fitzgerald.
"I don't know what the problem was, but we have one representative."
Thousands of people watched and cheered the actors, playing British troops,
sailors, privateers, settlers, and the lone native, as they came ashore
from the HMS Rose.
Glenn Bentz played the musket-toting warrior. He was wearing a ring in his
nose, and dressed in authentic garb. Bentz - an upper New York State
resident who is less than one eighth Oneida, and mostly German - said he
wasn't aware of the Mi'kmaq boycott until he arrived in Halifax on Friday.
Bentz chose not to comment on the controversy, saying, "I don't want to
create any problems." The warrior was representing an Oneida scout who
would have worked for the British in the 18th century, said one of the
landing's organizers, historian Vic Suthren. "He had no relationship,
however, with the whole Mi'kmaq question," said Suthren. No Oneida would
have been on board the ships that brought the first British settlers to
Halifax, he said. "He's not necessarily representing the specific tribe
that was here in 1749," said Suthren.
Organizers made sure Cornwallis wasn't at the Queen's Wharf festivities in
an effort to appease Mi'kmaqs. But an actor playing his aide-de-camp was
there, strutting around the dock in a long brown coat, tri-cornered hat,
and carrying a cane. Richard Bulkley was the developer of the town and the
provincial laws, said Blair Beed, the actor who was playing his part. "He
wrote all the laws that they simply signed," said Beed. "He was the most
powerful man in the colony in the late 1700s."
Cornwallis and Bulkley arrived in Halifax five days before the settlers
landed here 250 years ago.{note: just long enough to draft the laws with no
one else around}?? Among other things, Bulkley drafted the document that
expelled the Acadians. "The governor was actually sick in bed a lot, and
Bulkley took charge of things," said Beed. During the original settlers'
landing, Cornwallis was on hand to watch the ships unload, said Beed. When
asked where Cornwallis was yesterday, he said, "He must be busy picking his
lot for Government House up there on Hollis Street."
Sunday, June 27, 1999 `Makes today look pretty tame'
Thousands gather at Halifax Commons for battle re-enactment
By CHRIS LAMBIE --
The Daily News
Cannon fire and musket volleys echoed across the Halifax Commons yesterday
as 18th-century troops plugged away at each other under the hot sun. The
mock battle put on by re-enactment specialists for Halifax's 250th birthday
attracted thousands of spectators, who were delighted as the bagpipes
blared and drums rattled on the green grass usually reserved for softball
games. "It's important to note that we are not playing at war here,"
historian Vic Suthren told the crowd. "No one is going to fall down and
play dead." During the city's early days, people would often bring a
picnic, some beer or a little wine, and watch the local garrison perform
manoeuvres on the Commons, said Suthren. "It was Saturday entertainment,
almost like HOCKEY NIGHT IN CANADA," (??) he said. Two groups of troops
practised firing blank rounds at each other, then charged slowly with
bayonets levelled, only stopping short at the last second. The acrid
sulphur smell of black-powder smoke, known as "the fog of war," hung thick
over the battle.
The audience clapped and cheered for the soldiers in appreciation. "It's
really helpful to experience history the way it was 250 years ago," said
Dartmouth resident Brent King. "I think a lot of us tend to forget the
history that we have." Halifax resident Chris Smith said it's important
for people to know what went on during the city's early days. "It's kind of
neat that a lot of this would have happened right where we're standing,"
said Smith. After the battle, the soldiers returned to their small city of
white canvas tents nearby, where 260 re-enactment enthusiasts have set up
camp for the weekend. Army wives Janet Stewart and Dorothy Anne MacKinnon
were busy putting fringes on period clothing to make the rain run off. The
women did the washing and took care of their husbands in 18th-century
British army camps, but the men did all the hunting and cooking, said Stewart.
"If I were killed, she would have 48 hours to find another man, or they had
to leave camp," Bucky Norman said of his wife. "It makes today look pretty
tame, doesn't it?" said MacKinnon. {note: well no, sounds a lot like
fleeing to a battered women's shelter with the kids and leaving the house
and the groceries behind ...}
"Let Us Consider The Human Brain As
A Very Complex Photographic Plate"
1957 G.H. Estabrooks
www.angelfire.com/mn/mcap/bc.html
FOR K A R E N #01182
who died fighting 4/23/99
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.aches-mc.org
807-622-5407
Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
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Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
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