Little Rock's Retreat Singers Wow Canadian Indians
Diocesan Press Service. August 3, 1966 [45-13]
(From Anglican News Service, Toronto)
James Bay, the gateway to the Eastern Arctic, this summer was the setting chosen by a folk-singing group of American teen-agers for a practical demonstration of one of the chief principles underlying MRI. Their fraternal visit to Canada gave a spiritual lift to some 2,500 Indian trappers and fishermen and personal satisfaction to the young Arkansans whose labor of love brought them about 1,500 miles from their homes in Little Rock.
The 14 girls and 12 boys literally sang and worked their way into the hearts of the Crees who lead a rugged existence in a huge, desolate area on the border of Ontario and Quebec about 800 miles north of Detroit.
But that was not all. The Retreat Singers of Little Rock's Trinity Cathedral presented a cheque to Bishop J. A. Watton who welcomed them to his missionary Diocese of Moosonee on behalf of the Anglican Church of Canada. The money, part of the Cathedral Lenten offering, will be applied to work in the diocese.
Only a few days earlier they had given their interpretation of the Life of Christ in folk songs and readings in the National Cathedral at Washington and were rewarded by a standing ovation, joined in by Senator William J. Fulbright, Senator John L. McClellan and the clergy.
The visiting group, during a two-week working holiday in the north -- July 1-14 -- quickly established a happy liaison with the more reticent Crees. Ranging in age from 15 to 17, they were under the leadership of their director, the Rev. Edgar A. Shippey who was accompanied by his wife. Two chaperones were also with the group.
Crossing into Canada from Syracuse, N. Y., the singers traveled north through Ontario by way of Ottawa and North Bay. Their only equipment was a second-hand bus aptly named the "Holy Roller, " a big wooden cross, a few guitars, drums, sleeping bags -- and a sense of mission.
At Moose Factory, historic Hudson's Bay Company post at the southern end of James Bay, the party split up, 12 members being flown some 175 miles across the big arm of Hudson Bay to the 150-year-old Indian settlement at Fort George on the eastern shore which lies in Quebec province. The work there involved renovation and repairs to St. Philip's Anglican Church. Those remaining at Moose Factory painted the 102-year-old St. Thomas' Church and tidied up the adjoining cemetery.
"It was a tremendous experience for our youngsters and, I believe, for the Indians too," said Mr. Shippey who spent most of the time at Fort George. "Those guitars made for a quick breakthrough and after a few hours there was no problem of communication. "I was surprised at the devotion of the Crees to their daily worship services and they joined wholeheartedly with our group in work, studies and recreation. Our young people were intrigued by the Crees' life of trapping and fishing -- some trap-lines involve 250 miles of travel in the wilderness -- and their association with the great fur trade established by the Hudson's Bay Company on James Bay not long after the Pilgrim Fathers made their 17th- century voyage to Massachusetts. "
Unfortunately the group at Fort George did not see any polar bears, walruses or seals which get as far south as James Bay, but Mr. Shippey said that the boys helped to pull a white whale up on to the beach. Oil repellents and mosquito netting helped them to overcome their encounter with black flies and other northern pests.
Members of the group at Moose Factory learned that, despite isolation until comparatively recently, the place has been a settled community since 1673. And they saw an old blacksmith shop, built in 1740, which is believed to be the second oldest wooden building in Ontario. On July 14 the Retreat Singers were reunited at Moose Factory. In the evening they presented the Life of Christ in folk songs and readings before a congregation of Indians and white people who filled St. Thomas' Church and overflowed into the street.
The following day they started the return trip. Their only rail journey involved the 100- mile trip from Moose Factory to Cochrane where the Holy Roller had been parked on the way north. At Moose Factory and Fort George they were quartered in Indian residential schools operated by the Anglican Church of Canada for the federal government.
Their last day in Canada was spent in Toronto. The large congregation at St. Clement's Church will not soon forget the group's moving presentation on Sunday evening, July 17. The young people might well have been tired from their long trip, but there was nothing perfunctory about their singing and readings which were related to the scriptural record in such a novel and modern manner. Their demeanor was relaxed and the joy of dedicated fellowship shone through their happy faces.
That night the boys and girls were billeted with parishioners of St. Clement's and the following morning the Holy Roller took them to Detroit. When they reached Little Rock the Retreat Singers had traveled about 3,500 miles as true MRI ambassadors from the Episcopal Church to its sister communion in Canada.