Growing up, authors we were exposed to at school like Farley Mowat and Carol Sheilds were names we associated with Canadian literature, Canadian values, and Canadian cold. My country is in a cold snap weather-wise right now. It’s not that any one place is experiencing temperatures that are historically ridiculous. It’s that we are all experiencing seasonal lows all at the same time. And snow. Lots of snow. Normally, if one area is in a cold snap we get to envy the other side of the country, or even the next region over’s balmier weather.
So, this week, I find myself reminiscing about our iconic literature’s commentary on our snowy weather but also wondering what other Northern legends would have to say about our cold snap. The following article highlights some Canadian and First Nations poignant, colourful, and ultimately endearing renderings of our mutual cold northern wondrous experience.
“Snow fell on the neighborhood houses and at once they, and their small fenced yards, became whitened with soft fur, […]. She scooped a handful from her bedroom window sill, held it against her forehead until she could bear it no longer. A test of some kind. A test of courage. The moonlight was cold and clear.” ― Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries. I love how Sheilds captures our silly Northern antics with the cold and the snow. Who knows someone (or has done themselves) who licked a metal pole, ran from the hotub through the snow drifts, or stood outside in barefoot challenging each other for more second than another for the win? Gosh we are goofy!
“As Rabbit danced and prayed and sung his song, it started to snow a little bit. Oh, this made Rabbit so happy that he sung his song stronger and harder: ‘Oh how I wish it would snow; Oh how I wish it would snow’. And the snow started to come down. And Rabbit was so excited to see that snow coming down that he sung his song stronger. ‘Oh how I wish it would snow; Oh how I wish it would snow.’ And it started to snow so much. All that snow!”― Wolastoqiyik legend, Rabbit’s Wish for Snow. As the legend progresses, we find out how Rabbit gets her face shape, her short tail, and why Willow Tree has bits of Rabbit’s tail stuck to him in the spring. I wish for snow every Christmas, and get it. Never under estimate the power of wishing, praying and dancing for snow.
An Inuktitut word “sitilluqaaq” meaning: "a drift of hard snow after a storm.” ― Inuit Language, Inuktitut. Inuktitut uses polysynthetic words. That means that speaking Inupiaq allows you to use multiple vocabulary roots to make a single, long word with a complex meaning. Think of the English word enchant, add –ment and dis-, you have disenchantment. But Eskimo words can have several suffixes in a row, such as the Inupiaq word above. Such a fun way to describe, well, anything! But thus the legends of Eskimos having more than 50 words for snow. Inuit languages can probably top 50 easily. I would love the efficient power to describe my world this way, one word saying it all.
When they were finished, the stranger asked the grandmother’s permission to stay with them for the winter. She agreed. He was a shaman or medicine man, and whenever they went hunting he gave them hunting medicine and they were always very successful. This man's name was Winter Snow. ― Potawatomi History, The Story of Winter Snow. If you’ve ever tracked in the winter, you know how easy it can be. This is why so many populated cultures have made many types of winter hunting illegal, to preserve numbers. However, if your survival depended on the hunt, rather than prepared grocery-store foods, suddenly Winter is a most welcome guest. Not to mention snow as a water source, its anti-inflammatory healing powers, and the peaceful quite it brings to a troubled mind.
“I stayed at the local hotel, a Legend, The creaking barn through whose gaping walls a fine drift of snow used to whirl and settle on a windy day. There was no other kind of day in Churchill.” ― Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf. I’m not knocking Manitoba. The Great White North in general has a reputation for bitter moments related to our weather. Those of us who live here joke about it, whine about it, and marvel at it. It. Undeniably white and windy winter. It is stunningly beautiful, though. Tranquil. Fun. It inspires many. But, oh sometimes we are full. Done. Wistful for warmer days.
Worst case, if you are really struggling to find a positive angle to this cold snap, Mowat’s observation of our wondrous winters is of one of my favorite benefits: “the most blood thirsty animals in the Artic are not wolves, but the insatiable mosquitoes.” ― Farley Mowat, Never Cry Wolf. In the dead of winter, there’s not a mosquito in sight…
5 beautiful Canada North Expressions of our Cold World:
1. Snowflake Photographer, Don Komarechka
2. Hôtel de Glace – Quebec’s world famous Ice Hotel
3. Weather Canada’s Histories of Epic Snowfalls and Cold Snaps
4. The epic Canadian/First Nation snow gear, The Snowshoe
5. The ultimate snow house – The Igloo