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| (c) Kim Wheeler of crexmeadows.org |
Many holidays just make more sense and are
more fun for their context on the highly seasonal prairies of Agassiz and
the Assiniboia. One such holiday is
May Day (de easchte Mei) – both highly
controversial and widely, if quietly, celebrated by Prairie Mennonites across
North America.
More controversially known as International Workers’ Day, most of us
grew up noting May Day as that day when the former Soviet Union paraded out the
nuclear missiles and other military hardware designed to destroy God,
Democracy, and the West. As we grew more
sophisticated, it was the day to determine who was in and who was out based on
the line-up of Soviet dignitaries atop Lenin’s Tomb in Red Square. Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, the
Socialist (or Soviet) celebration of May Day was designed to commemorate the
Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, 04 May 1886, and not some sort of pagan, atheist
Soviet holiday.
More personal, and more memorable to me was
that other aspect of May Day – the celebration that spring had come to the
prairies – a time to gather the first wildflowers, normally ne pelsbloom (aka Pasqueflowers, wind flower, danesblood, Anemone patens or prairie crocuses) and
try to surprise our mothers, grandmothers and schoolteachers by placing poesies
of furry, delicate lavender blooms on their doorsteps, knocking or
ringing the doorbell, and then hurrying around the house to get away before
they could catch us and tickle us for playing tricks on them – a sort of
reverse trick-or-treating where the children left the treat as part of the
trick.
Often there were other flowers in the
gardens – tulips, hyacinth and for us, Grandma’s superabundant wild almonds –
but it was otherwise still too early for the lilacs, flowering trees and other
prairie flowers – and garden flowers were too precious to pick for poesies.
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| Provincial Seal of Manitoba with Pasqueflower details. |
The seasons could be a bit extreme on the
prairies – one day the hills would be covered with snow – the next, the
driveways would be under new ponds of water, frogs would be croaking and the
still brown hills would contain slight hints of furry purple flowers. Every family has their own favorite place to
pick the prairie crocus – often referred to as Crocus Hill – Teichroews had an
entire bench of hills covered in them… but our place was on the old Schierling
homestead – distant cousins we had never known but on whose farm we had grown
up. Just as soon as the ground became
dry enough to not suck our rubber boots off in the ooze, we would be out in the
pasture carefully examining Crocus Hill for signs of the hardy flowers. To this day, I can still note every significant
rock, badger hole, dip and rabbit run to be found on its steep slopes or in the
coulees off to three of the four sides.
Our pasture was located in the former glacial moraine that once covered
the Assiniboia region. Unlike other
hilly areas, the glaciers carved out deep gashes from the soft prairie soils
and sandstones – so hills were defined by having had the surrounding soil
removed from around them, rather than as mounds of earth rising above the plain
– it is a landscape of glacial valleys, wide, eroded canyons and badlands.
Every year, there would be a celebration when
the first almost open flowers were triumphantly presented to admiring mothers
and grandmothers – soon one of their best china teacups would be filled with
the tiny blossoms – but for May Day – it was a contest of volume – a challenge
to bury tables, kitchens and window sills with the flowers. To be sure, it was a short-lived joy. As with most wildflowers, wild crocuses do
not seem to last long – in fact, the transported ant infestation would often
outlast the blossoms – but it was only for one day – May Day.
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| Mennonite Spring Flowers courtesy Ebay's StuffnSuch |
The
joy and symbolism of the Pasqueflower is widespread. Ne pelsbloom is the official flower for the
province of Manitoba and the state of South Dakota. It is a common theme in quilt patterns,
embroidered kitchen towels and folk art.
American naturalist Aldo Leopold is often quoted as saying of the pasque flower, "For us of in the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television, the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech."
Native Americans were as inclined as are Mennonites to love the flower. From them, we get nicknames for the flower as prairie smoke for the illusion their colour and furry texture give to the prairie hills, and for the haze created from the release of its long billowing seeds. From the Native tribes, we also get the flower's symbolism for wisdom and old age (it is called napi or old man in Blackfoot) on account of the silvery seed heads that remain long after the blossoms have faded.
American naturalist Aldo Leopold is often quoted as saying of the pasque flower, "For us of in the minority, the opportunity to see geese is more important than television, the chance to find a pasque-flower is a right as inalienable as free speech."
Native Americans were as inclined as are Mennonites to love the flower. From them, we get nicknames for the flower as prairie smoke for the illusion their colour and furry texture give to the prairie hills, and for the haze created from the release of its long billowing seeds. From the Native tribes, we also get the flower's symbolism for wisdom and old age (it is called napi or old man in Blackfoot) on account of the silvery seed heads that remain long after the blossoms have faded.
At Easter, eggs (and linens) boiled with the purple sepals are coloured green.
May Day has had many different connotations around the world – but for prairie Mennonites, it is the celebration of Spring, sunshine and ne pelsbloom… no lily ever looked so beautiful nor was any rose better received than those humble denizens of the harsh prairie soil – one of God’s little pleasures in an otherwise often difficult, frequently barely fertile, always challenging prairie landscape.
Crex Meadows -- Click for an excellent description of the Pasqueflower
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