Chronology of the Bahá'í Faith in Canada

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Date 1961-0, descending — sort earliest first

date event tags firsts refs
1961 Sep It was reported in the Canadian Bahá'í News that the National Assembly had made application to the Department of National Defence for recognition of the Bahá'í Faith on the list of religious denominations of the Armed Services. They received word that the Faith was so listed with the authorized abbreviation of "BWF" and that this will be used to designate those who wish to be so identified. [CBN No 140 September 1961 p6] Armed Forces; Military; Recognition (legal)
1961 May Hand of the Cause Hasan M. Balyuzi (1908-1980) visited Canada where, in "addition to meeting the friends, he visited a number of Reserves, including First Nations of Ontario, the Poorman Reserve in Saskatchewan where he was honoured by a pow-wow, the Muscowpetung Reserve, the Peigan Reserve in Alberta, and First Nations people of British Columbia. His talks were 'simple and direct', appealing 'to the hearts of the many who came to hear him'. Later he described these meetings as 'very wonderful', commending to British Bahá'ís the initiative of individuals upon whom 'so much depends', and expressing his confidence in the rapid acceptance of the Faith by the Native peoples."[In Memoriam: Hasan M. Balyuzi" BW18p647; BN No 366 September 1961 118BE p9] https://hdcommittee.wordpress.com/2015/02/23/alberta-bahai-history-project-shareable-resources/
  • During May, in the course of a trip through Canada, Hand of the Cause Hasan Balyuzi visited a number of Indian Reserves. Accompanied by two members of the National Eskimo and Indian Teaching Committee of Canada, he stopped at the Poorman Reserve in Saskatchewan where a pow-wow was held in his honour and also at the Muscowpetung Reserve. Earlier he had visited Ontario Indians, and later he went on to the Peigan Reserve in Alberta, and to British Columbia. Mr. Balyuzi's talks were simple and direct, and appealed to the hearts of the many who came to hear him. At the Poorman Reserve, the chief and his wife walked three miles to meet him. There the Hand of the Cause, a relative of the Báb Himself, and thus a relative of beloved Shoghi Effendi, expressed gratitude to the Guardian for making the meeting possible. [Bahá'í News No 366 September 1961 118 BE p9]
    		• Hasan Balyuzi; Teaching, Native; Poorman Reserve, SK; Muscowpetung First Nations Reserve, AB; Piikani First Nation (Peigan Reserve), AB
    1961 (Spring) Ron Parsons became a Bahá'í some time before July in 1961. [CBN No 138 July 1961 p3]
  • At the time he was a United Church minister in Strathmore, AB. He had first heard of the Faith while serving in Red Lake, ON in 1960. A parishioner had directed him to speak with Carol and David Bowie while he was doing visitation in Ear Falls where the Bowie family lived. Following his visit the Bowies sent him a copy of Christ and Bahá'u'lláh and on the next visit he left with the Kitáb-i-Íqán and subsequently was loaned The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. Shortly after was transferred to Claresholm, AB and David put him in touch with Arthur and Lily-Ann Irwin who nurtured him into full acceptance of, and membership in, the Faith. [CBN No 127 August 1960 p4] [from and email correspondence with David Bowie 4 January 2020] iiiii
    		• Declaration; Carol Bowie; David Bowie; Ron Parsons; Arthur Irwin; Lily Ann Irwin; Red Lake, ON; Ear Falls, ON; Strathmore, AB
    1961 28 - 30 Apr The fourteenth National Convention was held at the Westbury Hotel in Toronto. Those elected were: Angus Cowan, Rowland Estall, (chair) Glen Eyford, Lloyd Gardner, (vice-chair) Fred Graham, Douglas Martin, Harold Moscrop, (tres.) Peggy Ross, and Audrey Westheuser (sec'y). [CBN No 137 June 1961 p10]
  • See [CBN No 136 136 May 1961 p1] for the Message from the Hands in the Holy Land.
  • See [CBN No 140 September 1961 p1] for photo.
    		•  National Convention; National Spiritual Assembly, election of; Angus Cowan; Rowland Estall; Glen Eyford; Lloyd Gardner; Fred Graham; Douglas Martin; Harold Moscrop; Peggy Ross; Audrey Westheuser; Toronto, ON
    1961 Ridván. The formation of the first spiritual assembly in Nanaimo, BC. [CBN No 149 Jun 1962 p5] Local Spiritual Assembly, formation; Nanaimo, BC
    1961 Ridván The first Local Spiritual Assembly of Piikani First Nation (Peigan Reserve) was formed with Louise Whitecrow, Charles Strike-With-A-Gun, Rose Knowlton, Sam Yellow Face, Ben Whitecrow, Joyce McGuffie, Dale Olivier, Guy Yellow Wings and Chief Samson Knowlton [Canadian Baha'i News July 1961]. Louise Whitecow; Charles Strike-With-A-Gun; Rose Knowlton; Sam Yellow Face; Ben Whitecrow; Joyce McGuffie; Dale Olivier; Guy Yellow Wings; Chief Samson Knowlton; Local Spiritual Assembly, formation; Piikani First Nation (Peigan Reserve), AB first Local Spiritual Assembly of Peigan Reserve
    1961 23 Jan Noel Wuttenee visited Piikani First Nation (Peigan Reserve), AB and is reported to have said:
      First Indian Bahá'í fire side I have been to and I am happy to see the Indians take to the sky once again with the strength and power of eagle wings. How far we will fly with the winds of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings, once again we can cry out with the Eagles voice and be heard and live with a purpose.
    [The Distance Traversed a presentation by Bev Knowlton and Joan Young 2022]    		 Noel Wuttunee; Indigenous Teaching; Piikani First Nation (Peigan Reserve), AB
    1961 (In the year) Chief Samson Knowlton, then-chairman of the first Peigan Reserve Bahá'í Assembly, and an elected member of the Band Council for the Peigan Band of the Blackfoot Confederacy along with John Hellson, originally from Cornwall, England were part of a teaching team that visited many Reserves. Over sixty First Nations people became Bahá'ís in 1960-1962. The team carried letters of introduction to the chiefs of all the Six Nations Reserves in Ontario and Quebec and were welcomed with a special ceremony on some of the Reserves. Their itinerary included the following reserves: the Nanaimo Reserve in Nanaimo, B.C., the Squamish Reserve in Capilano, BC, the Mohawk Reserve in Ohsweken in Ontario, the Chippewa Reserve in Kettle Point, Ontario, the Mississauga Reserve in Curve Lake, the Mohawk Reserve in Caughnawaga, Quebec." The teaching team gave copies of the small prayer book, Communion with God, which has "meant much to the new Indian Bahá'ís on the Reserves in Saskatchewan and Alberta (Canadian Bahá'í News July 1961; BN No 365 August 1961 p10)." iiiii Sam Knowlton; John Hellson; Teaching, Native; Piikani First Nation (Peigan Reserve), AB; Nanaimo Reserve, BC; Squamish Reserve, BC; Mohawk Reserve, ON; Chippewa Reserve, ON; Curve Lake, ON; Mohawk Reserve, QC
    1961 (In the year) The Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Whitehorse was incorporated. [Native Conversion, Native Identity: An Oral History of the Bahá'í Faith among First Nations People in the Southern Central Yukon Territory, Canada by Carolyn Patterson Sawin p98] Local Spiritual Assembly, incorporation; Whitehorse, YT

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