Say the Names...

Al Purdy wrote a wonderful poem called "Say the names say the names" which celebrates the names of Canadian rivers - Tulameen, Kleena Kleene, Similkameen, Nahanni, Kluane and on and on in a celebratory song.

Enbridge is planning to build a dual pipeline that will carry bitumen and condensate across hundreds of waterways between Edmonton and Kitimat. Some of these waterways are rivers like the Parsnip (or what's left of it), the Nechako, the Morice and others are smaller creeks whose names are often known only to the folks who live along their banks or who fish in their shadows or who bend to wash or drink as they cross paths.

I want to collect the names of these rivers and creeks, to collect your stories, your poems, your songs so we can collectively give voice to the land living under the line Enbridge plans to draw.

People have also sent me copies of their presentations to the community oral presentations. If you'd like to add your voice, email me (sheila.peters900@gmail.com) your stories and I'll post them for you. The copyright remains with you.

All the best.
Sheila Peters

Monday, April 2, 2012

Enpipe Line and Fish Hats

I re-worked and read some of my blog postings at the Prince George launch of The Enpipe Line: 70,000+ km of poetry written in resistance to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines proposal a week ago today. Contributors to the collection (Rob Budde, Al Rempel, Charlene Wattson, and Weston McGee) read as did PG poets Sarah de Leeuw and Gillian Wigmore. To see the action, you can go to Prince George launch.

We read in ArtSpace, a wonderful venue made available by Books & Company; right next door  is a yarn shop called Top Drawer. If you're a knitter, the lure of the bright colours is pretty much irresistible. I talked to Amanda and Darlene there and proposed a knitting project/fundraisers for those resisting the Northern Gateway project. It's called Fish Hat (Dead or Alive?) and is fun to knit and a great way to use up odds and ends of yarn. The hats can be sold as fundraisers or worn when making your oral presentation to the Joint Review Panel (if they're not too afraid to come to your town). I've signed up to make my presentation April 23 in Smithers...first day. Now it's time to prepare it and start knitting my fish hat. If you want more details, let me know.
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