Dear Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour,
As our amazing turtle work is coming to season’s end, we are excited to announce a couple of great new boat projects. Have a look!
1) Indigenous Canoe Build this Spring
2) Cataraqui Boatyard Project
3) Inner Harbour Turtle News
4) Interesting Chamber of Marine Commerce Updates
5) Continuing Conversations about Sir John A and his Legacy
6) Third Crossing Update – Deadline Oct 12
7) Cataraqui Canoe Club: Fun Event + AGM
8) Changes in City Staff that affect the Inner Harbour
9) City Brush Collection in Oct, Leaves in Nov
10) City Fall Tree Planting
11) More Fascinating Turtle Info
12) In case you were wondering about the 7th Fire
13) Kingston Transit Achievements
14) Recent YourTV spot on turtles
15) “A Will for the Woods” Film + Panel Event, Oct 19
1) Indigenous Canoe Build this Spring
We have applied for a grant from the Kingston Association of Museums for a traditional Algonquin birch bark canoe build with Chuck Commanda, Algonquin Traditional Knowledge Keeper. Chuck has agreed to come to the Inner Harbour for the community build this April. The official launch date is scheduled for Saturday, June 13 followed by four Out-on-the-Water Days where members of the broader Kingston community will have the opportunity to actually get out on the water in a traditional birch bark canoe. We will be partnering with Kingston’s alternative education program for Indigenous students, the River Program, and hopefully with RMC’s Aboriginal Leadership Opportunity Year program and with Indigenous inmates from Joycevfille Minimum and the Henry Trail Halfway House for the build itself. Recently I was so truly honoured to be invited by Chuck to go out in a spruce forest near Lanark to collect the spruce root needed for the lashings. A totally wonderful and unique experience. I am so grateful.
We have also applied to the Community Foundation for a grant for an official Launch Day Celebration. So far we have reached out widely to members of Kingston’s Indigenous community about this build and Launch Day Celebration and we hope to form an actual working group with specific Indigenous grandmothers before moving forward further following Lee Maracle’s statement “Nothing about us without us”. More anon….
2) Cataraqui Boatyard Project
We are also truly excited about the formation of this new group with a profound interest in heritage boat building. Members include chair, Dave More, author and engaging speaker who is currently working on a PhD. on local maritime history, Joe Calnan (heritage boat builder), Maurice Smith (curator emeritus, Marine Museum of the Great Lakes), Andy Soper (renowned sail maker), and Tom Wroe of MetalCraft Marine. A dream team to be sure! The long-term plan is to create a building to house yearly heritage boat building activity. Ideally it will also include facilities such as a waterfront restaurant, display space and meeting rooms. It will be designed to be built in sections over time as financing becomes secured. Jerry Shoalts of Shoalts and Zaback has kindly offered to design us a building for free! We are most grateful! We are currently examining a variety of possible Inner Harbour locations. As we envision it going forward this project will be in tandem with, and definitely supportive of, the more traditional, and definitely valuable, archival work that has been the purview of the Marine Museum of the Great Lakes. More anon….
3) Inner Harbour Turtle News
Do keep your eyes open. It is still certainly possible to see more hatchlings!
As early as Sept 7, Bill Beck, reported ” I nearly stepped on a very small – about like a twoney – brown turtle on the sidewalk on Rideau St, just above River St. I took him/her and put it at the edge of the water at River St. He scuttled right in and swam off into the weeds.” Thanks so much Bill!
Lesley Rudy, working on her Masters thesis on Inner Harbour turtles states “The first emergence from the nest boxes was Sept 13. Some hatchling sightings outside of boxes occurred before then, especially snapping turtles. The box that emerged Sep 13 was the only snapping turtle nest in the study. From Sept 17 to Oct 4, I have had 6 map turtle nests emerge with anywhere from 2 to 11 hatchlings each. Some nests had hatchlings emerge up to 5 days apart from their siblings. With the cooler weather I expect less activity but more are certainly still possible.” Wonderful work! Congrats Lesley! And thanks so much to Kenny and Matt for helping throughout the season.
