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Melba Whetung Loft declared 1938 (source: Baha’i World in Memorium, vol. XIX, 1985, pp. 697-699 - See full article below)
Sarah Melba Whetung-Loft (Kinaaj-Kwe - Kind Gracious Woman) was born December 24th, 1912 on the Curve Lake Reserve, Ontario. She died in 1985 on the Tyendinega Reserve.
Melba married Alfred James (Jimmy) Loft in Windsor, Ontario.
They had three children: James Gordan (Sam) Loft, Arthur "Snook" Edwin Loft, and Evelyn Loft. Evelyn became a Baha'i.
Melba and Jimmy lived in Detroit, Michigan, Marysville, Michigan and on the Tyendinaga Reserve in Ontario. In 1979 the first Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Tyendinaga was created.
Sarah Melba Whetung was born on the Curve Lake Indian Reserve, near Peterborough, Ontario,
home. In 1938, a daughter, Evelyn, was born to Jim and Melba. It was shortly after this that Melba became restless and searching. She became close friends with her neighbor, Emma Lenk. Returning from church service one day Melba said, "There's got to be something besides this!"Canada, on 24 December 1912. Curve Lake is an Ojibwa Reserve. Melba was the eldest daughter of Arthur Whetung, a trapper, and his wife, Bella. Melba finished grade school at twelve years of age and with her mother’s help and encouragement continued her education in Peterborough. At seventeen years of age she met Alfred James Loft, a Mohawk. They married several years later and lived in Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A. where Jim worked at the Chrysler automobile plant. Their two sons, James Gordon (Sam) and Arthur Edwin were born in Detroit. In 1936, Jim was transferred to the plant in Marysville, Michigan, where he bought a
Shortly after that Melba and Emma learned of the Bahá'í Faith and embraced it.
Melba described herself as having been, in the years before Jim became a believer, “an armchair
Bahá'í.” She read and studied, attended meetings, and sent the children to the Louhelen Bahá'í School at Davison, Michigan. Jim became a Bahá’í in 1948 and was at once moved to write Shoghi Effendi asking for guidance in the service he might perform. The Guardian's reply, written by his secretary on his behalf, said "He would greatly welcome your returning to your own tribe, and giving them this great message you and your dear wife have accepted….”
Winter was setting in but arrangements were made immediately to move to the Tyendinaga Reserve in Ontario where the family endured great physical hardships. Their house had no heat or electricity; animals had been living in it when they moved in; and it had only three rooms. Jim and Melba were unable to find any work, and in 1950, at a time when they did not know where the next meal was coming from, Jim wrote another letter to Shoghi Effendi. The reply said that the Guardian “does not feel it is right for you and your family to impoverish yourselves further in order to remain on the Reservation, on the other hand your being here and living amongst the people is undoubtedly the best way to teach them.”
The Guardian's letter, which included, in his own hand, “assurance of my abiding and deepest
appreciation of your services to our beloved Faith, of my heartfelt admiration for the spirit that animates you, and of my ardent prayers for the success of every effort you exert for its promotion and consolidation,” and which was signed “Your true and grateful brother, Shoghi,” marked yet another turning point in their lives.
Jim was able to set up an auto body shop on the Reserve as a means of livelihood, though they still had no running water or indoor plumbing, and almost all of Melba's good furniture had to be sold to buy equipment for the garage. The Lofts had visits from many Bahá'ís in those early years, many of them on their way to pioneering posts all over the world. The Lofts supported the teaching work in the nearby towns of Kingston and Belleville by offering encouragement.
Jim died suddenly on 22 May 1973. Melba continued to live alone for the next eight years. An
occasion for rejoicing occurred in November 1976 when Indian Bahá'ís from Ontario to the Maritimes gathered at Tyendinaga Reserve for the first Canadian Native Council. Although the Indian Band Council had been generally unsympathetic towards the Faith over the years, not permitting public messages to be held and denying the Bahá'ís access to the village meeting hall, a victory came in February 1977. Just prior to attending the Bahá'í International Conference in Merida, Melba approached the Chief and the Council to ask whether they wished to send a message through her to the Mayan Indians of Mexico and, to her deep joy, the Chief responded by writing a letter. Not only did this message reach the Mayans but it reverberated all
through the Caribbean, for Melba was invited, along with other Canadian Indian participants at the conference, to be interviewed on television, and she responded by reading the Chief’s letter, thus enabling the greeting to span the continents. The patience with which she had for so long endured rejection and suspicion won, in the end. At Naw-Rúz 1977 permission was granted by the authorities for the holding of a public New Year observance on the Tyendinaga Reserve; it was attended by one hundred and fifty guests.
The remaining years of Melba's life were highlighted by her participation in many historic Bahá'í
events, such as “the Gathering”; native councils; a teaching trip in 1978 to Denmark, England, Ireland, Austria and Switzerland, which she viewed as one of the crowning events of her life; the formation in 1979 of the first Spiritual Assembly of the bas of Tyendinaga, the reward of her long years of steadfastness; and the invitation to be a special guest at the 1981 'Vision Quest--Bahá'í', National Native Council,” near Rawdon, Quebec. To that gathering she sent a touching message in which she wrote, "one must pray every day ... for we must remember, all we are, our spiritual knowledge of God born through Bahá’u’lláh ... we must go forward, put on our spiritual armour of Bahá’u’lláh, as he never leaves us alone. I know I never feel alone; I am happy to be living in this Day to see how our Faith has grown over the years and to have the
prayers and guidance, and I know I have been fully blessed and I am thankful.”
Melba and Jim Loft are buried side by side on the Tyendinaga Reserve. The beautiful marker over their grave contains the symbol of the nine-pointed star and the native symbol of the Thunderbird, and reads:
“Alfred Jim Loft and Melba Whetung Loft, The Guardian's Obedient Servants.”
Melba Loft Bahá’í World, vol. XIX (1983-86), pp. 697-699
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Source: Thesis of Vanessa A. Watts - granddaughter of Melba
My great-grandmother, Melba Whetung-Loft or Kinajiqwa (Kind, Gracious
Woman) passed on when I was five years old. I have one memory of her, sitting at the
picnic table with all of our family wearing her brown and white knitted sweater.
Sometimes I am saddened to not have had more time with her, but the stories of her are
still so alive in my family that I feel I have come to know her and myself very well. The
relationships she established with her family and the community continue to affect us and
thereby the larger community as well. My father wrote of her influence in his own life
and shared:
“She was a professor of life with a belief in possibilities and
potentialities. Many people came to Granny Mel for comfort and help.
Her beautiful brown calloused hands would hold yours. She would
look into your eyes and the worries of the world would melt away like
snow in the spring. She seemed to have a kind word for everyone, and
would say “what goes around comes around...look at what is good in
people because that is from the Creator”. 72
Her beliefs and wisdom continue to help all of our family during hard times, and remind
us to celebrate life. She was and continues to be ogimaakan.
72
Watts, Bob. A Tribute to Melba Sarah Whetung, Kinajiqwa. Written by my father for
his grandmother.
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YouTube video of Linda Loft Pappenberger granddaughter of Melba and Jimmy
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