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March/April 2003 issue	In this issue Table of Contents Editor’s Notebook Inside Story Feature: Creating a park À la carte Mosaic Reverberations

Krista Bogen, White Rock, B.C.

Many helping hands
IT WAS WITH GREAT interest and heartfelt compassion that I read your article on the relocation of the Mushuau Innu to Natuashish, “Out of Davis Inlet” (CG Jan/Feb 2003). I worked with the Labrador Innu for 10 years, until February 2002, on land-claim and self-government negotiations. For the last two years, I worked on the relocation and the provision of appropriate programs and services to both communities. I have a deep attachment to these people and what goes on in their lives. Your article gave readers a very balanced view of the Innu’;s lives both past and present. You also made those of us who have worked behind the scenes proud of what we have accomplished. A large group of us have worked — and many continue to work — hard to assist the Innu in making a better life for themselves and future generations.

Anik Dupont, Alymer, Que.

THANK YOU so much for publishing such an informative article. I, like many others, I’;m sure, didn’;t realize just how dreadful the living conditions of our aboriginal peoples could be. Canada does a lot of foreign aid, but we really need to start here at home. Please keep us updated on the progress of the Innu’;s new community.

Monica Baz, Beeton, Ont.

Left out of the layout
I ENJOYED YOUR ARTICLE on Mr. Friedman, “The affordable architect” (CG Jan/Feb 2003), very much. I only wish you had included some floor plans to give us an idea of the layout and room sizes of these cost-efficient designs. I would like to see more articles about affordable housing in various parts of the country, including retirement-housing costs and trends.

Gerry MacDonald, Stratford, P.E.I.

Remembering a randy neighbour
AS I READ Lynn Coady’;s article about basement apartments in Vancouver, “Notes from underground” (CG Jan/Feb 2003), my heart sank into my boots and nasty memories flooded into the hollow space left behind. Back in the early 1970s, when I was a student at the University of British Columbia, I, too, was a basement dweller. Obviously, not much has changed in 30 years: the depression in the cement floor that passed for a shower; the persistent odour of mildew; the termites that literally ate me out of one apartment; the stoned and randy neighbour in another. I could go on, but the list is no doubt familiar to UBC alumni everywhere.

Deirdre Laidlaw, Selkirk, Man.

Cat-eating coyotes
I WAS VERY INTERESTED in the article regarding coyotes in Prince Edward Island, “A wily survivor” (CG Jan/Feb 2003). In February or March 1983, while sailing off Cape Egmont, the captain pointed out a coyote riding on an ice floe. When I told several people — a couple of them in government — they scoffed at the idea of coyotes being on the island. It wasn’;t until one was caught in Souris that people started to be fearful. We lived on a farm at the time and got quite used to seeing coyotes come right up to the living room window or to within two metres of the back door, showing absolutely no fear. By the way, they are much bigger than the western coyote, and cats are disappearing at an alarming rate in the country.

George M. Smith, Montague, P.E.I.

Weather-reading ants
I GOT A KICK out of reading “Keepers of the culture” (CG Nov/Dec 2002), and after talking to my cousin and her husband, we remembered several folk sayings from family members. For instance, to get rid of a wart on your finger, rub the wart with a nickel and bury the coin in the ground under a full moon. To get rid of a sty on your eye, rub it with the edge of a gold wedding ring. If you are lacking calcium, a gold ring will make a black mark on your face. Six months after a heavy hoarfrost, there will be good rains. If ants march in a straight row, expect rain. Rain by 7 (a.m.), sun by 11 (a.m.). Jelly won’;t set during a thunderstorm. If someone didn’;t like a girl’;s boyfriend, they’;d say, “She’;s driving her ducks to a poor market.” If someone was tall, he was “a long drink of pump water.”

Annie Porter, Calgary, Alta.

I APPRECIATED the article about Nova Scotian folk wisdom. The photographs are lovely, and I like the way you highlight the lives of particular women. However, I have a few concerns. You use the term “old wives’; tales,” which is confusing, because this term is pejorative of both the sayings and the women who speak them. The sayings you highlight are simply that, “sayings” which reflect folk beliefs. We could simply call them folk beliefs, but that would assume the people who say them actually believe them, and that is not necessarily the case. It’;s possible for a person to pass these sayings on without personally believing them.

Secondly, you don’;t explain why these beliefs are held, what they do for people, how they might actually serve to strengthen a community. By failing to explore the underlying reasons, you allow the beliefs to stand as bizarre, preposterous and archaic. The reader is not able to enter into them with any understanding.

The fact is that this kind of associative logic is still very much with us. We have not outgrown it, as people would so dearly like to believe. Americans continually relive their original act of independence and revolution by refusing to participate in international treaties and by invading sovereign countries, because this is their model for action. Canadians continually relive their history of compromise by pioneering new forms of co-operation, because this is their model for a sense of self. This is culture — our history, values and models for understanding our world. It ties us together into communities of belief. In writing about keepers of the culture, it is important to explain how it is that they keep the culture.

Katelyn Monk, Boulder, Colorado

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED the article “Keepers of the culture.” I found the photographic portrayal of the women to be sympathetic and beautiful, and the spare text gave the bits of wisdom just the right amount of emphasis and humour.

Rebecca Tyson, Kelowna, B.C.

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* Letters may be edited for length, accuracy and liability.