groutwomenswooden

Edge of the Wilderness: The Old Crow Village

An English nurse describes her years living and practicing in the beautiful and remote Canadian Yukon in this autobiographical account. Being the nurse for the Old Crow Village, a small settlement of 200 native Inuit people, provided the author with insight into an entirely different culture. Pulled from her letters to friends and loved ones, the descriptions of daily life so far away from civilization and amidst such grand and rugged scenery are written with humor, honesty, and sometimes love and pity as she comes to know the people she is treating.

Maria Elizabeth Winblad (1895-1987) interview from August 1986 by Susan Penny Van Deusen at the Lutheran Home in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Penny: We thought of some questions to ask you.
Maria: Oh, you did?

Penny: Like, what year were you born in?
Maria: 1895. ... [volume too low]

Penny: We brought a tape recorder so you can talk into it and we can listen when we get home.
Maria: Oh, Have a nice day and a nice year in your home there, and enjoy yourself, where you can run all around in the grass with all your friends, yes, that is nice.

Penny: Christy wanted to know what your parents were like.
Maria: Well, I will show you. Did I have my bible here? [she gets her bible]

April: [ambient noise] Hi, I am April
Penny: They wanted to know what was your mother’s name and your father’s name?
Maria: Well, my mother's name was Salmine. See [shows name in bible bible], Selma gets her name from her. ... My mother did not like Salmine. ... That is a nice name, why didn't you call her Salmine ... That is the name you saw in the book there. ... and my father's name was John, that is another John, John Edward. That was my father's name. That is another John.

Penny: How many children did they have?
Maria: I think my mother had seven, but she raised three, three. Well, Eddie ... Eddie was only two years old. We went up the street one morning ... This little girl had whooping cough ... They had things to drink there. Eddie and I came down with whooping cough ...My brother the little fellow ... pneumonia and died. I was 4 and he was 2 ... Eddie went into pneumonia and he died. But the doctor said that there was no hope for the little girl. ... She never should have let her little girl have all those children there ... Eddie went into pneumonia and he died. Could I have a piece of bread? ... He was such a good little fellow. Daddy has the papers, that is where I will be buried., with him. Out in Greenville.

Penny: Is that in New Jersey?
Maria: New York Bay cemetery ... Daddy had paid ... that I have that grave there.

Penny: Were all of you born in the United States?
Maria: [misunderstands question] Christian ... My mother was only 2 years old when her mother died. So there he was left ... baker ... he never remarried and raised these seven children, and my mother was only 2 years old when her mother died, and he never remarried. He was a very religious man. He lived it.

Penny: What did he do for a living?
Maria: He was a baker
Maria: He was the dean of a college there [Note: He was the only school teacher, not a dean of a college. His daughter Frideborg would become the principle of the high school and the stories have become conflated and exaggerated]

Penny: What was your last name before you were married?
Maria: Winblad

Christy: Where were you born?
Maria: New York City
I was 9 months old when my father had the house built.
Apple street and a dirt road across the street and a big pasture there. They had a carriage, a two seater, it had the fringe around it [laughs], ... I would like to have a ride in one of them. He had a big pasture across the street ... one block to the other ...

Penny:Who was the youngest child and who was the oldest?
Maria: Otto was the youngest ... Tony was the oldest. Otto was 75, Tony was 88 when he died

Penny: Why did they come here?
Maria: He was on a ship when he met my mother ... They had a cleaning lady and a lady that did the cooking.

Penny: I would like to have two ladies [to help at home].
Maria: He was gone for 5 years, he ran away from college. Selma said I can't sleep ... try it for one month and I will talk to your teacher. Try it for a month. Selma. When she got the report ... I am not going to make the mistake that my father did. ... She was happy. ... He was gone 5 years and he was in Norway and must have liked her. He said he wanted her to go up to Sweden to meet his father and mother before they were married. I don't think his father was alive. [Note: his father was alive and died in 1901]... I think the father had died. He was gone for 5 years . He had four sisters and two of them were nurses, and his father wanted him to be a pastor. If my grandfather had not been so strict, he may have been a pastor. With Selma ... and she did and she got a good report.

Penny: So they came to the United States right after they were married?
Maria: ... Brides ... She washed the chicken off and put it in the oven. You can never take that back. Your supposed to take that out.

Penny: They didn’t know anyone here?
Penny: How old were you when you started school?
Maria: Number 11 school ... firehouse

Penny: Do you remember any friends from school
Maria: I remember the day I graduated

Penny: Did you go all the way to 12th grade?
Maria: [volume too low] ... My father paid $10 a month

Penny: You had to finish the course?
Maria: That bothered me

Penny: What did you do after you finished your business course?
Maria: ... Cuba ...

Penny: What did he try to do?
Maria: ... He would tell

a penny. That is how much my mom gave us for each walnut that we picked up. Those nuggets fell from the billowing trees in the autumn and then stained our shoes, our hands and our finger nails a dark shade of henna for weeks. If we didn’t get to them, they would become a mess and the crows would start dive bombing our cats in the yard.

We have two walnut trees at our grandparents house here in France and this year instead of waiting for them to all fall, I picked some early (end of june) off the branches— firm and green to make Vin de Noix. A hard alcohol steeped with green walnuts. I added my own little concoctions to make it “Vietnamese Style” though I don’t even know if they make this French eau de vie or not. Grandma had a bunch of those old French canning jars that I coveted. You know the ones with the antique hinges and orange rubber lips? I put them to use for this recipe.

Vietnamese Style Vin de Noix

9 green walnuts, hacked into quarters

Splash of vanilla or half a vanilla bean, split

3 Tbsp of palm sugar

Two good sized peels (not the pith) of lemon or lime

5 green cardamom pods

2 cloves

5 Vietnamese peppercorns (citrusy medium flavored pepper) more pepper info here

2 cups of Vodka

1 cup of white wine

Wear gloves when cutting the walnuts and clean your area as soon as possible, because the innocent looking beige juice that comes out soon turns to brown and then almost black stain and will get into your cutting board, under your nails, on your countertop, everywhere!

Place the whole lot in a big canning jar with a seal and let it sit for 4 months in a cool place. When it’s ready (dark as night and no longer bitter) strain it twice through a coffee filter into decorative bottles for gifts, cooking or for hoarding, once you taste it you will know why you will want to keep it all for yourself!

Ever feel like you don't have what it takes? Like you can't be as good as those around you? Well, after waiting decades for his time to lead, Joshua had some big shoes to fill. He may have felt slightly intimidated by the task at hand.
Joshua's predecessor, Moses, had a near spotless resume: he led the Jews out of Egypt, parted the Red Sea-he even conversed directly with God. Not exactly an easy act to follow. Yet Joshua's fearless confidence in God proved to be more than enough. God used Joshua in miraculous ways. All his life, the people of Israel followed and trusted Joshua's lead.
What was his secret? How did Joshua live so fearlessly? What can his story teach us today?
The Fresh Life series was created by women, for women, who crave a profound experience of God's Word without an overwhelming time commitment. In just twenty minutes a day, you will come to a deeper understanding of the truths of the Bible. With a group or by yourself, use this easy-to-use study to develop a fearless, Joshua-like confidence in God so you can accomplish everything He asks you to do.

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