"This volume arises from a number of observations and suppositions about both the period (3000 BP to European contact) and the scholarship on it that have emerged in recent research. The first was, simply, that the Far Northeast—roughly northern New England, the Atlantic provinces, and the nearby parts of Labrador—had a collection of papers about its Palaeoindian and Archaic periods published relatively recently. These contributions serve an important role of culture-historical synthesis that does not exist for the Far Northeast after 3000 BP, and one that the seventeen papers in this volume help to address."
Song without words (Excerpts) V
Sasha was so overcome with grief [over the death of her mother], that she remained ill all winter. Spring found her flitting about as a mere shadow — emaciated, gloomy and capricious. From time to time, all of a sudden, for one reason or another she would break into uncontrollable sobbing and run to her room, where she would sit motionless the whole day without eating, refusing to see anyone, and only repeating: “Mama, where are you? Where are you?” [p. 262]
Suddenly the velvet silence of that May night resounded with the clear, sonorous tones of Mendelssohn’s “Song without words” in G-minor, under the capable hands of a true master pianist. The first note of the right hand, held for a single, imperceptible moment, rang deep, drawn out with a particular expressiveness. The left hand in the meantime companioned the melody of the right — not so much with its fingers as with its very breathing — whereupon the D-note could no longer be distinguished either in the right or the left hand; everything blended together in song — a song which not only spoke to Sasha of her great sorrow, but at the same time gave her comfort and promised her happiness, life and a brand new love.
It was not a song Sasha knew; in fact, she wanted to know nothing more at the moment; she didn’t even guess at first that this “Song without words” was actually emanating from the little yellowish dacha next door, or that its performer was playing it like someone convinced that nobody is listening. The performer of a musical composition in solitude has no self-consciousness of feeling; he suffers from no distraction of the mutual influence between artist and audience. Instead, he feels a kind of deep, mind-embracing calm, some sort of mysterious bond between the performer and the late composer. Such now was the performance of Mendelssohn’s “Song without words” in G-minor. [p. 269]
« Dans un passé déjà lointain, des Français ont quitté leur pays pour venir tenter leur chance en Amérique. Ils se sont dispersés un peu partout sur le vaste territoire nord-américain. »
« Sous prétexte que les Acadiens refusaient de prêter serment à l'Angleterre, ils furent rassemblés dans des lieux publics, comme dans des églises. Les membres de même famille furent séparés, puis déportés. »
« La plus grande saignée des Canadiens français vers les États-Unis a été sans contredit leur migration massive vers la Nouvelle-Angleterre et le Midwest américain, surtout entre 1840 et 1930. »
“In some ways it is clear that Northern borders in Canada are exceptional. There are issues of climate change and environmental disruptions, geopolitics, international law, colonial legacies, economic development and governance that are unique. All of these influence the way in which borders are both imagined and managed.”
“Today, the tide has turned in terms of the growing political clout of Indigenous organizations. In the North American North, as elsewhere in the circumpolar region, many Indigenous peoples have become actors on a larger stage, and are being remapped onto larger national and international organizations levels of consultation, discussion and action.”
“Canadian and American security agencies seek greater levels of transnational cooperation in the North, precisely because of the cross-border nature of 21st century security threats triggered by large existential threats such as environmental instability related to climate change (Kee 2019, Kee et al. 2019). Climate change, melting ice, and increased shipping and maritime activities have thus contributed to speculation about future tensions and territorial conflict in the North, as well as highlighted the need for assurances of cooperation.”
