Long-time Alberta resident Mabel Pine moved to Edmonton from Vermilion. [OBCC:217; Edmonton Bahá'í History]
• She had first arrived in Edmonton in 1912 where she studied to become a nurse. Some time after graduation she moved to BC where she accepted the Faith.
• In 1925 she returned to AB where she spent the rest of her life promoting the Faith. [The Distance Traversed: a presentation by Bev Knowlton and Joan Young 2022]

In the Baha'i group in Edmonton as in other groups, it was not uncommon to find women among the first believers or "pioneers." Although there was a Baha'i group in Edmonton in 1911, apparently the Bahá'í community has been in continuous existence only since 1940. [OBCC152]
• The Vancouver Bahá'í Archives has a photo of the first Bahá'í group in Edmonton in 1942 with Anne McGee, Lyda Martland, Milwyn Davies, Kay Rimell, Anita Ioas (later Chapman). This photo is Plate 30 in OBCC152.

As of this date the Edmonton Bahá'í Community had formed a Spiritual Assembly, the ninth Local Spiritual Assembly in Canada. It was composed entirely of women. [OBCC217; Edmonton Bahá'í History]
• "Their two goals were to gain male Bahá'ís, and increase membership from ethnic communities, longing to be "a truly international group"

The establishment of the Friends of the Indians Society in Edmonton. Its chief aims "to assist in the promotion of better understanding and greater cooperation between the Indians and the Canadian people in general" and "to aid in the establishment of the Indian people as an important part of Canadian society." [CBN No63 Apr 1955 p2]
• Note: The Committee of Friends of the Indian (after 1951 known as the Friends of the Indians Society), was led by Reta Rowan. [Seen but Not Seen: Influential Canadians and the First Nations from the 1840s to Today by Donald B. Smith]

Noel Wuttunee (Eagle's Tail Feathers) a Cree from Calgary was the first Indigenous Canadian to join the community. [Bahá'í Canada Site; OBCC153]
• Mention in CBN No38 Feb 1953 p6, "Gerda and Noel Wuttunee are at present residing in this community at 10958 - 84th Avenue and will remain in Edmonton for the winter."
• In 1950 he served on the "Prairies Indian Committee". [CBN No 15 September 1950]
• He may have been a resident of Winnipeg originally. [OBCC209-210, 227]
• See OBCC144 for a photo.
• See BW12p793 for a photo of Noel and his wife.

Following his attendance at the Intercontinental Conference in Wilmette Hand of the Cause Furutan made a tour of Canada with an interpreter, Mr M Anvar. They visited several communities in Western Canada and attended the Feast of Grandeur in Edmonton. [CBN No 41 June, 1953 p3]
• Visits were also made to Winnipeg,London, Ottawa, Toronto, and Kingston and others. [CBN No 42 July, 1954 p5]
• The tour concluded in the Maritimes with visits to Moncton and lastly Saint John. [CBN No 43 August, 1953 p2]

The anniversary meeting of the Society, at which Cree First Nations danced with the skill of professionals, First Nations handicrafts and artifacts were displayed, and a full-blooded Haida spoke. His message was directed to the Native people to take up their responsibilities as citizens, to avail themselves of education and adapt themselves to the encroachment of modern civilization.

The Friends of the Indians (First Nations) Society did much during its 10 years of existence to promote its aims, through monthly meetings to which Indians are invited, through representations to government bodies, by enlightening public opinion through press releases, and through direct welfare and charity when needed. Its present executive committee include a Roman Catholic priest, a Unitarian minister, a Mormon elder, a Bahá'í, and others who are able to work together in harmony and unity. {CBN No63 PE 1955 P3]

An animated presentation entitled "The Community of Baha'u'llah" made its initial presentation at the Art Centre in Ottawa. They had just come from their trial run in St. Lambert, Quebec and had a plan to visit Oshawa, Hamilton, Guelph, North Bay, Fort William (Thunder Bay), Winnipeg, Brandon, Regina, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Kelowna, Vancouver, Nanaimo and Victoria before doing their final presentation in Toronto just before the National Convention.
• The hosts for the presentation were: Al Houdek, Gerry Bourassa; Leslie Houdek, Sandra Kostaschuk, Garry Berteig; Larry Brown, and Valerie Berteig with Dick Stanton as the Tour Manager.
• Travelling exhibit was intended as a vehicle to introduce the Message of Baha'u'llah. They utilized film, sound and slides, as well as traditional art forms. The plan was to have the local communities integrate interested person into the community after the team had made the initial contact. The eight member team made the three month trip in two vehicles, an Econoline van and a station wagon. [CBN No 236 January-February 1970 BE 126 p1]
• The tour continued into the Maritimes for several more months with some changes in the team to include Gale Bundy, Fred Ward, and Bob Kingdon. The tour ended at Rochdale College in Toronto. [email exchange with Garry Berteig 4 January 2020] iiiii

The passing of Mabel Harriet Pine (b. 1882 Bristol, England) in the Norword Auxiliary Hospital in Edmonton. [Bahá'í Canada Vol 4 No3 July/Aug 1982 p46]

As a young woman born into a privileged class she was a suffragette and a reformer. She worked as a nursemaid and governess then moved to Algiers and then Chile. After returning home she decided to emigrate to Canada and lived first in Vancouver and then in Edmonton where she trained as a nurse and married.

• After loosing one child and almost loosing a second, in 1925 they moved to Armstrong, BC where she first heard of the Faith. They didn't stay long in Armstrong but moved back to Alberta for work. It was while she was visiting England the following year that she stayed with Claudia Coles and became confirmed in the Faith.
• After living in Scollard, AB (1926-1927) and Vermillion, AB (1928-1941) they moved to Edmonton where they stayed for a year for the education of their daughter, Allison. She joined Mary Fry who had been there since 1940, the first Bahá'ís to live in Edmonton since Esther Rennels (1911-1917). They lived in a few more small towns in Alberta and in 1947 she and her husband separated and she moved back to Edmonton. [OBCC122, 186]
• In about 1952 she pioneered to Vernon, BC.
• She moved to Calgary to help form an Assembly in 1953 and left in 1954 to return to Edmonton. [CBN No 56 September 1954 p5]
• 1975 she was living in New Westminster and her daughter moved her back to Alberta to care for her.
• In her honour the Edmonton Community has established the Mabel Pine Bahá'í School for the spiritual education of children. [Bahá'í CanadaVol 16 No 1 May 2003 p14]

  [With thanks to Allion Stecyk for her tribute to her mother Mabel Harriet Pine: Unsung Heroine of Canada and to Joan Young for her research assistance.]

The passing of Knight of Bahá'u'lláh Una Dean, née Townshend, in Edmonton, Canada. Una lived a full life of Bahá'í service. In 1946 she was the first Bahá'í in Dublin and was later a member of the first spiritual assembly. She also helped to form the first spiritual assembly in Liverpool. In October 1953 she was the first Bahá'i in Malta, a goal of the Ten Year Crusade. In 1954 she returned to Ireland to tend to her ailing father and to assist him in writing Christ and Bahá'u'lláh. After his passing in 1957 she moved to America, met and married her husband, Dick Dean, and moved to Edmonton where she served on the Local Assembly until 1987. [BW02-03p269; Find a grave]
• See Bahá'í Chronicles.