I wondered where our indian head plaque had gone. It was up in the attic. It must have ended up there during a decorating campaign. This week I was pleased to see it back - like a reunion with an old friend..
I have known that indian for over sixty years. He was brought back to England from Canada circa 1960 by the grown up daughter of the village school's caretaker - a fearsome, pipe-smoking man called Alf Assert. She gave it to my parents as a holiday souvenir and it was pinned up in our house for decades until my mother died and I claimed ownership.
Through most of my childhood, that proud indian head seemed to represent an otherness - somewhere different far away and if Mr Assert's daughter could get there then surely I could do the same. One day. Along the neckline these words are inscribed: "Niagara Falls, Canada". The plaque is made from some sort of wood composite resin...
Over at e-bay I found a very similar plaque but this time it was a souvenir of Montreal. The indian mould is identical.
Anyway, back to Niagara Falls. Eventually, I did get there in the summer of 2002 with my wife and children.
We had flown into Boston and spent four days in New England before driving across New York State and along the south side of Lake Ontario right into the town of Niagara Falls. And the next morning, there we were on "The Maid of The Mist" in the middle of the spuming waters of the falls themselves.
I am sure that it was the indian in league with Alf Assert's daughter who had guided us there.
That's an attractive piece of sculpture but I haven't seen such an aboriginal.
ReplyDeleteI think you might look like that if you wore a feather headdress .
DeleteIndian is no longer correct. Native American, please.
ReplyDeleteI grew up playing cowboys and indians, cowboys and Native Americans does not sound right.
DeleteScary looking. I wouldn't want it on my walls, but it has nice back story. I'm sure the fearsome Alf Assert was an asset to the school.
ReplyDeleteIsn't Niagara Falls just the most amazing place. It really has to be experienced, no matter how many videos of it you may have seen. We also flew over in a helicopter. I had to be coerced as it cost quite a bit, but it was well worth it.
You had to be coerced? Is that a hospital operation for gentlemen only?
DeleteWere the falls as fearsomely cold as I've been led to believe?
ReplyDeleteThe plaque is nice, but not something I'd hang in my home, it would look out of place, although it might not even be noticed in the general clutter.
When you ride on "The Maid of the Mist", they give you a plastic poncho to wear because of the spray. I do not recall it being especially cold.
DeleteI wish that plaque belonged to me. Canada is one place I would love to visit.
ReplyDeleteCanada is so big that after visiting it you feel that you have just skimmed the top off the rice pudding.
DeleteAlf Assert! Were others in your village Pete Propose, Mart Maintain, and Colin Contend?
ReplyDeleteThe policeman was genuinely called P.C. Pepys. He peeped his horn and scribbled in his diary.
DeleteConnections to things and places live deep in our minds. Niagara is kind of special. I have been there a couple of times.
ReplyDeleteNiagara wan't too far away from your Michigan homeland.
DeleteAlthough I grew up saying Indian, like the person above, I now say Native American. I don’t say it this way for politically correct reasons, but because I know Indians from the country of India and it gets confusing.
ReplyDeleteIn a different context I would certainly opt for "Native American" before "indian".
DeleteGlad you got your old buddy back.
ReplyDeleteI have known him for more than sixty years.
DeleteAn interesting souvenir with an interesting backstory! I'm not sure the headdress is appropriate for New York/Ontario Native Americans. I think it's a plains headdress. But I'm no expert.
ReplyDeleteAccuracy never seemed to matter much - only to the inheritors of Native American traditions.
DeleteNiagara Falls is amazing to see. I remember as a kid being impressed by the stories of the people who went over the falls in a barrel! What a daring thing to do! I'm not that brave, tho, and have not even taken a ride on the Maid of the MIst.
ReplyDeleteActually, I thought you were the maid of the mist Ellen!
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