Haiku 4: Hebron

 

Bricks against a wall

Inuit forced from homes

Yet: "We forgive you."

Hebron Monday, October 7, 2024

It's been a while since I've written anything but I'm back at it now and am approaching the end of the entries about the trip to Greenland and Labrador last fall. This one is taken from my journal at the time.

Hebron Monday October 7, 2024.

I visited Hebron on our first trip with Adventure Canada in 2015. Then it was overcast and on the cool side. Today was a gorgeous, sunny and relatively warm.

I remember when I was here before chasing a number of little birds with an 800mm lens on a Nikon camera from the onboard lending program. This time there were very few birds. I guess most of them have left for warmer climates.

I noticed quite a difference in the state of the buildings from the last time.

Mind you, that is 9 years ago. Some of the buildings we walked into last time have completely collapsed. I remember taking photos of piles of bricks against the wall of a building.

There are still piles of bricks but the building no longer stands. I spent quite a long time just sitting on a rock, looking out at the sea and wondering if I would ever pass this way again.

My guess is that I won’t. 

One of the most striking features of Hebron are the three plaques that stand behind the church. The first is a copy of the apology offered to the people of Hebron becaused they were forced to relocate after the Moravian mission closed.

The second one contains the names of all the families who were forced to relocate. The third one, the most poignant to me, is the response to the apology.

Too late, I decided to try to walk up to the inukshuk on the ridge but when I got level with Randy he advised me that I didn’t have time to get there and back before we had to go back to the ship.

Better safe than sorry, I turned around and found it only took me 15 minutes to get back to the landing spot. Likely, I would have had time to get to the inukshuk and back but you never know and I certainly don’t want to be the person who causes the whole operation to come to a grinding halt because I’m off somewhere I shouldn’t be.

Apparently there is a huge storm coming in so the plans are changing: we will be in Nain tomorrow and then we will boot it for the safe harbour of St. John’s, before it hits. No Lanse Aux Meadows, no St. Anthony, and no Terra Nova Park. I was looking forward to seeing Lanse Aux Meadows again, and Terra Nova Park but that’s not in the cards for this trip.

[Here's a link to info from the Canadian Encyclopedia if you'd like to read more about the history of Hebron and the relocation. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hebron-mission-national-historic-site-of-canada