SaskScapes – with guest Eleanor Smith
Kindersley resident Eleanor Smith shares her stories of an inspiring teacher, her own career as an educator, stories of a tragic murder, and a mysterious rock. Eleanor is an historian, and a lover of words.
Uncle Elmer by Sandra
About 20 people showed up to Movie Night at the Museum, held at the Grand Coteau Heritage & Cultural Centre, to watch the digital stories that workshop participants in Shaunavon, SK created earlier this week. Sandra’s story is on her uncle Elmer who experienced hearing loss from an ear infection in the 1930s.
Stories of the land from Eastend, SK
“Better to go outdoors. Better to see the flash of warblers in the willows, to smell the spicy aroma of sage, to hear the bright gurgle of the creek as it speeds under the footbridge. Better just to be here and try to accept the solace of this land that refuses to let us forget.”
– Candace Savage, A Geography of Blood
I’ve been staying in Eastend, SK in a charming house that was mail-ordered from an Eaton’s catalogue many years ago. Eastend is home to an Arts Council and the Wallace Stegner House, which provides residency to artists. It’s a quiet, friendly town with a population of approximately 600. The Eastend Historical Museum is hosting one of my digital storytelling workshops July 17-18.
While packing the car for the drive here, my roommate came out of our house and handed me Candace Savage’s award-winning book, A Geography of Blood, which is set in Eastend and Cypress Hills. “Have you read this?” He asked. I hadn’t, though I’d almost bought it several times at various bookstores. It seems serendipitous that I’d held out on reading it until now.
Savage, a Saskatchewan writer, who has stayed at the Stegner House, and now owns a house in Eastend, admirably balances her appreciation for this stunning landscape with an acknowledgement of her white-settler background. In A Geography of Blood, she delves into the disturbing history of Cypress Hills, specifically the government-sanctioned slaughter of bison to purposefully starve Indigenous people, the massacre of the Nakoda at Fort Walsh, and the establishment of farms in the name of so-called progress. Savage digs up the uncomfortable stories buried in the hills and valleys of the Plains while maintaining her love and appreciation for the land.
Here are some photos that were taken on the drive to Eastend and around this area.
1947 REO Speedwagon near Caronport
The band, REO Speedwagon, was named after a truck like this.
Canola field near Caronport
Cotton Candy Cloud in Eastend
Bald Butte at Cypress Hills Provincial Park
SaskScapes-Kindersley: “Antelope, telephone fences, & electric chairs?” – with guests Bud and Bill
Deer and antelope play, telephones made from barbed wire fences and toy electric chairs that work! These are some of the stories you’ll hear from my two guests Bud Thomson (not Anderson! sorry Bud! Electric chair for the host?), and Bill Warrington as we wind our way through the farmlands of Alsask and Loverna, SK in a truck.
SaskScapes – Stories From Kindersley: The gang’s all here!
Over a dozen men from Kindersley and area join me for an hour of great fun as we reminisce about the good old days.
Blue Eyes by Evie
In my digital storytelling workshops, I’ve been encouraging participants to tell first-person stories. But another way to tell a story is to interview someone. About a year ago, I sat down with my mother at her dining room table, with a handheld recorder, and I asked her to tell me some stories about my birth. I listened to those anecdotes a few days ago and turned one of them into this digital story.
Length of time it took to make: 4 hours
Equipment used: Zoom H4n recorder; Macbook Pro laptop
Software: Audacity; iMovie ’09
Music: royalty-free music downloaded from Jamendo
SaskScapes-The Gravelbourg community players
The Gravelbourg community players join me on stage at the Renaissance Gaiety theatre and share their personal stories of reinvention which led them to finding passion in the theatre. These folks are an inspiration for anyone who wishes to follow a dream.
SaskScapes-The Radisson Music Festival – with Avery & Gerald
Born of previous musical events in the area, this year launches the premier of the Radisson Music Festival. A vision fully realized by my second guest, Radisson town councillor and musician Gerald Wiebe. My first guest is a fresh new musician on the Saskatchewan music landscape. At 18 years old, Avery Fairbrother has caught the eye (and ears) of the towns of Borden, Radisson and beyond. He’s ambitious, smart, articulate and great with numbers!
A new perspective
When driving through the farm fields of Saskatchewan, I’ve always been curious as to why abandoned barns and shacks are left barely standing, ready to return to the soil. I find them oddly beautiful structures and each one is like looking at a house of cards ready to tumble. Why not knock them down and clear the area?
In an upcoming SaskScapes podcast I spent an afternoon driving around my guest, Bill Warrington on his family farm. I asked him this very question. The next thing I knew Bill was cutting across his own wheat field, me bumping along beside him in his white truck, and then we came to a stop.
There stood (or rather leaned) an old wooden house. Bill is so proud of his family history and in 2011 had a plaque erected to honour the Warrington family homestead built one hundred years earlier. This was the home in which Bill’s ancestors lived, 13 children raised in this small shack! We mused about the pressure of having to get along under cramped quarters.
And in that moment, I realized why many of these dishevelled monuments are left standing. Within their toppling walls there are family stories to be remembered. How many of these landmarks are left standing to preserve the past? It was also pointed out to me, that in many cases they provide shelter for wildlife. I’ll never look at them quite the same way again.
SaskScapes-with guest Myrna Dey
Myrna Dey is a Canadian author residing in Kamsack, SK. Her novel “Extensions” was voted “people’s choice” for the 2011 Scotia Bank Giller Prize. Myrna talks about the experiences that have influenced her writing – from growing up in a “bookish” household, to living in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Guyana, and more.