Our Canada – August-September 2019

Keeping History Alive

A pioneering spirit moves through the generations at the

annual Zurbrigg family reunion, dating back to 1925

by Peter Wyatt, Burk’s Falls, Ont.

COMING TO CANADA

I

am an avid reader with a

particular interest in writings

about Canada. One of the

most arresting and controver-

sial descriptions of our nation

that I’ve ever come across was

penned by Pico Iyer, a writer of

British-Indian descent who once

described Canada as “a nation of

beautiful mongrels.” Admittedly,

it is dicult to get past the per-

ception of “mongrel” being a slur;

however, given that the “crossing

of dierent breeds or types” is

central to its definition, I believe

the term highlights a worthy

truth about us. With more and

more people checking into their

ancestry via websites, DNA

testing or the time-honoured

tradition of traipsing around

cemeteries, it’s more apparent

than ever that we are all mon-

grels in some shape or form. The

immigrant mix that shapes me

includes the English-Scots-Irish

triad, as well as Dutch, German

and Swiss roots. In the case of

my grandchildren, Chinese and

Japanese elements are enriching

the mix. This past June, as we

do every year, several score of

cousins and I gathered to cele-

brate the immigrant family from

Switzerland that helps make us

the beautiful mongrels we are.

My maternal great-grand-

father came to Canada as one

of the children in a family that

left the picturesque valley of

Frutigen in the canton of Bern,

Switzerland, in 1847. I have stood

in that alpine valley and was left

stunned by its beauty, trying to

imagine how my forebears could

have left so magnificent a home-

land. Yet they seem to have been

eager to do so. The steeply sloping

30 Our Canada AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2019