Also we are discovering through our radio-telemetry study that the Inner Harbour turtles actually seem to be hibernating at Kingston Mills! Going all that way! Amazing! Who knew? More anon….
4) Chamber of Marine Commerce Updates
This is actually an interesting and informative site- info that doesn’t seem to appear elsewhere. Here are a few examples:
Mayors: Drop water levels now!, Quinte News (Belleville, Ontario), September 24, 2019 (also appeared at County Live). The spring of 2017 was bad and this spring was worse when it comes to flooding from extremely high water levels in Lake Ontario. And as far as municipal leaders in the Quinte region are concerned it is time the federal government takes some action, in particular, the International Joint Commission, the body that controls water flows in the great lakes. Today (Tuesday) the mayors of Belleville, Quinte West, Prince Edward County, Brighton, and Napanee and the Warden of Hastings County presented demands in a joint statement at Quinte West’s city hall. Flooding and continued high water levels have caused literally millions of dollars worth of property damage throughout the region, especially in Prince Edward County which has 500 kilometres of shoreline on Lake Ontario and the Bay of Quinte. The mayors are demanding that the International Joint Commission immediately abandon its so-called Plan 2014 and revert to Plan 1958, which had the effect of keeping water levels in the lakes lower.
Commission responds to Mayors’ demand for lower lake levels, Quinte News (Belleville, Ontario), October 2, 2019. The American/Canadian organization that controls water levels in Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River plans on doing all it can to lessen flooding threats this spring but will not immediately simply drop water levels in Lake Ontario. The International Joint Commission has officially responded to the demands of the mayors of five Quinte region communities and the Warden of Hastings County to immediately lower the lake’s water levels. The IJC states that no regulation plan could have prevented last spring’s flooding because of outflows from Lake Erie that were at record high levels for a full six months. The Commission plans to speed up a review of the performance of Plan 2014 regarding water flows and is looking at several options to reduce water levels ahead of 2020, including flows that could affect commercial shipping in the early spring or late fall.
Nature’s Solution to Climate Change, International Monetary Fund (Washington, D.C.), September 29, 2019. When it comes to saving the planet, one whale is worth thousands of trees. Many proposed solutions to global warming are complex, untested, and expensive. What if there were a low-tech solution to this problem that not only is effective and economical, but also has a successful funding model? An example of such an opportunity comes from a surprisingly simple and essentially “no-tech” strategy to capture more carbon from the atmosphere: increase global whale populations. Marine biologists have recently discovered that whales — especially the great whales — play a significant role in capturing carbon from the atmosphere. And international organizations have implemented programs such as Reducing Emissions from Degradation and Deforestation (REDD) that fund the preservation of carbon-capturing ecosystems. The carbon capture potential of whales is truly startling. Whales accumulate carbon in their bodies during their long lives. When they die, they sink to the bottom of the ocean; each great whale sequesters 33 tons of CO2 on average, taking that carbon out of the atmosphere for centuries. A tree, meanwhile, absorbs only up to 48 pounds of CO2 a year.
This cruise sails through all 5 Great Lakes with stops on Mackinac Island, Detroit & more, WXYZ (Southfield, Michigan), October 3, 2019. The Splendor of the Great Lakes cruise is an 11-day, 10-night cruise that runs from Chicago to Toronto or vice-versa, and it hits all five of the Great Lakes. You’ll stop at Mackinac Island and transit to the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie, stop in Detroit on your way to Toronto with a visit to The Henry Ford, Motown Museum or DIA, then go to Cleveland and finish with Niagara Falls and Toronto.
The Splendor of the Great Lakes, the Great Lakes & Georgian Bay trip is a 12-day, 11-night cruise from Milwaukee to Toronto. It sails through Lake Michigan with a stop in Holland & Muskegon, then continues to Mackinac Island and Sault Ste. Marie, Little Current, Ontario and Windsor before once again finishing with Niagara Falls and Toronto.
