Nothing makes you feel more Canadian than not being in Canada.
“Where are you from?” someone asks. “Canada,” you say. You drop it like it’s no big deal and wait for them to start asking questions like “What is a uniquely Canadian meal?” (“Poutine!” I replied to some curious Germans, most of whom recoiled after I explained exactly what it was.) All of a sudden, your international novelty has turned you into an culturally angst-ridden teenager, perpetually asking yourself, “Who am I, anyway?”
No other nation, with the possible exception of the Former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, has such an identity crisis. The term “cultural mosaic” tossed around by so many elementary school teachers will have to do, like it or not, until we can come up with something that defines us better than a plate of fries covered in gravy and cheese.
Then again, what’s to complain about? Any night of the week in Edmonton you can play Pin the Tail on the World Map and eat at a restaurant of that nationality. Try it. Ethiopian! Icelandic! Scottish!
Hmmm. Hang on. No Scottish restaurants here—but with a summer full of Highland Games all over Alberta, the Scots have a lot more going on in Edmonton than the Icelanders. This Saturday, Fort Edmonton Park is hosting its 20th Annual Highland Gathering, a full day of competitive bagpiping, drumming, Highland dancing, and sports events. (TV news crews, take note: there will be caber tossing and hammer throwing.) Plus, a chance to try the most notorious item of Scot cuisine: haggis.
“It’s actually quite tasty,” Jan Archibold, Edmonton Attractions spokeswoman assures me. “[Haggis] doesn’t look all that good—you might not want to look at it—but I did find it quite tasty. Spicy. And, of course, the pub in the Hotel Selkirk is open for those who would enjoy a wee pint.”
But if spicy food isn’t your thing (or loud, blaring band instruments for that matter) the Gathering also offers bannock bread, a debate about Scottish literature, a Scottish singing troupe, a Scottish market, an exhibit on the development of curling, an old Canadian poster campaign encouraging Scots to come to Canada, and strangely enough, a magic lantern show of hand-painted glass slides. And it’s not just for tartan-wearers either.
“Of course there’s a huge number of people who come of Scottish ancestry,” says Archibold, “but I also see people of all different cultural backgrounds come down because basically it’s a fun event. Where else do you get to see someone throw what appears to be a telephone pole?”
Compared with the historical presence of the Scots in Alberta, the Fort Edmonton Highland Gathering is relatively young.
“If you take a look at some of the place names and the names in the phone book, Scottish people have been here since the earliest explorers,” says Paul McCormick, onetime president of the Alberta Society of Pipers and Drummers. Just look at cities like Fort MacLeod, Fort MacKay, or Calgary (which is Gaelic for “clear water”) for evidence of the historic role the Scottish played in settling Alberta.
The province’s first Scottish cultural group, the St. Andrew’s Society, was formed in 1870, followed by the Caledonia Society in 1904, only to join together in 1938 and ultimately incorporate as the Edmonton Scottish Society in 1949. “It’s like any other ethnic centre in Edmonton, like the Polish Hall, the Italian Centre, Orange Hall—all of them are groups of people that have immigrated here and brought a bit of their home culture with them,” says McCormick, who sells Scottish knick-knacks at various Highland Games throughout Alberta. Despite the explosion of Highland Games in Alberta in the past 20 years, the Scottish community is always looking for more young blood. Well, sort of young, anyway.
“The people that are the backbone of the [Edmonton Scottish] Society are getting on in years,” says Valeta Roach, a former Highland dance to owns Scottish Imports on Whyte Ave, “and they’re not getting a lot of new, young people involved—and by new and young I mean the 40- and 50-year-olds. I try to encourage people to get involved in the Scottish society. There’s an awful lot of pipers and drummers out there who are really good, who don’t have any—or very little—Scottish heritage, but they just enjoy the music and the instruments they’re playing—and it’s a good thing!”
Non-Scottish pipers? I suppose non-Japanese people know judo, and non-West Africans can play the djembe. Maybe Canada can borrow the Scottish identity for a while until we develop a unique one of our own. If we can stomach poutine, surely we can get used to haggis as well.
Fort Edmonton highland gathering
July 12. Fort Edmonton Park (6601-148 St).
Tickets: $13.25 at the gate. Info: www.aspb.ca.
