Cape Breton's Magazine

Why North Is Down: George Hermann: Before maps and compass direc? tions were generally in use, directions were taken from the flow of current along a shore. "Above" was where the current came from. "Be? low," where it went. "Up" and "down," the same. In Red River people would speak, for ex? ample, of going "up to Cheticamp" or "down to the Lower End," or that "Cheticamp is above Pleasant Bay." In these terms, Cape North is the down-most cape in Cape Breton. Likewise, the use is capable of some generalization. One goes "up to Boston" or "up to New York." One goes "down to the Newfoundland" or "down to the Labrador." Upper and Lower Canada are so described by the meaning of this usage, with the flow of the Great River of Canada (the St. Lawrence) as the datum. Since rivers on the -Atlantic shore of North America gener? ally flow from west to east, the Maritime Pro? vinces and the Boston States were traditional? ly known as "Down East." When one is in Bonne Bay in Newfoundland, there is a problem, solved by common sense. One goes "down the shore to the Cabot Strait" and one also goes "down the shore to the Strait of Belle Isle." One never goes up to an5rwhere from Bonne Bay. With respect to this usage, Cartier is per? fectly consistent and clear when he describes Cape St. Paul as being "above and to the south" of Cape Lorraine. Conversely, the loca? tion of Cape Lorraine is then perfectly clear. It is below and to the north of Cape Smokey. Only Cape North can fit that description. >NEWS • SPORTS • WEATHER • INTERVIEWS I ROY MERCER CAPE BRETON REPORT 6 p.m. - 7 p.m. Daily Mon.-Fri. IN DEPTH T.V. COVERAGE OF CAPE BRETON Including 11 individual weather reports provided daily by residents from 11 locations COVERING ALL OF CAPE BRETON ISLAND Alex John Boudreau CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 was over the language issue. Significant as that single issue may be, it clearly was not their sole area of disagreement. For instance, it was Coady's philosophy that in rural villages the fishermen's co-op and the co-op store should be bound as one organization. The 1947 conference in Cheticamp (photo page 12) faced that issue and decided to separate into the two organizations still active in Cheticamp today. The investigation that led to that decision (and the teaching of that 1947 short course in cooperatives) was the work of Boudreau and a group who came with him from Quebec • the en? tire conference sponsored by La Society Saint- • Pierre. Coady expressed the thought in one of his letters that Boudreau and members of the Society were "try? ing to ride the horse of nationalism into the Cooperative Movement," hop? ing to unite Cheticamp with other French fishermen organizations on the basis of nationality. Boudreau denies that this was ever "his intention. At a time when the history of the An? tigonish Movement and its leaders is undergoing a period of re-examination and revision, it is interesting to point out that Boudreau represents an early organizer with clear reserva? tions about aspects of the movement, who acted on those reservations. His feelings regarding Coady run the spectrum from admiration to anger, which informs us that there Is' this spectrum to be sought out and de? tailed, aspects in both the leader? ship and the movement to be consid? ered for any understanding of suc? cesses and failures of the Coopera? tive Movement, as well as for sugges? tions toward the reasonableness and methods of future cooperative action. This will be work for a future issue of Cape Breton's Magazine. Our thanks to Theresa MacNeil, Direc- CBC CAPE BRETON tor of the Extension Dept., St. Fran? cis Xavier University, and to Kent Martin, filmmaker. National Film Board • for help locating Cooperative Movement photographs. Those used are NFB stills taken during the filming of "Rising Tides." (27: