Cape Breton Island and the Highland Village Museum

 July 20, 2024

Today we began the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton Island. Our first stop was the Highland Village Museum in Iona - a living history museum of the Gaelic life from the mid 1700's to the mid 1900's.

I try to pack light and living in a van for 4 months with another person requires deciding what is essential - but this is definitely next level minimalism. 

View of Bras d'Or lake

Mid 1700's home in Scotland

This reenactor spoke of the breakdown of the chief as benevolent protector of the clan into a more transactional relationship with absentee chiefs, who sometimes even expelled the laborers in favor of putting sheep on the land. 

Cozy best of a bed - I've always loved these cupboard beds 

Adapting to life in the new world - having to learn to work with lumber.  Here the farmer is scutching the flax to ready it for spinning

Woven flax cloth ready for a wauking session where the women would rotate the cloth around the table while beating it on the table to soften and felt it. Often it was done to rhythmic songs. 

Potatoes

Alexander Graham Bell's wagon - he summered on Cape Breton

Hearse

There was a wedding taking place in the church so we couldn't go inside

Work from home - Telephone operators apparatus in the parlor

The carding mill to process wool 

After decades of pressure to communicate in English, there is now an emphasis on keeping the Gaelic language and culture and teaching it to the younger generation. 

Now unused railroad singing span bridge

Our spot for the night. We learned of this spot on the app we use and it seemed perfect - we made dinner and then sat out watching the water. There were many other campers scattered along the spit  and families swimming at the beach. A woman stopped by as her dogs ran alongside her car. She chatted with me for a while and from her I found out that we were in Eskasoni, a Mi'kmaw community. I felt horrible but she generously granted us permission to stay there.