One of the longest and largest cruises offered by the Great Lakes Cruise Company is the Great American Waterways cruise. As its name suggests, the cruise hits some of the best waterways in America, and goes from Chicago to New York for 16 days and 15 nights. You’ll sail through Lake Michigan, the Straits of Mackinac, Lake Huron, the Detroit and St. Claire rivers, Erie Canal and Lake Erie, Welland Canal and Lake Ontario, the New York State Barge Canal, Hudson River and New York Harbor. It includes stops at Mackinac Island, Wyandotte, Cleveland, Buffalo, Rochester, New York, several other New York cities before finishing in New York City.
5) Continuing Conversations about Sir John A and his Legacy
What: Following the Sir John A 360 Panel discussion of Sept 17, and as part of the “Your Stories, Our Histories project, the City is hosting a series of community workshops to facilitate public conversation on how Kingston can share a more inclusive history of Sir John A. Macdonald” says Jennifer Campbell, Manager of Cultural Heritage at the City of Kingston.
When: Wednesday Oct 16, 10 am-noon, Thursday Oct 17, 2-4 pm and 6-8 pm
Where: All at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, 53 Yonge St.
NOTES: Residents may confirm their attendance through Eventbrite.
In order to foster discussion and allow everyone an opportunity to participate, workshop sizes will be kept to 20 participants.
Residents may confirm their interest and availability to attend a workshop through the Sir John A. 360 Get Involved page
Additional workshops may be added to accommodate the number of interested residents.
6) Third Crossing Update – Deadline for comments – Oct 12
Our major concerns have to do with both turtles and trees. We are particularly concerned that our recent findings about turtles most probably hibernating at Kingston Mills and the consequent fact that their range goes right through the proposed path of the bridge has not been included in the report.
NOTES: Do consider looking at the report – especially Section 3. Do consider sending in a short comment about your own concerns.
Contact: Holly Wilson – hwilson@cityofkingston.ca
Global News video received Oct 3 via Facebook
https://globalnews.ca/video/embed/5976909/?fbclid=IwAR2fEhR3FSoSP3dHiBVZel9ZyQj96RH4aNrIWPfgNqBWSu_Hslf8bgV31eQ
What: Online 30-day public engagement for environmental considerations – Detailed Impact Assessment
When: Deadline October 12 at 4 p.m.
NOTES FROM THE CITY:
“The Third Crossing project team has started the 30-day public consultation for the federal environmental assessment of the project, also known as the Detailed Impact Assessment (DIA). We have posted the document online for public review for 30 days from September 13 until 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12 at GetInvolved.CityofKingston.ca.
Required for complex projects, the DIA is the most intensive form of review required by Parks Canada’s regulatory process. This comprehensive analysis shows the environmental considerations, impacts and proposed mitigation strategies for the project. After consultation on the DIA, the City will compile the questions and comments received into a report, which will be submitted along with the DIA for Parks Canada’s review. Residents will be able to see the public consultation review on the project website as well as the City’s Get Involved site.
The Detailed Impact Assessment report is available in alternate formats upon email request to thirdcrossing@cityofkingston.ca. More detail on environmental work associated with the Third Crossing, including the 2013 Environmental Assessment, is available at ThirdCrossing.CityofKingston.ca/Engagement/Environmental-Work“
Contact: Holly Wilson – hwilson@cityofkingston.ca
7) Cataraqui Canoe Club: Fun Event + AGM, Oct 15
What: Imagine 2 people so committed to a worthy cause that they just had to paddle across Canada in a canoe! Well you don’t have to imagine any longer.
Who: Carol Vanden Engle and Glenn Green spent 3 years on this adventure raising money for The Loving Spoonful. You can read all about it on their website Canoe For Change, and find out about their cause at the Loving Spoonful website. And come and meet Carol and Glenn in person!
