Matriarch Arta Lenore Weeks-Mundt

Photo: Courtesy of Melinda Mundt-McNair

“Keep close, study, search and pray. Your mission will be known the only way.” These stern and meaningful words are engraved on a rose colored granite headstone belonging to Arta Lenore Weeks-Mundt. The words were transcribed from a piece of paper, written in her own hand, which was found among her personal belongings. She has been described as a beautiful, classy, elegant lady who never asked for much and didn’t want any fuss at her funeral.

On an over cast Sunday afternoon Atra’s daughter, Melinda Mundt-McNair, planted lavender around her mother’s grave. She said,” It will be nice when it blooms next year.”

Lopez Islands’ Center Church cemetery sits on a hilltop overlooking a peaceful grassy valley dotted with cows. Peaceful . . . until an orchestra of squawking waterfowl interrupted the stillness. It is the perfect setting for an eternal resting place.

“In the end, I had to persuade my mom to be buried on Lopez,” Melinda explained. “My siblings and I gave her a simple and private service to reflect the elegance of our mom. At first, she didn’t want to be buried on the island. I told her it would make more sense than anywhere else because that is where home would always be to the family and we would always be coming back to Lopez. This way we can visit you too.” Arta eventually agreed.

Hiram Hutchinson opened a trading post at Fisherman's Bay.

Photo: Courtesy of Melinda Mundt-McNair

Melinda’s descendants have deep roots in Lopez Island’s early settler’s history – three generations, to be exact. Hiram Hutchinson, Melinda’s great-great-great granduncle, was the first white man to settle on the tiny island in the early 1849. He came from Vermont and settled at the outlet of Fisherman’s Bay. He started a trading post, which became the center of the community. He never married, but convinced his sister Irene Hutchinson-Weeks to join him.

Hezekiah Davis, Melinda’s great-great-great grandfather, arrived in Dungeness seeking a new life in the Northwest via Ontario. In 1868, he returned to Ontario to persuade his son James Davis and his wife Amelia to join him. They settled in Dungeness for short while, but the call of the land drove James and Ameila onward. They set their sights on Lopez Island. They landed in 1869 with their three children in tow to become the island’s first non-native family. They traveled across the Straits of Juan de Fuca in a large canoe, bringing with them only one cow, a pig, a few chickens and some wood planks to build a shelter.
They had a total of 40 cents to their name.

It was hard going for early settlers. They did not rely on money; they traded goods instead. The Davis Family struggled to cultivate their 600 acres of land, which was thick swamp and forest. They descended from a long line of British loyalists and considered themselves English by tradition. When the 1873 political settlement was reached between Britain and the United States, the islands were declared U.S territory. The Davis Family were forced to become U.S. citizens. They had to re-file for homestead rights, losing 380 acres to the U.S. government. They made due with what was left, and their ranch still flourished. As Melinda said, “The time and the labor was one thing, but it was the love of the land that kept them going.”

Irene Hutchinson-Weeks joined her brother Hiram on Lopez Island to help him run the store.

Photo: Courtesy of Melinda Mundt-McNair

Two generations later and a working dairy farm going strong, Melinda’s grandparents continued the long-standing tradition of farming. She spoke fondly of her grandparent’s devotion to the life they created for themselves. She said it took a lot of creativity to survive: “It was a hard life but a simpler and better quality of life.”
It was a different time. A time when water was collected from rain barrels for weekly baths and crank phones were the norm. A time when the family gathered together in the evenings to read books, sew and play games.

As a child, Melinda spent every weekend, summer breaks and holidays on her grandparents’ farm. The homestead still exists today on Davis Bay, in the southwest corner of the island. There is a plaque erected there to honor the Davis Family Homestead and its contribution to the history of the island.

