Sarah Sobanski
Anishinaabe storyteller Kiinamookmaan at Lang Pioneer Village’s Historic Literary Walks of Lang: Words from the Wilderness. Photo: Sarah Sobanski.
‘Miigwetch’ means ‘thank-you’ respectfully for the Michi Saagiig – something to remember if you happen by Anishinaabe storyteller Kiinamookmaan at Lang Pioneer Village’s Historic Literary Walks of Lang: Words from the Wilderness. He’ll be sharing the Ojibwe Creation Story at Lang’s authentic recreation of First Nations encampment, Aabnaabin, just one of the historic stories on the live-action twilight tour led by author and playwright Mark Finnan by kerosene lantern.
First Nation settlers tend gardens and pick sweet grass at Aabnaabin camp. Photo: Sarah Sobanski.
Just under two hours long, the tour crosses the village, introducing participants to poets who found their inspiration as the first settlers of Peterborough and surrounding area almost 200 years ago. Visit Botanist Catharine Parr Traill in her recreated home which was in Lakefield, who wrote Studies of Plant Life in Canada, naming many of the common wildflowers of our area, and Backwoods of Canada. Catch sight of Isabella Valancy Crawford, who developed a beautiful and obscure prose style in her hauntingly short life, isolated even from other popular poets of early Ontario.
While male authors Samuel Strickland and William Telford are included, the tour focuses on the poets including Traill and Crawford, detailing the lives of these women who became authors while surviving the harshness of the new world, which was a far cry from their former European lifestyles. Susanna Moodie’s iconic featured work entitled Roughing it in the Bush, describes the harshness of the lifestyle, debunking the poetic propaganda circulating in Britain at the time designed to recruit new settlers to the land. These women were the first mothers of literacy in our area. Another Canadian literature icon Margret Atwood assumed the voice of Susanna in her collection of poems entitled The Journals of Susanna Moodie, which is regarded as a benchmark in Canadian literature. The impact of these women on the literary world is significant and tangible.
“It’s not only a tour of the great writers but an experience of the settlers who carved a home out of the wilderness,” says Walk Assistant Manager Laurie Siblock. The literary walks are one of the few times the village has actors posing as historic characters, instead of stationed staff who explain the village but aren’t necessarily ingrained as a piece of it. The actors monologue their lives, quoting the works of their characters, and participants are prompted by their guide to interact with the actors, asking questions and reading verses of the works.
Portrayal of Susanna Moodie reading letters she is sending home to England. Photo: Sarah Sobanski.
The tour has another two dates scheduled; September 24 and 25. Tickets are $20 and walks begin at 7 p.m. While anyone can attend, audience members with patience for oral storytelling are recommended. More information can be found at www.langpioneervillage.ca.
