STORY FROM ONE OF BC'S FIRST DANCERS
This 1921 photo is of my mother Olive Eleanora (Little) McCondach at age five posing in the snow in Old Hazelton, B.C. Her father, Henry Hyslop Little, came to Old Hazelton from Toronto due to the tuberculosis threat and his bank manager had granted him the request to 'Go West'. Old Hazelton had a population of 400 in 1910 and he managed the bank, or Hudson's Bay Trading Post, a log base with a canvas roof, for the three Indian villages, Kispiox, Kitwanga and Kitwancool. It is currently home to the K'san Indian Village, a popular tourist attraction.
Nora is wearing a highland outfit sewn by her mother Olive. In order to complete the sporran, white hair from a horse's tail was needed. Prior to this time a famous outlaw, Simon Gunanoot, had successfully eluded the RCMP searching for him for 12 years while he continued to profess his innocence. He eventually placed his trust in a respected lawyer there and was acquitted. On one of those days when Simon rode in on his white horse to do business with his furs at the trading post, Henry detained Simon while a bank teller went out back to comb out some less than hygienic horse hair for the sporran. I believe my mother danced with distinction knowing she was the only child to have something that belonged to the colourful character known as Simon Gunanoot.
(In her words) The Grand Trunk Railroad had a tremendous effect upon 'the wonderful social life' that emerged around 1919 or 1920 after the inaugural run with the Governor General, the Duke of Devonshire, on board. Previously, supplies traveled by sternwheeler river boat up the Skeena River from Prince Rupert and in winter by pack horse from Prince George. The photo of my mother is a reminder to me how she shared some of her red-haired grandfather's beginnings in Ecclefeccan, Scotland to travelers coming through Hazelton by performing a Fling, her sisters an Irish Jig and Reel with Piper Sturgeon at the town's Community Hall. The audience would throw coins up onto the stage in appreciation.
What has this story got to do with BC Highland Dancing? The photo (unwittingly) is part of the reason our family found its way to B.C. Highland all these years later. In hindsight we have grown to appreciate the enduring existence and life of the BC Highland Dancing Association made possible by the collective spirit of its members.
Shirley (McCondach) Collins, daughter to Nora.
Cameron and Vincent Collins, grandsons to Nora and Premier highland dancers since 1991-- and 1994-- respectively
