Speakers: Rev. Brian Kiely & Diane Bosman

It was a dark and stormy night… well, actually it was a bright and sunny day, but in the packed and darkened room, master storytellers Diane Bosman and Rev. Brian Kiely regaled a standing-room-only crowd with stories and songs of Canada's history.

Kiely, of the Unitarian Church of Edmonton, opened with a song in the old sea chantey tradition of the ancient mariners. "The Northwest Passage" is considered by many Canadians to be Canada's second national anthem. It tells the story of the route that the French took to explore northern Canada. While the English explorers came for fish, furs and even gold, they limited their exploration to the lower areas of the country. The French, on the other hand, tended to explore the inner and northern areas via the expansive river system.

Diane Bosman, Director of Lifespan Religion for the First Unitarian Congregation of Toronto, invited us into a native interpretation of the birth of the ocean's creatures. In "The Legend of Sedna," the young and beautiful Sedna rejected suitor after suitor until finally, a bird-like creature seduced her into flying off with him with promises of warm feather beds, endless food and comfort.

Having discovered that her new husband had been less than honest, she sat on the edge of a cliff and cried out to her father to rescue her. He came by kayak, slew Sedna's unsuitable suitor, and then began paddling off with his daughter. As the kayak was assailed by the bird-man's family, Sedna was thrown from the kayak. She managed to grasp the sides of the small craft, but a sudden tempest threatened to capsize the boat. In a desperate attempt to save himself, Sedna's father pulled out his knife and cut off Sedna's fingers at the first knuckle. Her fingertips fell into the depths and became whales.

But still Sedna hung on. Again, her father slashed with his knife, this time removing her fingers to the second joint. As these pieces sank, they became seals. The last swipe of his knife dismembered the last of Sedna's fingers and finally caused her to lose her grip and sink below the waves. The last pieces of her fingers became walruses and Sedna, herself, became the Goddess of the Seas.

It is said that if one treats the seas with respect, Sedna is happy and there will continue to be a bountiful harvest for the fishermen and hunters. But, if the sea is despoiled, Sedna becomes angry. Storms will arise and the sea creatures will hide away from man. The only way to appease the Sea Goddess is for a shaman to visit her in her underwater lair, soothe her aching hands and comb the algae from her hair… something she can no longer do as she has no fingers to hold a comb.

The storyteller has been an important and central figure in early Canadian culture. In the story of "La Grand Chien Noir (The Big Black Dog)," Kiely tells the story of Michel, a man who disparages the storyteller. According to the tale, a dozen men were sitting around in a cabin during a fierce blizzard, listening to stories. Michel was quite vociferous in letting everyone know that he did not believe a word the storyteller said.

Suddenly the door burst open and a huge black dog burst in to the room and lay down. On the dog's back was a coffin. The men looked to the story teller to find out what this meant and were told that the dog came to take away one of the men. The only way to find out who was to die was for each man in turn to lay down in the coffin. The storyteller went first. He stepped into the coffin, lay back and closed his eyes. The dog did not stir.

One by one, each of the men took their turns stepping into the coffin. Depending on the degree to which each man had sinned, the dog would become more excited. Its tail would begin to wag, is paws would begin to move, but… it did not get up.

Finally, despite his protestations, Michel was placed into the coffin. At this point the dog jumped up, ran around the room three times, the door blew open, and the dog ran out. Over the howl of the storm, the remaining men could hear Michel crying out: "I believe! I believe the storyteller. I believe." The moral of the story: "Always believe the storyteller."

From Bosman, we learned how the will 'o the wisp came to be in the story of Willie, who continued to outwit the devil. He vexed the devil to such a point that not even the devil would accept him into Hell when he had died. The most the devil would do (Saint Peter could not accept him, either!) was give him a wisp of straw which was lit on one end. To this day, when one sees the lights hovering over the marshes and swamps of inner Canada, we know that it is Willie, still searching for the peace of eternal rest.

In the final story, Kiely told how the frog and raven got their voices. Without Kiely's humorous sound effects, this story will not translate to print well. Suffice to say, the frog ended up drinking all the water in the world and the raven ended up tricking him into giving it up. A great story from Canada's rich native history!

This session ended with the entire room singing "O, Canada", in its original French. What a great way to learn a bit about the history and culture of one of the largest countries in the world!

Reporter Phil Hoffman; Web Designer Anna Belle Leiserson

 

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