An Elevated Attentiveness to the Land:
Native culture highly values eagle feathers, especially the tail variety. Gathering an Eagle's feather would be almost equivalent, in indigenous realms, as other heritages may view having earned a degree. To that end, Native hunters would lie in wait, in Eagle pits, covering themselves with a rack which held some sort of meat enticement to lure the Eagles. When the bird swooped down to grab the waiting nourishment, the hunter would stealthily attempt to procure a trail feather, without causing harm in the process. The settler memoire by J.G. MacGregor, The Battle River Valley, the author explains in more detail.
Interestingly enough, the peculiar Hagen land base has coddled Dinosaur remains just a few feet away from indigenous tee pee circles, and tools, like the hammers and mallets shown below. Whether the land itself is remarkably bountiful in the area, or the level of attentiveness to it, stirred on by a heritage of care and attentiveness to it, I would dare say the latter maybe more probably.
The photo to the right shows Palmer and Berit Hagen, at an Indigenous Lodge site, now under Forrest's care. |
Forrest Hagen is a man at home on the land. He was raised to see the possibilities beneath his feet, by visionary parents, Berit & Palmer Hagen. Farmers in the county since the early 1900's, the Hagens never shied away from purchasing land that didn't quite fit the agricultural box. At best, three of the tracks of land purchased, could be used for ranging cattle. Even that avenue was not without its adventures, with strange shale buttes popping up, no rhyme or reason apparent, perhaps since the ice age! The buttes contained on the Hagen land may defy any "soft rolling prairie landscape" definitions, but they are rich with the history of the area, in multitudinous ways!
Dinosaur remains have been plenteous on the land now cared for by the Hagen family. The photo above shows a Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth, gleaned from the land now passed down from Palmer and Berit, to Forrest, whose only brother now resides in Tasmania.
Both photos of Palmer and Berit Hagen, courtesy of Forrest Hagen.
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A strong lineage of caretakers of the land exists on the Hagen heritage. Grandparents, Theodore and Carolina Hagen purchased the original homestead from Ovid Bluen in 1911. Bluen had originally bought the quarter for a nephew, whose agricultural aspirations were not to blossom. Perhaps it was this release of the quarter that was part of Bluens' preparation for his return to Quebec in the early parts of the new century.
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The photo above shows a painting that now hangs in Forrest's living room. Once belonging to his mother Berit, it shows the view from the window of the homestead originally built by Ovide Bluin. Bluin, being one of the area's earliest settlers, is on record as having arrived in the fall of 1893. At the time, he was joining his friend and partner, Camille David, who was the entrepreneur responsible for the Bailey Theatre, still in operation in down town Camrose.
The trees below are the present day remains of what once may have inspired Berit's painting. |
Keeper of the Land:
"Dare he, for whom circumstances make it possible to realize his true destiny, refuse it because he is not prepared to give up everything else?" Dag Hammarskjold
"La Prairieaire" is an idea that is presently taking shape. Camrose County may well soon add an interpretive exploration of historic treasures of the land, to its repertoire of adventure possibilities. You really must click on the "Creative Connection" box above, to hear Forrest open up about the birthing of this new endeavor.
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The photo gallery below holds images captured in and around Forrest Hagen's home, once the Norbo School house.
For more information on the school house structure Forrest calls home, click the box to the right: |