We went to Jamestown, Virginia a couple of years ago and now
see another piece of the story at Port-Royal at the mouth of the Annapolis
River, Nova Scotia. This was the first real experiment in living in the
northern New World, led by Champlain who invented The Order of Good Cheer to
ward off serious cabin fever. Port Royal (French 1605) and Jamestown (English
1607) were “it and dit” for timing and not too far apart as the crow flies or
warships sail. It was a volatile era of territorial expansion and the two forts
were front and centre. Port Royal lost the skirmish and was destroyed in 1613. An interesting side-bar is that the reconstruction
of Port-Royal, from a set of original plans, was energized by a woman from
Massachusetts. Construction of this first-ever replica built on the first-ever National
Historic was from 1939-1941, ironic timing considering world affairs in those
years.
window at Port-Royal |
the main entrance or Port-Royal |
This Parks Canada interpreter/guide was excellent and later we realized we were seeing his face every where in the marketing materials for the area. At the Tidal Bore Power plant, we were told he is one of a set of identical twins, Alan and Wayne, who both work for Parks Canada. No wonder we saw him everywhere!
Try to keep up here...
The French moved the burned-out Port-Royal settlers 10
kilometers up the river and the now town of Port Royal survived until turned
over to the English in the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The English renamed the town
Annapolis Royal after Queen Anne and it was the original capital city of Nova
Scotia, replaced by Halifax in 1749. Fort Anne was built by the Scots in 1629
to protect Annapolis Royal.
Fort Anne |
Finally, the point of the story: the Fort Anne Tapestry. How
does every Canadian not know about this remarkable piece of work? Begun in 1985
as a way to commemorate the centennial of Parks Canada, the project got
underway in 1988 and was unveiled in 1998. There are four panels, each 4.5 feet
wide and 8 feet high for a total of 8x18, and each representing a century of
local history. Hundreds of people worked on it, including Queen
Elizabeth. The detail is astonishing, including a Mi’kmaq shield made from birch
bark and adorned with porcupine quill, a tiny “pearl” necklace, lace, and innumerable
types of stitches.
The room is long and narrow so you can’t get a decent photo
of the entire piece and my phone camera didn’t do justice to the vibrant
colours but I hope you’ll get the gist. And if you get a chance to see
it, do; it was a highlight of this trip.