Melinda has vivid memories of growing up on a natural playground. She said that when she, her brother and two sisters were kids, they made forts in hay barn. “The bails would be stacked high to the ceiling,” she said. “We created sunken living rooms and multi-leveled rooms in which to play in. We even had a rope swing that swooped down over the bull pen below.” She added, “I still don’t know why we kept the bull separated from the rest of the herd.”

The traditions that have been passed down are something Melinda cherishes deeply. She would often help her Grandma Weeks bake. “She made the best pastry.”

On a recent trip to Ireland, Melinda tried the recipes she had acquired from her grandmother. “I made blackberry and tapioca pie while I was over there.” She laughs. “I got really good at it and I ate pie just about everyday.” She spoke of her grandmother’s homemade butter and how it was revered for its taste.

“It was considered the best on the island. She used to sell it and even got a few cents more because of its exceptional quality.” The family still has the churn her grandmother used. It stands as a reminder of something special and unique in the family’s history.

Running a dairy farm means an early rise for any farmer no matter where you live. Chores have to be done, animals cared for. In addition to his daily tasks, Melinda’s grandfather would often go clamming and oyster picking, bringing home the freshest food right from the source for his family. This was island life. It is what Melinda knows and what has always been a part of her family – the connection to the land, the water and a way of life. She worries that society is losing its sense of community such as caring about your neighbor and trust in people. She desires that feeling of being part of something.

A weekend on Lopez causes “slow-pez-itis,” as the locals call it. It is their way of suggesting that one needs to shift gears, slow down and coast. There is no need to hurry. You will eventually get there. Driving around the flat little island, people appear friendlier. They wave or smile with a nod to acknowledge you whether they know you or not.

Time suspends as in a dream. It makes way for you to breathe. Melinda unwinds here. From the back porch of the family’s home on Fisherman’s Bay, she can sit in quiet contemplation as the afternoon slips into sunset, and the sun sinks down into the horizon for another day. It is one of her favorite things to do because she doesn’t have to “do” anything.

Melinda is grateful that she was brought up with such strong traditions. Her ancestors were educated-cultured island pioneers with real rural living know-how. They owned little and paved their own way in building a life. Basic survival involved hardship but also skill. In addition to farming, they also knew how to knit, bake, hunt, barter and trade. It all required great craftsmanship but Melinda believes there was an enormous amount of creativity involved too.

Melinda inherited a collection of quilts created by her ancestors. “They are all works of art,” she explains. She has an unfinished tablecloth her grandmother had started. It is made of natural flax linen. It’s wheaten in color with tan trim accented with gold thread and embroidered stalks of wheat around the trim. “I hope to someday finish what she started.”

The Davis family: James, Amelia and their three children.

Photo: Courtesy of Melinda Mundt-McNair

Before Melinda’s ancestors arrived on Lopez, some came from Ireland, first settling in Canada and then on the North East coast of the United States. Melinda is attracted to Ireland because of its similarities to Lopez. She visits Ireland several times a year and is especially fond of Kerry, a rural county in the southwest corridor of the country. It is exceptionally stunning with its rolling green landscapes. In many ways it reminds her of Lopez. Melinda and her daughter Tessina visited Kerry together one year. Even her daughter commented on how Ireland reminded her of Lopez Island with its small winding country roads and the friendly deamour of the people. She said, "It's like another Lopez mom."

Melinda, now 50 years old, speaks fondly of her childhood. Her voice accelerates a pitch and quickens with joy. She believes she is lucky to have been brought up with the strong traditions of her family. “Many people buy rather than make what they need and are in a hurry all the time. Communities aren’t what they used to be.” Melinda said that people barely know their neighbors anymore and that they are missing out on a quality of living that she hopes to have back in her life again someday.

After all three lavender plants were snug in the ground around her mother’s grave, Melinda stood back satisfied with what she had done. It was a simple gesture but one she knew her mother would have liked. She prayed silently for a few moments, and then walked away up the hill, leaving her mother and ancestors in peace until her next visit back to the tiny quiet island she still refers to as home away from home.