The Great Peacemaker

4
The monks landed first on an island of
plenty, where the people marked their faces
with tattoos. They sailed further east and found a
land with rocky coasts. The people there were
mild and peace-loving.
Next the monks came to a land they called
Fu-Sang. They found trees with green flesh
and thorns instead of leaves. The people wove
"silk" from tree bark and used it to make their
clothes. Fu-Sang may have been the coast of
present-day British Columbia.
Hoei Shin spent 41 years wandering in the
strange new lands. Then he returned to
China, where his story was written dpwn. Hoei
Shin may have been the first non-Native to visit
North America.

Afamous Irish legend tells of the travels of
Saint Brendan, a devout Irish monk.
According to the legend, "Brendan the
Bold" sailed across stormy seas, tamed sea
monsters, and found new lands. Many believe he
may have reached the coast of North America.
Saint Brendan was a real man, who lived and
died in the west of Ireland. He started a monastery
in 558, with rules told to him by an angel in a
vision. In 565, he set sail in a small animal-skin
boat to find the ''blessed isles of the saints." Then
he and his men gave themselves up to the winds
and currents of God.
Brendan had many strange and wonderful
adventures on his travels. Some may have been
imaginary, brought on by fasting and prayer.
Others may have been real.
Brendan described a gigantic sea monster that
"ploughed up the surface of water and shot out
spray from its nostrils." Perhaps he was describing
a whale. He also saw "floating pillars of crystal the
colour of silver and hard as marble." These may
have been icebergs, common in the waters off
Newfoundland and Nova Scotia.
On shore, Brendan saw strange creatures
with "cat-like heads, boar's tusks, and spotted
bellies." These may well have been walruses.
Brendan found a new land and explored it for
40 days. He found it spacious, with many fruit
trees. Then he sailed south to other lands; possibly
Bermuda and Florida. He returned safely to
Ireland with the story of his adventures. Over 300
years later, his story was written down.
Brendan the Bold
There is no real proof that Brendan and his
monks sailed to North America so long ago. We do
know, however, that his journey could have been
made. In 1976, an Englishman named Tim
Severin built a boat just like Brendan's. He sailed
it across the Atlantic and landed at Quidividi,
Newfoundland near St. John's.
This map was drawn in the Middle Ages by monks. It shows Brendan saying
Mass on the bac.k of a giant sea monster.
5

6
It was a cold winter night in the wild northern
lands of the Igloolik Inuit. In a cozy snow
house, Howya sat teaching a game to her little
brother, Pitseoluk. Mother and Grandmother sat
nearby, mending sealskin boots by the flickering
light of their oil lamps.
Howya's father and the other hunters had
just finished two good days of hunting. Now the
family were content. Their storeroom, a small
snow tunnel-leading off the main part of the igloo,
was filled with seal and walrus.
Howya showed Pitseoluk how to play with
the small animals carved of caribou bone. She
dropped the animals on a piece of hide, and tried
to make them land right-side-up-facing her. As the
children played, their father carved another little
bird to add to the set.
When Mother finished her mending, she and
Grandmother began to entertain the family with a
game of "face pulling." Each woman tried to make
a funnier face than the other. Mother and Grandmother
wiggled their eyebrows, puffed out their
cheeks, and bobbed their heads from side to side.
They looked so silly that Howya laughed until
she rolled on the floor.
Sudde,nly the dogs began to bark and a voice
called out. Howya recognized the voice of Akavik.
He and his family had come to spend the rest of
the long winter evening. Howya's family wel­
comed their guests, and Father closed the igloo
entrance again with a block of ice.

Father went to the storage tunnel and
brought out a large chunk of frozen seal meat. He
put it beside one of the lamps, along with a large
flint knife. The guests knew they could help
themselves and eat as much as they wanted.
As the guests settled down, the women and
children began to play neat's cradle." They passed
around a sealskin string and made figures that
looked like caribou, rabbits, and birds.
Through the long winter evening, the two
families played games, made up songs, and told
stories. The igloo became warmer because there
were more people than usual inside it. When a
part of the ceiling began to melt a bit, Mother put
chunks of snow over the drips. Grandmother put
out her warm seal-oil lamp.
Just as Howya was wishing Akavik would tell
one of his stories, he moved away to the side of
the igloo. He sat down in the storytelling manner,
with his back turned to everyone in the room.
Akavik then told Howya's favourite story, about
how the raven got its black feathers.
As the hours passed, everyone began to grow
sleepy. Outside, a strong wind was blowing. The
dogs shuffled about and then crawled into the
entrance tunnel to get out of the cold. The wind
was too strong for anyone to go outside. As was
the custom, Howya's father invited Akavik and
his family to stay for the night.
Both families rolled up their outer clothes to
use as pillows. Everyone climbed between layers
of warm caribou hides, and Mother put out her
lamp. As Howya drifted off to sleep, the only
sound she heard was the howling of the wind.
Another long winter evening had ended.
7