When: Tues, Oct 15, 7 pm – Refreshments and Socializing at 6:30
Where: Ongwanada Resource Center, 191 Portsmouth Ave, Kingston
8) Changes in City Staff that affect the Inner Harbour
Congratulations and good wishes to all involved!
Luke Follwell is now Director of Engineering
Lucricia Turner is now Director of Recreation & Leisure.
Ruth Noordegraaf is now Acting Director of Housing & Social Services.
Andrea Gummo is Acting Manager, Policy Planning.
The North King’s Town project now falls under her purview.
9) City Brush Collection in Oct, Leaves in Nov
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/resident/garbage-recycling/waste-tools/calendar
to find your collection week.
Brush Collection Starts Oct 1.
Pile brush loosely at curbside by 8 a.m. on the Monday of your collection week.
Stack brush – pruned bits of bushes and trees smaller than 15 cm (six inches) in diameter and shorter than 90 cm (three feet) long – with the butt ends facing the street. No root balls, please.
Brush will NOT be collected during leaf collection weeks.
Leaf Collection Starts Nov. 4
Have your leaves ready for collection at curbside by 8 a.m. on the Monday of your leaf collection week.
Only leaves in paper leaf bags, or placed loosely in bushel baskets, garbage cans or other rigid-sided receptacles will be collected. Yard waste like tomato plants, and vegetable garden waste (but not brush) can be put out for collection during leaf collection week. Make sure your bags or containers do not weigh more than 20 kg (44 pounds).
Leaves in plastic bags – or in bags that look like plastic – will NOT be picked up by the City.
Compost Your Yard Waste Leaves can be used as mulch and grass clippings may be left on the lawn to feed it over the coming months.
Check out www.CityofKingston.ca/composting (you can buy a backyard composter at KARC for $43).
Yard waste may be dropped off year round at the Kingston Area Recycling Centre (KARC) at 196 Lappan’s Lane open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. or at Norterra Organics at 2069 Joyceville Rd. (call 613-546-0884 for their hours of operation).
The brush and leaf collections are the most economical way for the City to process yard waste. You may put some yard waste in your green bin, but collectors must see food waste in your green bin in order to collect it.
10) City Fall Tree Planting
Received from the city, Sept 30, 2019
“Contractors for the City are planting trees today at Lake Ontario Park as part of the annual tree-planting program. Over the next several weeks, crews will plant approximately 1,000 trees on City property.
“Public Works has planted more than 37,000 trees over the last four years. We plan to double Kingston’s tree canopy by 2025 and to do that we need to replace the trees we’ve lost,” says Troy Stubinski, Operations Manager, Public Works.
The new trees will replace the approximately 500 ash trees that were cut down this winter due to the emerald ash borer infestation. Additional ash trees will be removed and replaced with other species over the next few years. Selected larger, healthy ash trees are being treated to protect them from the emerald ash borer and require retreatment every other year.
To see where ash trees are being treated and removed, visit CityofKingston.ca/EAB.
The presence of emerald ash borer was verified in Kingston in 2013. Homeowners can visit CityofKingston.ca/EAB to learn how to deal with ash trees on their property.
