Prince Edward Island is divided, geographically, into three sections, each with its own named scenic drive. Today we took the North Cape Coastal Drive, the Canadian Oyster Coast. We didn't see any oysters, maybe because we declined to visit the PEI Shellfish Museum, but we did visit Lennox Island, a First Nation (Mi'kmaq) territory.
Located on beautiful Malpeque Bay, Lennox Island, now no longer an island since it is joined to the mainland by a causeway, was purchased by the Aborigines Protection Society of London for the Mi'kmaq of PEI in 1840. By 1760, the British had allocated all lands on PEI to their colonists, completely excluding the Mi'kmaq from their ancestral homeland. With the purchase of Lennox Island, this became the permanent Mi'kmaq settlement.
Is it Micmac or Mi'kmaq? Both spellings are correct depending on the individual and regional preference. The Smith-Francis spelling Mi'kmaq, has been generally adopted throughout Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and parts of PEI and New Brunswick.
In the early 1600's, French missionaries introduced Christianity to the Mi'kmaq. On June 14, 1610, at Port-Roayl, Nova Scotia, Grand Chief Memberton became the first Mi'kmaq to be baptized into the Roman Catholic faith. His people followed his lead, including adopting St. Anne as their patron Saint. The Mi'kmaq have a great respect for their elders, with the most honors being reserved for grandmothers. St. Anne is especially revered because she was the Grandmother of Christ. The current St. Anne's church, above, was built in 1898.
Glooscap brings Epekwitk to the People.
Creation - Many thousands of years ago, the Creator made the universe and all life. He chose Glooscap to take a portion of the heavens to make a homeland for the Mi'kmaq. Guided by Loon the water messenger, Glooscap placed a crescent shaped piece of red clay in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Glooscap, as instructed by the Creator, brought forth the Mi'kmaq by shooting an arrow into a tree. The tree split downward toward the earth, allowing two human forms to emerge. Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island) became a sparkling jewel or a cradle in the waves, a home for the Mi'kmaq people.
After Glooscap completed his work he returned to the Creator.
The Mi'kmaq hold that they did not move to the Maritime region but that they originated here. As one Mi'kmaq Chief explained it to a British Colonel in 1765, "The land you sleep on is ours, we sprang out of the earth like trees, the grass and the flowers." Before Europeans arrived, the Creator and his messenger Glooscap, guided the Mi'kmaq.
After visiting Lennox Island we drove to the very northern tip of the North Cape Coastal Drive, North Cape. Along the way we saw this sign in front of a Community Chruch - "Honk if you love Jesus. Text while driving if you want to see Him."
North Cape has this very large lighthouse.
We took a brief nature hike at North Cape. At the very tip of the point, on the beach, we found this collection of Inukchuk-like structures. We did not build one ourselves.
North Cape boasts the longest rock reef in North America. The reef, which you can almost see in the picture above (it was close to high tide), extends from the point, and is a strip of segmentary rock extending from the low sandstone cliffs. It stretches approximately two kilometers off shore and marks the convergence of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Northumberland Strait. We could see the waves coming from the west and the east, converging on the reef.
It was very windy at North Cape and there was a huge wind turbine project there.
third
ReplyDelete