Travel & Tourism

(Saltscapes Magazine June/July 2024)

Elsipogtog travels a Healing Path, moving past colonialism’s painful legacy

Under a smudged, overcast sky, Shania Dedam is lighthearted as she stands with guests beside a towering white pine, explaining traditional Indigenous uses and knowledge associated with the species. She holds up a small clump of old man’s beard.

“When this lichen is green,” she says, “it means the air is fresh, so it can be used medicinally. But it’s toxic in high doses, so don’t be using it at home or you won’t be ‘lichen’ it!”

Her pitch-perfect delivery garners appreciative chuckles from the group.

A New Brunswick writer travels to Haiti to help Haitians document their memories and experiences for future generations, and returns with a clearer understanding of the power of words to strengthen, and to heal.

My companions and I sat loose-limbed, our heads bobbing from side to side like dashboard ornaments, as our rental truck inched over rock-face that was more goat path than road. We were six hours into our journey to Mombin Crochu, a village in Haiti’s remote northern mountains, when the truck came to an abrupt halt at the bottom of a gully.

We climbed out and stood mute, regarding the front end. The tires looked cross-eyed.

“We’re done,” announced Rick, after crawling underneath. “This is the end of the road.”

Dennison Tate faces into the wind as he gazes over the turbulent Bay of Fundy, one hand resting on the lighthouse that altered his life’s course.  An unexpected squall, already racing up the bay, mimics the frequent turmoil he weathered while preserving the Cape Enrage Lighthouse and turning it into a life skills training ground for kids and one of the province’s premiere tourist attractions.  But Dennison knows, as the tide shifts and the wind stills, peace will replace the gale, and smooth sailing may be possible once more.

He turns with a smile and a shrug, “Until the next time.”