https://www.cityofkingston.ca/residents/environment-sustainability/nature-forests-gardens/urban-forest-management-plan/emerald-ash-borer “
11) More Fascinating Turtle Info
Received from The Land Between Oct 1, 2019
“Overwintering Turtles- How Turtles Hibernate Written by: Ally Lahey, Citizen Science Coordinator
Colder temperatures mean one thing: winter is on its way. For animals and people, that means a lot of prep-work. Turtles are no exception. In fact, turtles use some incredibly unique methods to get through the winter. From using their rear-ends to breath, to forgoing oxygen altogether, and even using their shells as “Tums” to aid cramps, turtles have come up with fascinating solutions for freezing temperatures. The amazing things they do in order to survive the winter proves that turtles are, quite literally, the coolest! Before we jump into all the amazing facts about how turtles overwinter, let’s review the basics. Turtles are ectotherms, or “cold blooded.” This means that instead of producing their own body heat, ectotherms rely on their environments. So, whatever temperature it is in its surroundings, is the same as the internal temperature of a turtle (or any ectotherm). That’s why you’ll see turtles basking on logs or on the sides of roads—that’s how they get warm and allow their bodies to regulate normally. Since turtles rely on their surroundings for their internal body temperatures, that means that when the temperatures start getting colder, turtles get just as cold. The implications of being an ectotherm has led to the strategy turtles have developed in order to make it through the winter. Adult turtles are not able to survive anything below 0° C, because the water in their bodies would crystallize and expand- and they would freeze to death. Therefore, turtles have to find places that are just above freezing temperatures to spend the winter. Luckily, deeper bodies of water such as ponds, lakes, and wetlands don’t freeze all the way through. Often, if the water is deep enough, only the part of the water closest to the surface freezes and forms a sheet of ice; meanwhile, the water below, near the bottom of lakes and ponds, remains above 0° C. This is lucky for turtles. However, turtles still have to adjust and adapt to being so cold. Unlike us endotherms that can regulate their own temperature internally (most animals and humans too), turtles can’t put on layers to stay warm. When they get cold, everything slows down in their bodies. Their metabolism hits the breaks dramatically, their hearts slow down and beat extremely slowly at one beat every few minutes! They also have reduced immune-system functions and are more prone to any diseases. And during hibernation, they don’t require as much oxygen. Not needing to breath normally is pretty handy, considering there’s a thick brim of ice preventing them from coming up for air. So how do turtles breathe if they can’t come to the top of the water to fill their lungs with oxygen? The answer is fascinating. During hibernation turtles will develop highly vascularized tissue on their bodies that allows oxygen to be absorbed through their skin. The area that experiences this vascularization the most is in their cloaca- the cloaca is basically their bum! That’s right. You read that correctly. During hibernation, turtles breathe through their rear-ends. The formal term for this is “cloacal respiration.” Unfortunately, even with their fancy schmancy “cloacal respiration” getting through the cold months comes with other obstacles bum-breathing can’t solve. Quite often, the bodies of water that turtles will overwinter in have other creatures in it too. That means that the oxygen underneath the ice is limited, and it can run out completely. Also, if water bodies that they are wintering in experience changes in water depth over the winter from dam-drawdowns, this can limit the oxygen further. To prove, once again, that turtles are the coolest creatures, they developed another way of surviving, even when their oxygen runs out! In these times, turtles literally switch their metabolisms to another system; one that doesn’t need oxygen at all. Even more fascinating; researchers have found in the lab that turtles can use this other metabolism—that doesn’t use oxygen—for up to 100 days! Of course, an impressive feat like switching a metabolism doesn’t happen easily. When turtles burn their energy reserves without oxygen (in hypoxic situations), lactic acid builds up in their bodies. Humans experience lactic acid build up too: it’s what causes cramps in muscles after exercise. This is as uncomfortable for turtles as it would be for us- and the way they deal with it is incredible. Once again, turtles rise to the challenge and have developed a unique method for keeping lactic acid build up at bay- by using their shells! That’s right, turtles use their shells, specifically the calcium they store inside of it, in order to neutralize the acid, and subdue and calm their cramps. Just like a calcium-rich antacid you would take for heartburn, turtles use the calcium from their shells to deal with the lactic acid building up in their bodies. Too cool! Now, surviving without oxygen in hibernation is limited to a few months and also dealing with lactic acid build up has its limitations: Near the end of winter, turtles get quite uncomfortable. In fact, when they finally emerge from hibernation, they will often be quite disoriented from any excess build up of acid and from the discomfort associated with it. Therefore, turtles in spring look immediately to warm up (whether on rocks or on roads) in order to revv up their metabolism and rid their bodies of remaining lactic acid and discomfort.
