In May of 1868, Elizabeth Bingham Young and her husband of only
fivemonths, Egerton Ryerson Young, began a long journey from
Hamilton,Ontario, to the Methodist mission of Rossville, at Norway
House. Overthe next eight years, Elizabeth supported her husband's
work atRossville and then at the newly founded mission of Berens
River, on theeast shore of Lake Winnipeg. In these remote outposts,
she gave birthto four children, one of whom died in infancy, acted
as a nurse anddoctor, and applied both perseverance and
determination to learningCree, while also coping with poverty and a
chronic shortage ofsupplies, both in the mission and in the
community it served. WhenElizabeth died, in 1935, she left behind
various reminiscences, notablyan extended account of her
experiences at Norway House and BerensRiver, evidently written in
1927. Her memoirs offer an exceedingly rareportrait of mission life
as seen through the eyes of a woman. Elizabeth's first child and
only surviving son, also namedEgerton Ryerson Young but known in
his youth as "Eddie,"was born at Norway House in 1869. Cared for by
a Cree woman almost frominfancy, Eddie spent his early childhood
immersed in local Cree andOjibwe life, culture, and language, in
many ways exemplifying theprocess of reverse acculturation often in
evidence among the childrenof missionaries. He, too, left behind
hitherto unpublishedreminiscences, one composed around 1935 and a
second dictated shortlybefore his death. Like those of his mother,
Eddie's memoriescapture the sensory and emotional texture of
mission life, a life inwhich the Christian faith is implicit rather
than prominently ondisplay, while also providing an intriguing
counterpoint to hismother's recollections. Like all memoirs, these
are refractedthrough the prism of time, and yet they remain
startling in theirimmediacy. Together, the writings of mother and
son-conjoinedhere with a selection of archival documents that
supplement the mainnarratives, with the whole meticulously edited
by Jennifer S. H.Brown-afford an all too uncommon opportunity to
contemplatemission life from the ground up.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(2)
