June 4, 2014
As I push further east, the French influences and settlements are becoming more apparent with names like Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes, Portage La Prairie, or St Claude. Officially Canada is bilingual but the frequency of bilingual signs noticeably increased the last few days. French Catholic and later French Métis communities were very important to what became the province of Manitoba. Louis Riel, rebel, politician, and founder of the province, being the most obvious example. The noticeably change in signage wasn’t in official road signs alone but local advertising and information. Coming into St Claude the sign for a dairy museum especially intrigued me. As in many other cases, it opens later in the season. My compensation for turning off the highway was another town statue attempting to encapsulate the local history. St Claude harkens back to a town of the same name in France known for producing tobacco pipes. A web search suggests the original St Claude has their own pipe statue, maybe more appropriately so. There was no indication St Claude, MB ever followed in the profession of its namesake. I didn’t have a chance to talk to any locals so not sure how bilingual the people were; the bilingual signage on everything from schools to stop signs could have been either an indictment or reflection of local culture.
A different community I have neglected to mention but encountered from time to time the last few weeks are the Hutterites. A lesser known branch of the anabaptist tradition, a number of colonies dot the landscape across the prairies. Unfortunately, they tend to be off the highway a distance so have not visited any but see signs for them and run into the people in towns regularly. The Hutterites, for those who don’t know, took the admonition in the Acts of the Apostles to share their property literally and live communally on huge agricultural communes. While their dress, culture, and lifestyle are distinct, their engagement with technology and the rest of the world is negotiated by what they consider necessary or advantageous to their faith and way of life. A few colonies exist in the US but hostility to communism during the Cold War and before means most are located in the southern prairies of Canada. In many ways fascinating like the Amish, I was somewhat relieved to observe that they found me as intriguing on my loaded bike traveling through their country as I am intrigued by them.
Lunching at a greasy roadside burger joint, by the way exactly what a ravenous cyclist needs, I overheard some customers play the Mennonite game. Every community has a version of it. You begin by asking the other person if they’re related to so and so and relate your connection to that person. If you’re off the make, the other person will explain their linage and you keep going until you make a connection with various stories shared along the way. Historically Mennonite communities were insular enough that anyone could play the game with great proficiency. Anyway, I noticed this older gentleman on an old cruiser bike, I had to resist being rude and snapping a picture for it was all so quaint, and when he stopped a guy asked him if he was related to so and so. Before long a third person joined in and off they were. Oh and I know it was the Mennonite game instead of Ukrainian or what have you because I recognized the last names.
Road Report:
The road between St Claude and Elm Creek gets pretty bad. Every couple of meters the highway is cracked with no options but to bump along. After Elm Creek the road improves and with a two foot strip beyond the white line! What sweet relief.