SPECIAL COUNTY SECTION FROM THE BOOKSHELF
“The Medicine Bag”
A historical fiction story of four women living in Amherstburg around 1850
“We soon settle ourselves on the blanket Hester has spread out on the ground. Several officers from the fort ride slowly by on horses. They nod and I wonder what they think of us. A woman of the upper class, a woman of colour, a servant woman, and myself a Métis.” These few lines, taken from a new historical fiction by Mary Anne Adam entitled “The Medicine Bag,” encompass this story of four women living in Amherstburg around 1850.
The front cover artwork courtesy of Jude Quick.
“I’m not sure how I came up with the idea,” says Adam. “Perhaps it was when I was taking a break from yard work a few years ago and saw a tall ship coming up the Detroit River. I stopped, looked at it and wondered who had been standing here on this same land, beside the same river, under the same sun, when the original tall ships came by this way so many years ago?” Thus, began years of research into original property owners, the history of Anderdon and Amherstburg and the 200
26
year old Belle Vue House on Dalhousie Street, now a national historic site, and a key part of the story (refer to: BelleVueConservancy.com). The land was once part of the Huron Reserve, designated for those of the Huron-Wendat nation who at one time were free to live where they wished. As the British, Irish and French population grew in Amherstburg, the Wendat were moved further and further away from the town. The story of the medicine bag is narrated by Maketah, a Métis medicine woman. The contents and significance of her medicine bag weave throughout the story and the reader is introduced to Hester, an enslaved woman who leaves the south with her two children to make the treacherous journey to Amherstburg and freedom; Mary, an Irish immigrant whose heart-wrenching journey to escape the potato famine on a schooner from County Cork, Ireland to Montreal, is described in detail; and Catherine of Belle Vue, a woman of great wealth and social position. “Each of the women experience tremendous loss and sorrow, but remain resilient, determined and thus able to form a strong bond despite the differences in their culture and social status,” comments Adam. “The medicine bag brings them together. It’s an enduring story.” “The Medicine Bag” is available for purchase at: The River Bookshop (67 Richmond Street, Amherstburg or on their website: RiverBookshop.com);
B I Z X M A G A Z IN E • J U L Y / A U G U S T 2 0 2 1
In mid-May 2021, Mary Anne Adam released her historical fiction book about four women from different cultures: a woman of social status, an enslaved woman from the south, a servant woman, and a Métis medicine woman, who bond together for one common purpose. The story also revolves around the Belle Vue National Historic Site in Amherstburg. Photo courtesy of the author.
Biblioasis (1520 Wyandotte Street East, Windsor or online at: BiblioasisBookshop.com); the Campus Bookstore, University of Windsor (CAW Student Centre, Lower Level, 401 Sunset Avenue, Windsor or online at: Uwindsor.ca/bookstore) and the Amherstburg Freedom Museum, 277 King Street (online only at: AmherstburgFreedom.org by clicking “Gift Shop” for curbside pickup). If you wish to contact the author, please go to the social media page: Facebook.com /MedicineBagAmherstburg.