I went to the Kirkland Lake museum a few times over the years and talked to people there about it all. To history buffs and people who like this stuff, its full of legend and intrigue … plus its a mining town and they’re famous for coming up with amazing stories that turn out to be true … and true stories that turn out to be false.
One legend is that the parents who were wealthy aristocrats from England who travelled the world freely and had spent time in India and the far east were friends with the old time mining prospectors who founded Swastika. The legend is that the founders who were staking claims in the area needed a new name for the area they staked. They met the Mitford family and when talking to the wife, she had on a pendant that she had brought from India … there was an image of a swastika on it. The mining prospectors asked her about it and told them and the miners decided to use the name … Swastika.
The Nazi intrigue is that the imagery and idea of the swastika is connected to the same symbolism that early nationalist movements had followed at that time. The family and especially sisters fell into all that imagery and ideas and it’s all either considered coincidental or intentional.
Another semi-official story is that the name Swastika comes from the aerial image of rivers, railways and roadways in the area on a map … they form a crude image of a swastika (you really have to use your imagination … lol …)
I went to the Kirkland Lake museum a few times over the years and talked to people there about it all. To history buffs and people who like this stuff, its full of legend and intrigue … plus its a mining town and they’re famous for coming up with amazing stories that turn out to be true … and true stories that turn out to be false.
One legend is that the parents who were wealthy aristocrats from England who travelled the world freely and had spent time in India and the far east were friends with the old time mining prospectors who founded Swastika. The legend is that the founders who were staking claims in the area needed a new name for the area they staked. They met the Mitford family and when talking to the wife, she had on a pendant that she had brought from India … there was an image of a swastika on it. The mining prospectors asked her about it and told them and the miners decided to use the name … Swastika.
The Nazi intrigue is that the imagery and idea of the swastika is connected to the same symbolism that early nationalist movements had followed at that time. The family and especially sisters fell into all that imagery and ideas and it’s all either considered coincidental or intentional.
Another semi-official story is that the name Swastika comes from the aerial image of rivers, railways and roadways in the area on a map … they form a crude image of a swastika (you really have to use your imagination … lol …)