#26 Red Bay, Labrador: Campsite Celebrations.

When seeking guidance from God before committing to this journey, I remembered a text from my friend James Bear, Anishinaabe elder from Brokenhead and fellow follower of Jesus.  It was soon after the US Presidential election.  He closed our conversation with: 

I interpreted Jim's text-ese to mean Okay. Take care.  Pray for Canada.  Celebrate Canada.  I've thought of that text a number of times along the way, especially when choosing a place to set up camp at the end of a day of prayer on the road.  I didn't just want a place to crash.  I wanted a place that would celebrate Canada.

Probably about half of our camping spots have been 'boondocking.'  Even boondocking on the Loblaw parking lot in downtown Toronto was somehow significant but I think my favorite spot so far was right beside a lighthouse in Nova Scotia.  During the night if I'd wake up I could see the rhythmic flashing of the light but when I got up before dawn, it had stopped.  I went outside to find out why and realized the wind had unfurled a large Canada flag beside the lighthouse which muted its light.  The evening before, a Haligonian had come up to visit the spot and asked me if I had noticed all the Canadian flags as we drove.  It was true.  In every province, we have been amazed at the number of maple leafs giving expression to a new spirit in the air.


When we haven't been boondocking, we've stayed at parks, each one a new canvas with different colours from the Creator's palette.  There was a beautiful little Municipal Campground near Thunder Bay.  In Ontario and Quebec it was Provincial Parks. In the Atlantic Provinces it's been National Parks like Fundy or Gros Morne - showcasing the very best of Canada's beauty.  And what's even cooler than a place with National Park status?  A Unesco World Heritage Site - a world-class example of history or nature that needs international protection.

There are 22 World Heritage Sites in Canada.  The latest to be designated is Pimachiowin Aki - The Land That Gives Life. This site is mostly in Manitoba but spills over into Ontario.  It's a pretty big deal to have a treasure like this in our backyard, but most Manitobans I've talked to don't know it's there.  My Mom, Patty and I made the long drive to Bloodvein to check it out.  Our host and guide was another Anishinaabe elder - William Young.  William was the one who had spearheaded Pimachiowin Aki getting its Unesco status.  He took us up the river by fishing boat and reverently showed us the moose painted on a rock by his ancestors.  When it was time for a picnic lunch on a rock, William gave thanks in Anishinaabemowin and I in English, joining on common ground to honour the Creator.


Mom up close to a rock painting.

Tonight we are boondocked just outside Red Bay World Heritage Site in Labrador.  Only 40 years after 1492, when Columbus sailed the Ocean blue, Basque whalers started making the annual journey from France to the bay right below our motorhome.  They'd harvest a bunch of right whales, process the blubber on a small island just offshore and then sail the oil back home to light the lamps of Europe.  It was a hard life evidenced by the 160 odd graves found on the island.  A quote in the interpretive center reads: Basque whaler Juan Martinez de Larrume dictated his will in Red Bay as he lay dying.  His words speak to his homeland, wife and family, debts to settle, and his deep faith in God.






Labrador, Unesco, Canada

I've wanted to visit Red Bay since I first heard about.  Another treasure on the way worth celebrating.  Just like Jim Bear asked me to do.  I think we all agree with another Anishinaabeg, Manitoba Premier Kinew who just posted this on Canada Day:




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