- 1961-00-01 — 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
- 1985-04-28 —
The passing of Samson Knowlton in his eighty-third year. Samson and his wife Rosie, who died in 1981, were among the first six members of the Piikani First Nation (Peigan Reserve), one of the three branches of the Blackfoot tribe, to proclaim their faith in Baha'u'llah. Their acceptance of the Faith in 1958 resulted from a visit to southern Alberta of the Hand of the Cause John Robarts. The Knowltons quickly became effective Bahá'í teachers, assisting in the formation in April 1961 of the first Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the Peigan Reserve.
- Samson was also a member of the Band Council, and was instrumental in the passing of a resolution to permit Bahá'ís to visit and teach the Faith on the Peigan Reserve. He made many teaching trips throughout North America, fostering a spirit of harmony between native and non—native communities.
- In 1960, Samson accompanied Canada's first native Senator, James Gladstone, a Blood Indian, to Ottawa to present to the federal Government a proposal urging it to extend to native people the right to vote in federal elections. (Note: On 31 March 1960, portions of Section 14(2) of the Canada Elections Act were repealed in order to grant the federal vote to status Indians. First Nations people could now vote without losing their Indian status.) He was also instrumental in having eliminated the 'permit system' which prevented First Nations people from leaving the reserve. [BW19p668-669] iiiii
- Rosie's Guest Book from 1960 to 1965 included the following names: Hasan Balyuzi, Agnes Harrison, Doug Crawford, Angus Cowan, Reg Wilson, Dorothy Francis, Harvey Iron Eagle, Henry Keg, Douglas Martin, Peggy Ross & many more. Other visitors were Ruhiyyih Khanum (21 May 1961) and Hooper Dunbar 24 July 1962). [The Distance Traversed a presentation by Bev Knowlton and Joan Young 2022]
|
Site Map
