My Grandma Mary-bah was one of 48K war brides who immigrated to Canada. She arrived to the wilderness of Mable Lake BC in 1945 from Glasgow. My Grandfather Norman served in the Army Logging Corps in Scotland as he was a skilled horse logger. They lived in a logs cabin on the lands of the Shushwap and the Secwepemc Peoples. Mary settled only 79 years after the first European arrived. Into the 1980s the telephone lines were shared and there was no television signal until satellite arrived.
The ladies of the area organized themselves into a Kitchen Band with instruments made from what they could find. They started by play local gatherings. In 1986 they played at the Expo in Vancouver. Here is a video of the Kingfisher Kitchen Band at Creative Chaos. Mary is the one playing the washboard. What a gift to have this video to share with this story! Each year, my Auntie Wendy-bah would sell sewing at this event. My cousin and I would "help" her, visit the vendors and listen to the musicians. So when I was gifted the spirit dolls by Wendy-bah it seemed only right to make the kitchen band using her dolls.
The safe passage of those war brides was entrusted to married military personnel. One of these was Major Francois Bergeron, posted at the Vernon BC Military Base (my hometown). Today Major Bergeron's daughter lives two doors down from me - in the home she was born in. She and her partner are our street grandparents and knowledge keepers. Circles and roots to you.
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