8
"Ericsson Discovers the New Land on the Coast of Nova Scotia" by G. A.
Reid.
Bold Viking Explorer
Leif the Lucky was just a boy when he sailed blown off course in a storm. He had sighted lands
on his first great adventure. In 986, he left far to the west of Greenland.
Iceland with other Viking settlers to start a Around the year 1000, Leif bought Bjarni's
new colony in Greenland. Leif's father, Eric the ship. With a crew of 35, he struck out bravely into
Red, had discovered Greenland only a few years unknown seas. After several days, he sighted land
before. and went ashore. Leif found giant glaciers and a
As Leif grew older, he longed to discover new huge slab of rock. He named the place Helluland,
lands of his own. One day he heard the story of or Land of Flat Rock.
Bjami, a trader from Iceland. Bjarni had been Leif sailed further south and came to a land
of forests and white, sandy beaches. He called this
place Markland, which means Woodland. He may
have reached the coast of present-day Labrador.
Leif and his Vikings kept sailing south. They
soon reached another land, where the weather
was warm and nature bountiful. Leif decided to
spend the winter there, so he ordered his men to
build houses. He may have reached the coast of
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, or New England.
Leif was delighted with the new land. The
winter was mild, and the water teemed with
salmon. Leif called the place Vinland, which may
have meant "land of vines" or '1and of pastures."
Leif sailed for home in the spring, his ship
laden with timber and grapes. Soon after he
reached Greenland, Eric the Red died. Leif took
over as leader of the colony and gave up his life of
adventure.
Leif's travels became famous and were
described in songs and legends. Other Vikings
visited the new lands. Over 200 years later, Leif's
adventures were written down as part of the great
Viking Sagas.

The Vikings reached Vinland and landed at a
place they called Straumsfjord. A few
months later, Gudrid gave birth to a baby boy,
Snorri. This was the first European child to be
born in North America.
The Vikings were forced to abandon the
colony when fighting broke out with the
Native people. Gudrid and Karlsefni took Snorri
to a new home in Iceland. In later years, Gudrid
travelled throughout southern Europe. Wherever
she went, she was hailed for her courage and
spirit of adventure.
9

10
There are so many legends about Dekanawida
that it is hard to know which are true. We
are not even sure which century he lived in.
We do know, however, that he is honoured as the
founder of the great Iroquois League.
Dekanawida was born near present-day
Kingston, Ontario. He belonged to the Huron
tribe. When he was only a baby, his mother saw in
a dream that he would cause the ruin of their
people. She tried to drown him, but he survived.
Hundreds of years later, the Iroquois League did
force the Hurons to disband.
Dekanawida grew up dreaming of peace, not
war. For hundreds of years, Indian tribes had
fought wars and raided each other's camps.
Dekanawida longed to end these wars and unite
all the peoples of the world.
Dekanawida grew into a man and left the
home of his family. He built a white stone canoe
and crossed Lake Ontario to the south. He began
to spread his dream of peace among the Iroquoia
peoples.
Dekanawida's first convert was an evil murderer
called Hiawatha. According to one legend,
Dekanawida went to Hiawatha's lodge and
found it empty. He climbed up on the roof and
looked down through the smoke-hole. There he
saw a large pot of water sitting on the fire.
Just then, Hiawatha came home. Looking in
the pot, he saw the reflection of a face he thought
was his own. The strength and beauty of the face
made him feel ashamed.
The Great Peacemaker

I n
Irish mythology, the Isle of the Blest was also
called Hy-Brasil. This legendary island was
said to appear once every seven years. It arose
somewhere in the mists far to the west of Ireland.
Robert Thome was a bold merchant seaman
from Bristol, England. He and other Bristol
merchants badly wanted to find Hy-Brasil. Unlike
Saint Brendan, they did not want to find the saints
and ask them for blessings. They simply wanted
to find new fishing grounds across the sea.
Thorne may have sailed with the Bristol ships
that set out to find Hy-Brasil in 1480. That voyage
ended in failure. Fierce storms drove
the ships back to the coast
of Ireland.
Seeker of Hy-Brasil
Thome probably set out again around 1494.
This time, he sailed with a partner, Hugh Eliot.
Thorne and Eliot may well have reached the coast
of Newfoundland. They may have fished on the
Grand Banks off Newfoundland's shores.
No one knows for sure whether Thorne
actually reached the New World. However, in
1497, the merchant John Day wrote a letter
describing John Cabot's voyage to Newfoundland.
Day wrote:
It is considered certain that this same point of
land at another time was found and
discovered by those of Bristol who found
Hy-Brasil. ..
In 1527, Thome's son Robert also wrote a
letter. He claimed that his father,
with another merchant of Bristol named
Hughe Elliot, were the discoverers of the
Newfound Landes.
Many historians believe Thorne's son was
telling the truth. If so, then Robert Thorne the Elder
discovered Canada at least three years before
John Cabot. Thome probably also went
along on Cabot's first voyage of
discovery to the New World.