The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 27

Citizen lifestylesclassified 1 LIFESTYLES pages 27-29 Ottawa. Mondav. Julv 14, 1975. Page 27 js-osfw A century of tradition I I i original artistic expression lives on Canada's By Ralph Wilson Cmen special correspondent She's a little hard of hearing and admits her eyesight isn't quite what it used to be but Robie Davis, 100, a member of the Blood Indian band from Lethbridge, Alberta, maintains a steadfast vigilance preserving a rapidly fading artistry. Although Canadian souvenir shops abound with flashy foreign-manufactured "Indian few offer original examples of authentic native handicraft.

Little choice One reason, beyond the commercial advantage of mass production, is the diminishing source of native artifacts. But native art is living tradition and Rosie Davis exemplifies that tradition. She and her daughter, Margaret, have been in Ottawa exhibiting and demonstrating their craft at Artisana, a series of exhibitions of Canadian mosaic handicraft being held at the Government Conference Centre, across from the Chateau Laurier. The exhibitions, sponsored and organized by the Canadian Crafts Council, in conjunction with Festival Canada will feature 40 artisans from across the country during the month of Julv. "We went by the seasons.

I was born sometime in the when we picked berries." Her mother was a full Blood Indian; her father was white. In 1877 the Canadian and U.S. governments finalized a treaty with the Bloods; Black-foot and the Bloods settled on a reserve which stretched from the Rockies to just west of Lethbridge, then part of the Northwest Territories. As a young girl on the reserve, living with her family in a teepee, Rosie learned the art of beadwork and tanning from her mother. "Everything was made from skins.

house, our bedding, our clothes. We used skins for toboggans. "But we didn't spend most of our time inside like kids today. We lived outside. We didn't want anything, we didn't need anything.

We were content with what we had in those days." In 1899 Mrs. Davis attended a reserve mission school run by "a bunch of Anglican Because of her failing eyesight. Mrs. Davis has been restricted daring the past few years to the less intricate but equally precise art of quiltmak-ing. a craft she learned at the mission school.

Ottawa is the farthest east IX in Rosie Davis Mrs. Davis has been. A trip to Winnipeg in 1903 was her last "eastern although she has travelled extensively throughout western Canada and the United States. Family album Mrs. Davis isn't sure how many grandchildren she has but she remembers other family members.

She proudly notes that her father-in-law, D.W. Davis, was the first member of Parliament for Alberta-Northwest Territories and that her brother-in-law, James Gladstone, was a senator during the Diefenbaker years. Marie Marule, Mrs, Davis' granddaughter who lives in Aylmer and with whom Mrs. Davis is staying during her visit, said her grandmother was among the first generation of reserve native people. They were more self-reliant than succeeding generations who came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Indian Affairs, Mrs.

Marule says. Mrs. Davis said she was pleased by the treatment she and her daughter received while in Ottawa. "We've been treated so well by the people of Ottawa. There was no discrimination.

Everyone, even the little ones, came up to talk." and laboratories, so their higher fees might be a better value." Dr. Wolfe deplored the fact that only 68 out of 430 dentists, all phoned first, were willing to fill out the Health Group's questionnaire. He said the group's experience and the experience of citizens' groups elsewhere shows that "the practitioners who respond are generally the better ones." For example, he said, 90 per cent of the D.C. responders said they always put a lead apron on a patient before they take X-rays, where a national survey showed that It was appropriate that Mrs. Davis was among the first to demonstrate her work as native crafts were Canada's original artistic expression.

Until recently, Mrs. Davis' specialty was the tanning and beading of white buckskin, transforming by hand -according to historic ritual the coarse, stiff hides into soft, intricately beaded clothing and accessories. The original tanning procedure involved several days labor and included the use of a softening agent made from boiled beef brains and fat, which was rubbed into the hide. Included at the Artisana exhibition is a buckskin dress made for Margaret as a costume worn during her reign as queen of a Jubilee Festival in 1937. The dress took more than a year to complete and is decorated with thousands of colorful glass beads sewn in elaborate traditional patterns.

Mrs. Davis who will enter the first year of her second century in October was born in Fort Benton, Montana, in 1 874. Born with the berries She does not know the exact date but explained her people had no way of telling time. to. Dr.

Sidney Wolfe. Health Group director, has charged. Among the 44 of these dentists willing to disclose fees, the charge for an initial examination ranged from $10 to $75, a 750 per cent difference. Other charges, too, varied widely, "without any correlation," Wolfe said, between those whose answers indicate they try to give superior care and those who charge a lot. The Health Research Group listed such facts and fees in a DC.

Dentist Directory that is first in the nation to list fees at all. Also titled Rosie Davis Ralph Nader critical of decaying dental practices By Victor Cohn Times-Post iVews Service WASHINGTON Open wide, Ralph Nader's Health Research Group admonish dental patients. Open your eyes and ears as well as your mouth, the Naderites advised, and make sure your dentist knows the way around your oral cavity, and isn't overcharging for inferior work. Among 68 District of Columbia dentists who co-operated in a Health Research Group study, a number showed by their answers that they do less then they ought Risked excommunication Nuns shelter 'God's Citiren phuto gency can be very painful and often involve infection." As part of their first examination of a new patient. 12 per cent did not take a past medical and dental history, though many dentists consider it essential.

