Duncan - Feasting and fasting: Canadas heritage celebrations

Dorothy Duncan

DUNDURN PRESS
TORONTO

Copyright Dorothy Duncan, 2010

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

Editor: Michael Carroll

Design: Jennifer Scott

Printer: Friesens

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Duncan, Dorothy

Feasting and fasting : Canadas heritage celebrations / by Dorothy Duncan.

Also issued in electronic format.

ISBN 978-1-55488-757-6

1. Fasts and feasts--Canada--History. 2. Food habits--Canada--History. 3. Holiday cookery--Canada--History. I. Title.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program, and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Printed and bound in Canada.

www.dundurn.com

For my mother,
Margaret Ellen Gibson,
and
my maternal grandmother,
Georgina Murdoch Gibson,
with love and
gratitude

I would like to express my appreciation to all those who have contributed to this book and the stories it has to tell. Family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, and often total strangers have generously shared information, research, comments, criticism, and clues for further investigation.

First of all, a very special thanks to those dedicated individuals who actually made the publication happen in a timely manner: Colin Agnew for his constant support, advice, and attention to detail as the manuscript unfolded; and the staff of Dundurn Press for their expertise, knowledge, and patience, particularly Kirk Howard, Beth Bruder, Michael Carroll, and Jennifer Scott.

Those who made invaluable contributions include Jeanine Avigdor, York Pioneer and Historical Society; Jane Beecroft, Community History Project and Tollkeepers Cottage; Dr. Carl Benn, Ryerson University; Donald Booth, U.E., Toronto; Arthur Bousfield, Canadian Royal Heritage Trust; Dorette Carter, Art Gallery of Northumberland, Cobourg, Ontario; Dr. John Carter, Toronto; Janet Cobban, John R. Park Homestead, Essex County, Ontario; Nettie Cronish, president of the Womens Culinary Network; Eleanor Darke, Watford, Ontario; Paul Delaney, Penetanguishene, Ontario; Diabo, Kahnawke, Mohawk Territory; Dr. Victoria Dickenson, McCord Museum, Montreal, now Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg; Naomi Duguid, Toronto; Judith and John Fitzhenry, Toronto; Dr. Rae Fleming, Argyle, Ontario; James Fortin, City of Greater Sudbury Heritage Museums; Mary Lou Fox, Ojibwa First Nation, Manitoulin Island; Jeanne Hopkins, Willowdale, Ontario; Alison Hughes, Richmond Hill; Jeanne Hughes, Richmond Hill; Lynne Jeffrey, Toronto; George Kapelos, Toronto; Ruth Keene, Willowdale; Linda Kelly, Sheguiandah, Manitoulin Island; Carolyn King, Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation; Rosemary Kovac, Don Mills, Ontario; Robert Leverty, Ontario Historical Society; Joyce Lewis, Toronto; Lynn Lockhart, Orillia Public Library; Valerie Mah, Toronto; Mgizi-Kwe, Mnjikaning First Nation; Mariposa Writers Group, Orillia, Ontario; Allan McGillivray, Zephyr, Ontario; Judith McGonigal, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; Micheline Mongrain-Dontigny, Saint-Irne, Quebec; Nozhem, Mushkeego Anishnawabe First Nation; Joyce Pettigrew, Otterville, Ontario; Josie and Keith Penny, Dunnville, Ontario; Dennis Pollock, Beaverton, Ontario; Joan and Donald Rumgay, Port Hope, Ontario; Nancy Scott, Sault Ste. Marie; Barbara Seargeant, Port Hope; Mary Simmonds, Whitby, Ontario; David Teitel, Toronto; Chris Tomasini and Kim Vallee, Lakehead University Library (Orillia Campus); Glenn Truax, Medicine Hat, Alberta; Inez and Winston Vokey, Barrie, Ontario; Ian Wheal, Toronto; and Nancy and Rod Williams, Orillia.

A very special word of gratitude for their support to my daughters, Barbara Ellen Truax and Carol Heather Agnew, and their families. Thank you!

Feasting and Fasting: Canadas Heritage Celebrations is an introduction to the special days, holidays, and holy days of our ancestors. For thousands of years before the arrival of newcomers to this land we call Canada, the First Nations were celebrating their passages of life, the changing seasons, and the gifts of food from the Great Spirit. They were guided by the sun and the moon as they recognized and honoured the circle of life that influenced their families, clans, and nations.

As people from other continents arrived, they brought memories of celebrations in their homelands. Many had begun as pagan festivals, but as Christianity gained in popularity they were adopted into the Christian calendar. When Christianity moved out of its Mediterranean homeland, it encountered new folk traditions, leading to a fusion of cultural celebrations that made the process of transformation even more complex. After the newcomers encountered the First Nations, they recognized how similar some of the traditions were and how different others appeared to be.

Each new cultural group was accustomed to a calendar Gregorian for the majority of Western Europe, Julian for some Eastern Europeans, lunar for some from Asia, and a combination of lunar and solar for people of Jewish ancestry. Thus one of the oldest and most universally celebrated events, New Year, has been and still is observed at various times in Canada. The different calendars mean that the date upon which a special day is observed may vary from year to year.