This is important to understand because it means turtles need us to keep an eye out for them once they finish hibernating. With so much of their already energy depleted and their entire focus put towards getting warmer, turtles coming out of hibernation aren’t always aware of their surroundings. That means, even before nesting season, us Turtle Guardians need to keep an eye out for groggy, cramped turtles that might be on roads trying to get warm! Here are other ways you can help turtles with hibernating:
a) Protect the water they hibernate in! Don’t let water levels get too low in frozen ponds or wetlands where turtles are overwintering. If water gets too low, the oxygen and warmer layer below will be diminished or the water will freeze solid and that means the turtles underneath in the muck may die.
b) If you see a turtle underneath the ice, let it be! Turtles know what they are doing. It might seem impossible, but turtles know how to handle the winter months. It can be dangerous to try and “save” a hibernating turtle by removing them from the water underneath the ice and exposing them to the cold winter air.
c) Don’t take turtles out of the natural environment or move them from their natural territories; turtles know where they hibernate. They have dedicated hibernation sites. When moved, turtles will try desperately to return to these sites and will often die trying to get home. –
d) Young hatchlings need to find hibernation sites. They have approximately three years to imprint routes, hibernation areas, feeding grounds, and territories into their minds. Let them be in the natural world so they can imprint these areas and survive into adulthood.
d) Don’t pollute aquatic environments; turtles are more susceptible to pollution and disease in the winter months. Studies have shown that plastics and additives have implications for our and wildlife immune systems; and nitrates can also compromise immune systems. Don’t flush toxins into septic systems or into water systems. e) Don’t release pet turtles (often red-eared sliders) into the environment. They don’t know how or where to hibernate and they may carry and spread diseases such as herpes.
https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/24195/20190117/natural-selections-how-doturtles-survive-a-winter-underwater
https://blog.nature.org/science/2017/01/30/turtles-under-ice-winter-survival-hibernation-adaptation/https://www.fieldecology.com/blog/winter-turtleshttp://archive-srel.uga.edu/outreach/ecoviews/ecoview090215.htm
http://theconversation.com/the-secret-to-turtle-hibernation-butt-breathing-86727“
Further comments from our resident turtle expert Matt Keevil.
Thanks so much Matt.
“It’s based on real information but generalizes to all turtles things that only apply to some. In particular only some species can cope with low oxygen during overwintering (e.g. Painted and Snapping Turtles) while others can’t (e.g. Stinkpots and Map Turtles). The statement that turtles “have approximately three years to imprint routes, hibernation areas, feeding grounds, and territories into their minds.” is based on one set of experiments with Painted Turtles in Maryland. It’s an interesting study but the conclusions don’t comfortably mesh with other observations of behaviour elsewhere in this species and others and certainly aren’t generalizable to all turtles. However, the advice is good – don’t pollute water bodies, don’t interfere with turtles in their natural habitat, and don’t release exotic pets.”
12) In case you were wondering about the 7th Fire
from Tim Yearington, Algonquin-Metis Knowledge Keeper’s Blog Post https://www.queensu.ca/connect/equity/2019/02/20/dreamtime-and-the-seventh-fire/
“Lately I find myself pondering, or rather re-imagining, this: A long time ago my Algonquin ancestors saw the future. They did so by honouring and acting upon the knowledge that came to them – directly from the Creator – in what we call “the dreamtime.” One of the interesting things they re-imagined, or rather what they “saw”, was a clear vision of our current time.
To help us face the challenges of today, long ago my ancestors chose to share their vision. They called it the Time of the Seventh Fire. Their vision revealed that during the time of the Seventh Fire a “New People” will emerge. The New People will be looking to find what our ancestors left behind upon the trail. Aware of the dilemmas of the day, the New People will suddenly wake up and realize they need to find those lost things – very valuable teachings – that were left upon the trail. When the New People finally find those important things, they will need to pick them up. But not just hold these teachings blindly and think about it all as knowledge. Nope, the real reason they are to pick them up is because it’s time to learn how to embrace and use them.
