November 9, 2011
I am a bit under the weather today, in both meanings of the word, that is: 1) my stomach is still misbehaving and 2) it’s bloody cold up here. Under the weather, times two.
Anyway, for the most exciting discovery I’ve made so far on this trip: juneberries are taken seriously in Saskatchewan. Juneberries are my favorite berries in the whole world, little deep purple globes with their own very special flavor. When I was a kid we’d pick buckets full and make juneberry pies. They grow on tall lanky bushes similar to chokecherries or pincherries. My mouth waters just thinking about them. But no one in the Twin Cities seems to have the least notion of what they are, let alone celebrates them. So imagine my joy—yes, unmitigated joy—when I discovered that Saskatoon berries are juneberries. The Canadians dry them for snacks, make jelly and chocolates with them. I was asking a woman in a gift shop what these Saskatoon berries were, and I almost squealed when I discovered the truth. (She looked a bit askance at me.) So I am ecstatically munching at this very moment.
Now on to more serious matters. Perhaps the most interesting thing about Moose Jaw, besides its intriguing name, is the network of tunnels under the city that hid Al Capone, and, more sobering, housed the Chinese immigrants after they had worked on the TransCanada railroad. We took a tour of the tunnels this morning and learned that the Canadians were as cruel to the Chinese laborers as were the Americans. The "imported labor" lived underground; some were avoiding paying the “head tax” of $500 which was used to discourage Chinese immigration, and others were avoiding the humiliating treatment of living in the community above ground. They lived as indentured servants and were paid 35 cents to work 16-hour days, then returned half of the pay to their “employer” for their room and board, such as it was. White labor earned twice as much with no deductions for room and board. No medical treatment. Three men to a narrow single bed. The horrors continue. The woman who led the tour told us we were to participate as actors in this tour, taking the role of the coulees who lived in the tunnels. Then she would periodically go into her role as the wife of the engineer and order us around, sneer at us, yell at us, denigrate us, as, she said, the Chinese were actually treated. "Get over here you stupid coulee. You're as lazy as the rest of them. You're fortunate you have this job. You're being paid more than you're worth anyway....." It’s interesting how one begins to experience the emotions of the role one is assigned even when one is completely aware that it is playacting. The tunnels were originally built to make it easier to maintain the boilers that heated the buildings. The boiler tender could move more easily among buildings checking them, and they soon used the tunnels for moving goods. And then, finally, for hiding and storing people. Of course, I couldn't help but think of some analogies today, perhaps not quite so egregious, although I imagine there are some who would beg to differ with me.
We had dinner at the Mad Greek restaurant last night and the lovely young waitress told us there was a tunnel under the house she lived in a couple of blocks from main street and her alley had about six ways out so that, once upon a time, Capone and his men could more easily make escapes.
Natural hot springs and spas are the other big draw in Moose Jaw. They have a rooftop indoor/outdoor pool heated by the springs which the lovely young waitress highly recommended, even on a cool winters night. But our old bodies couldn’t muster up the energy for such demanding entertainment at what has become our bedtime. Maybe next time.
And so now we sit back and watch the highway continue to unfurl before us.
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