| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thanksgiving Harvest Festival celebrates Legend of the
Three Sisters
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Area Artists Deb Grisé (left) and Cynthia
Blair (right) prepare paintings for the upcoming Thanksgiving Harvest
Festival and Arts and Crafts Show and Sale |
Midland, Ontario - Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, the reconstructed historic
site of Ontario’s first European settlement, is celebrating Thanksgiving
with a harvest festival, October 6-7, 2007. Visitors to this year’s
festival will see an eclectic selection of quality goods from over 40
talented artisans. Bigger and better than ever, the 2007 event will include
14 “first-show” artisans added to the mix. Admission is $5.00
per person for the entire festival which includes family activities, an
arts and crafts sale and farm market vendors.
The legend of the “Three Sisters” tells the story of how
the aboriginal peoples of North America were inspired to plant corn, beans
and squash together in circular mounds, a companion planting method still
practiced today and without which the early European settlers would not
have survived. Native methods and the stories that go with them are a
central part of the immersion in history that visitors experience at Saint-Marie
among the Hurons. At this year's festival, children will get the chance
to plant their own corn, beans and squash together in a cup that they
can take home with them. Other popular hands-on activities for children
include corn husk doll-making and clay okies. Sainte-Marie staff will
also demonstrate traditional native methods of cooking, drying and smoking
of food such as fish, moose jerky, and chicken. A special Three Sisters
Soup and traditional native corn bread
will be served at the historic site's restaurant. The soup is made from
a recipe that won a gold medal for Bertha Skye, a Six Nations chef, at
the 1992 Culinary Olympics.
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"The Three Sisters" planting of corn,
beans, and squash" |
The Legend:
When a medicine woman could no longer bear the fighting among her three
daughters, she asked the Creator to make them stop. The Creator turned
the three girls into plants and told them that to grow and thrive, they
would be dependent upon each other. From that day on, Native people
planted the three plants together to enable the beans to shade the squash
and the corn to provide a stalk onto which the beans and squash could
climb.
Historic background information:
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons was the 17th-century headquarters for the
French Jesuit mission to the Huron. A nationally significant historic
site, Sainte-Marie now stands recreated on its original location, 1.5
hours northwest of Toronto, on Georgian Bay, Lake Huron. Costumed staff,
and over 20 reconstructed buildings, including Ontario's first hospital,
bring to life the compelling story of the Huron Nation and Ontario's first
European settlement.
Media advisory:
High-resolution photography is available by e-mail.
Media contacts:
On site: Bill Brodeur, Coordinator Marketing and Media Relations,
Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, bill.brodeur@mtr.gov.on.ca,
(705)
528-7692
Gary Molnar, Manager Marketing and Visitor Services, Sainte-Marie among
the Hurons, gary.molnar@mtr.gov.on.ca,
(705) 528-7696
In Toronto: Judy Hammond, CLEAR Communications,
judy@clearcommunications.ca,
(416) 920-5817
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