Root and Blade

The title of this blog comes from a line in “Remembering Sable Island,” a poem written by my mother, the Nova Scotia poet and writer Janet Barkhouse. It is included in a collection she did with Zoe Lucas, Sable Island Field Notes. She has given me permission to use her words for my title, but I should say that does not imply her endorsement of this project or its contents, although I hope she will like it!

I love family and local history in all forms, but I have been spending a lot more time with other people’s families lately, rather than researching my own. Inspired by many people I follow on Twitter who participate in Amy Johnson Crow‘s “52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks” writing prompts (#52Ancestors), I decided I also wanted to try writing about my own ancestors in 2020. So here it goes!

A note on my posts: With the first prompt, I decided I would see what came to mind and write it. This led me in a very unplanned direction, because I realized that despite my interest in history, I am very ignorant about it, especially the details of colonization and settlement. So I have committed to learning from the people who have lived in North America for many thousands of years. I will share something from this in each post. My own family has immediately impacted multiple tribes, beginning with when they started arriving here 400 years ago. To help me learn (and as the #NEXT150 Challenge website says, un-learn and re-learn), I am participating in the Next 150 Challenge. I am bound to make mistakes and I hope anyone reading will correct and contribute as I go.

Week #1 Fresh Start

Week #2 Favourite Photograph

Week #3 Longline

Week #4 Close to Home

Week #5 So Far Away

Week #6 Same Name

Week #7 Favourite Discovery

Week #8 Prosperity

Week #9 Disaster

Week #10 Strong Woman

Week #11 Luck

Week #12 Popular