When I think of re-imagining the institution of Queen’s, what I see is that we, ourselves, are the New People. We are slowly waking up to the awareness that, first of all, there is actually a trail; the trail to traditional Indigenous knowledge. Now that we know we’re on this trail, it’s wise to admit we’re lost and often don’t know which way to turn. We’ve reached a fork in the trail yet our own ignorance and fear prevents us from understanding the best way to proceed forward.
How do we make the best choice? How can we proceed up the trail in a respectful way?
The elders from all Nations here upon Turtle Island (North America) – those who still carry the traditional Indigenous knowledge of our ancestors – are given the responsibility of sharing it. Today’s elders are present to encourage the others, the New People, to find the teachings, pick them up and then utilize this wisdom in a good-hearted way. The reason this is now necessary is because we are living in critical times. Could it be that Queen’s is finally starting to re-imagine the truth of the matter that Indigenous knowledge not only still exists, but that it actually holds the key to helping all of us walk up the trail on our learning journey together? This is what I see. This is what I am re-imagining for Queen’s University.
When I was young I was taught, “We go to school in our dreams.” This is because it is believed that this is where the manitous (spirits) come and talk to us and teach us about the knowledge our ancestors have carried since time immemorial to help us be well and have a good life.
So, inspired by the wisdom of my ancestors – wisdom, by the way, that has served us since the time of the last Ice Age – I always feel guided to learn more about our traditional Algonquin knowledge. Additionally, I feel the time is right to embrace it and utilize it in a good way. But more importantly I can admit, from the things I’ve seen during my own journeys into the dreamtime, that what’s most important to our current reality is that we act upon the knowledge and wisdom we have access to in order to consciously create change.
Change is hard. But in this age I believe change is what matters most.
As the creators of our own trails and life paths, I see today we must make a decision at the fork in the trail: We can tokenize Indigenous territory, traditional knowledge and worldview – and even check the box to show we’ve completed the task – but this will only steer us deeper into the darkness of our ignorance. Alternatively, in a respectful way, we can make a real conscious effort to learn more about traditional Indigenous knowledge because, ultimately, it’s today’s Time of the Seventh Fire that will help us change the way we see, grow, believe and think.
My dream is this: I imagine that we, the New People, are now smart enough to realize and accept that Indigenous knowledge holds good medicine to help us learn to be better human beings. And as academic learners, we’d best be wise to recognize our own ignorance first. Because without first acknowledging there is still a cold climate of ignorance, we cannot confidently explore the trail as we seek the true human value of Indigenous knowledge.
Once we do have more awareness about the nature of our life-long learning journey, we will have a critical choice to make: We can either ignore our awareness or we can act upon it.”
13) Kingston Transit Achievements
Congrats to Dan Hendry for his great achievement in increasing ridership in Kingston. Other cities are now following Kingston’s lead.
https://sustainabilityillustrated.com/en/portfolio/increase-bus-ridership-city-kingston/
He will be doing a Ted Talk in Ottawa Oct 10. Yey Dan!
14) Recent YourTV spot on Turtles
Thanks so much Producer Curtis Brunet for inviting us to do a spot on your show – Limestone Lens
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=511797936321453
15) Swansong Fest: “A Will for the Woods” Film + Panel Event, Oct 19
What: Film -” A Will for the Woods” and panel discussion about Green Burials
Where: Screening Room, 120 Princess St. Kingston
When: 3:30 – 5:30 pm
More Info? GreenBurialKingston Facebook page.
NOTES: Suggested donation of $10 to cover cost of renting Screening Room and paying for the movie to be shown. But please don’t let cost be a deterrent if it is a problem for you. Feel free to invite friends
So I suppose a swansong is an appropriate place to end.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! We do have so much to be grateful for.
Cheers,
Mary Farrar,
President, Friends of Kingston Inner Harbour