Black history in Saskatchewan: Mayes family's story teaches fortitude

This story was first published onFeb 28, 2017.

The water dripped constantly. That's part of what Murray Mayes remembers of his time living in a leaky sod house in the province's first black settlement of Eldon.

"It would drip, drip, and mom would take a wash pan and put it under that drip," he recalled in a recent interview, sitting inhis daughter's kitchen.

Years later, he would shiver every time it rained even when he lived in a shingled house.

Today, helives in a sod-free home in the town ofElrose, Sask. where life is quiet and he grows strawberries.

Hisgrandparents, Joe andMattieMayes, led a group of black families from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who were seeking a better life in the north in 1910.

A whole bunch of them got together and they moved up. [They] came by train.- Murray Mayes

"I'm thinking that when they got here, there were berries and everything was so nice. But the first winter would be really something because they're not used to that cold weather," he joked.

The Mayes family'sstory is steeped in slavery, racial segregation, and the fierce desire for emancipation by accessing cheap land in Canada. The familybought a quarter-section of land, about 49 hectares, for $10.

"There were about a thousand of them that arrived here, and they arrived in theBattlefords,Lloydminsterdistrict,Maidstone,Eldon," explained historian BillWaiser.

Not all the newcomers stayed. Some went back to the United States, while others went to Alberta.

A typical pioneer life, in some ways

"Their story is not that peculiar or different from other settlers that might have not made it as farmers," saidWaiser.

As such, life was hard, remembered MurrayMayes. Food was scarce as poverty prevailed.

"A lot of poor people, not just the blacks white people were poor," he said.

However,Waisernoted that the black pioneers faced discrimination in Canada.

He says the Canadian government discouraged black immigration "under pressure from the Canadian public".

For instance, the federal government sent emissaries toAmerican black communities to dissuade their migration to Saskatchewan.

"Canadians believed blacks were America's problem," saidWaiser.

In fact,WilfridLaurier's government introduced an order in council in 1911, which stated that province was not suitable for black people. It lasted for a few weeks.

"People need to learn that these people made a contribution," addedWaiser.

Persistence and fortitude

The black pioneers persisted despite hardships.

In theEldondistrict, they builtthe BaptistShilohChurch, which has become a provincial historical site, a graveyard, and a school.

MatriarchMattieMayeswas well-known and renowned as a midwife in theEldondistrict.

MurrayMayes, who owned a body shop for 30 years in NorthBattleford, taught mechanics to about forty people.

Long suffering and challenges and all those things is what will bring you to the top.- Murray Mayes

He says hisdaughter Charlotte Williams is the first black president of the Saskatchewan Veterinary Association.

DaughterLesaMayes-Stringeris a professionalbobsledder who now lives in France.

His son Rueben, perhaps the most well-known of the lineage, was an accomplished football player. In 1986, he was named the National Football League's rookie of the year for the New Orleans Saints. He now resides in Washington and raises millions of dollars for hospitals, according to his father.

"We're all over the world," said MurrayMayeswith a smile.

A quest to exhume history

Murray's youngest daughter, nurse CrystalMayes, said the history of black pioneers is largely unknown.

"We don't hear about the black movement about 100-plus years ago into Saskatchewan. So people don't really know anything about it," she said.

She wants the history of black cowboys to find its way into school books since it is "a part of Saskatchewan history".

Crystalgives presentations in public libraries about black cowboys in the province every year during Black History Month.

"I am very proud of that my great-grandparents were one of the first black settlers in Saskatchewan," CrystalMayessaid.