Twenty-six per cent did not take an initial full-mouth X-ray survey; 13 per cent did not do a complete oral examination; 66 per cent did not routinely offer a treatment plan to correct problems, and 85 per cent did not lake patients' blood pressures, (as a guide to use of drugs, for one reason creatures' als have souls like the rest of God's creatures." "The number of animals here now amply proves the need for this welfare work." Then she was given a difficult set of alternatives. "Suppose you were given the choice between the animals and excommunication which would you choose?" asked the church representative. "I would choose excommunication." she replied. "I will not give up the animal work now." Next arrived an edict from the Vatican: "Close the shelter or else." She took her case to the court of world opinion and her situation led to thousands of letters to her supporting the shelter. But since she had retired.

Mother Cecilia was no longer responsible for the operation of the priory and no attempt was made by the church to disperse her and the nuns. But red tape and zoning regulations forced her to abandon her property in the suburbs and move to Mill Bay where she built her present shelter on 58 acres. It costs about $5,000 a month to run the shelter, most of it coming from public contributions and the revenue from three shops the shelter runs in addition to a boarding kennel and a pet cemetery. But despite the financial difficulties -the shelter's bank account doesn't balance -Mother Cecilia remains devoted to the animals. "We realize that animals are truly a part of God's creation even as we are.

and that they share the same life "At the Good Shepherd Shelter, all are accorded the right to live happily, cared for. and loved." Taking the Pain Out of Dentistry, the directory contains general information on seeking and checking on dentists anywhere. Dr. Bernard Yanowitz, president until June of the D.C, Dental Society, said he found little in it to quarrel with, and found "some useful information for consumers." "The American Dental Association code of ethics calls it unethical to publicize fees," he explained. "It's advertising, and it may mislead patients.

Some dentists take more time and use costlier material CP photo only three dentists in 10 do so routinely. "It is inexcusable" for any dentists at all to fail to use a lead apron to protect patients from any scattered radiation, Wolfe said. The report found that: Seven per cent of the dentists did not use modern, high-speed X-ray film to protect their patients from excess radiation also inexcusable, Wolfe said. Sixty-six per cent would not take emergency calls on evenings or weekends, "though a dental emer elderly patients operated by Mother Cecilia. It began in I960 when the priory heard of a starving dog and her litter of eight, of which six puppies were dying.

Mother Cecilia took immediate action. "I went straight to the breeder and bought the entire litter as soon as I heard about it," she said. "Then I brought the dogs to live at a house used by the nuns of the priory. Within a year, I took in 28 other homeless dogs. Soon I found myself spending as much time with the animals as I did running the rest home." Since her sixth term of office as mother superior was about to expire.

Mother Cecilia decided to retire, though it was a kind of retirement that meant as much work, if not mure, than she was accustomed. "Now that I was nominally retired. I had more time to spend with the animals. Eventually the ever-increasing number of animals made it necessary to move to larger quarters." Paid for out of own pocket Mother Cecilia financed the animal shelter out of her own pocket. Her father had left her a legacy of $12,000 which she turned into $40,000 through shrewd investment in property and by selling and re-selling land.

But one day a Roman Catholic apostolic visitor arrived to demand that the shelter be closed and the sisters returned to their duties at the priory rest home. But Mother Cecilia was adamant about her position. She defied the order, saying "anim )' a II iX i VICTORIA (CP) Mother Cecilia Mary once said she would sooner be excommunicated than abandon her work with homeless animals. But fortunately for the 86-year-old nun it never came to that. Mother Cecilia, mother superior of the Sisters of the Love of Jesus, runs the Good Shepherd Animal Shelter in Mill Bay, about 25 miles north of here on Vancouver Island.

A maze of kennels, barns and wire-enclosed runways house more animals in a larger assortment than most farms they include more than 200 dogs, 100 cats. 18 old horses and assorted sheep, goats, calves, ducks, geese and chickens. Mother Cecilia finds it disturbing that it is in this most natural surrounding that man choses to commit his most unnatural acts. "Our surroundings are beautiful," said Mother Cecilia. "Nevertheless it's wild country here and as a consequence has become a dumping ground for many unnwanted pets.

"It's strange that man should choose a place of beauty for the most cowardly action of all abandonment of an animal to starvation and death." Some animals are left in cardboard boxes and others are thrown over the fence. Mother Cecilia checks local animal auctions, rescuing animals destined for the slaughterhouse. Once met opposition But she has not always been allowed to tend for her animals in peace. Her first animal shelter was in a house in the suburbs of Victoria used by nuns of the nriory, a nursing home for Mother Cecilia with feathered friends i.