The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2001, Page 36

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 56 #2
ago, the Maritime Archaic Indians visited
here in search of stones suitable for tool mak-
ing. The chert stone was valued and used as a
trading device by the natives for centuries.
We were very fortunate to have Jane
Thompson, a well-known historian, as one of
our resource people on board ship. She and
her husband, Callum, excavated sites in this
area, so Jane was able to answer all the ques-
tions we had.
We visited Ramah Bay, Hebron, the aban-
doned Mission site, and Nain. The vegetation
was very sparse. There were no trees, but
what was surprising was the abundance of
blueberries and cranberries. There was evi-
dence of Caribou, but no one spotted any live
animals.
We arrived at Hopedale, Labrador in the
afternoon of the sixth day. We boarded our
zodiacs for a ride ashore and were greeted by
dozens of happy faces—a sight we were to
see over and over again throughout our next
few days. A lot of these small coastal villages
do not have road access so therefore do not
see visitors too often. The inhabitants of
Hopedale made our stay worthwhile, as they
opened a handicraft market—displaying and
selling a variety of handcrafted items—and
entertained us with singing, drumming and a
demonstration of the Arctic Games.
On Saturday we arrived at Battle Harbour
and met Mike, our guide. What a wonderful,
colourful character! Battle Harbour is a recon-
structed fishing village open to tourists and is
a great way to educate us interior inhabitants
to the devastation of the fishing industry in
the East Coast. We had a very interesting tour
of the site, a crab feast and an informal dis-
cussion of the plight of the fishing industry.
The next morning we arrived at L’Anse
aux Meadows. The day was windy and the
surf was choppy. We manoeuvred our zodiacs
around rocks and small islands and landed on
the beach at Norstead—the reincarnated
Viking village. I was impressed by the loca-
tion of this site as it could be easily defended
by the inhabitants—the small islands and
rocks would make it very difficult for the
enemy to sneak up on them. We were greeted
by our Viking hosts who gave us a grand tour
of the village and answered our many ques-
tions about life in the early Viking occupation
of North America. I was overwhelmed with
These were tributes from Iceland, Norway
and Denmark to commemorate the opening
of Norstead in the year 2000.
the authenticity of the buildings, the Viking
ship (the Snorri), the costumes and the culture
of the site. The actual site of the original
Vinland is about a kilometre from Norstead.
There is still a vigourous archeological dig
happening at the original village, so it was
decided to have the “tourist” area away from
the historical site.
Another magnificent sunrise greeted us the
next morning on our arrival at Woody Point in
Gros Mome Park, Newfoundland. We board-
ed buses for a tour of this UNESCO (United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization) World Heritage Site. On the
Tablelands our guide explained the area’s
awesome geology; colliding plates,
upwellings of magma, the lapetus Sea, ocean-
ic crust and mantle movements, which all
have had a hand in creating this landscape.
We had a leisurely day, which was welcomed
by the crew as well.
Tuesday evening was my first ceilidh -
Cape Breton style. What an awesome party!
The people of Englishtown, Cape Breton,
were extremely hospitable and everyone had a
roaring good time—stepdancing and singing.
Wednesday was filled with visiting Ramea
in the afternoon, and Francois, NF, at night.
Both places have been devastated by the cod
moratorium and have had their populations