Day 11: Soil Ingestion Research Project ~ Cold Lake First Nations (English Bay)

Day 11 (Saturday, August 27th, 2011):

Jules helping haul food ~ hmmm he looks like he's.... (lol)

Today is Rodeo Day at Cold Lake First Nations so all of us have the option to attend.  I decided to stay behind and take care of business in the camp.  I was planning to go pick some more sage & sweetgrass but, I found out later,  the day was already planned out for me.  It was a grieving day too but it was a good day with surprise visitors…

Kenny never showed up to visit last night so I called him & he was waiting for Bernadine nisim (Cree for younger sister – father’s brother’s child) & her family to go picking medicines too.  How cool, the whole family was going…what a blessing!

I woke this morning to Pakan making fire and chatting it up with Gerald (our Outfitter).  I laid in bed for a while listening to them until all emerged from their tents.  It’s going to be a hot day, I can feel it already.  I stumbled out of bed & when I exited my tent, Pakan turned & looked at me.  He said, I’m sorry Shannon but I’m leaving & I’ll be back tomorrow to pick up my tent.  I told him I was sad he was leaving & he will be missed.  I gave him a hug & he said sorry again with his eyes.  He was gone :( !

We all finished breakfast & Jules & Graham called a meeting around the camp fire.  They had discussed that, they were unable to use Pakan’s samples etc. due to his choice & will have to destroy all samples & information.  We understood & let them know that Pakan had decided to leave anyways (Pakan knew the terms when he signed the contract, we all did).  Some of us shared how he will be missed & how his actions affected us.  We all agreed he brought so much joy, happiness, & light-heartedness to our camp.  However, we all understood he has challenges like us all & we all wish him well.  I just know he will always be part of our circle.  The energy in the camp has changed & I can feel the loss, but we all just need our own time & our own way of letting go.  It was good for us to share & the Muskrat Warrior started the closing smudge & smudging the camp, while we each took our turn praying in our own way, the way we were taught, & in our own languages…you touched my heart Pakan <3.

Later, the guys (other participants) started getting ready for the rodeo & they were all so anxious to go check it out…as one by one they went & took a shower, they came back to camp looking all spiffy in there nice “town clothes’ (hee hee).  I teased them & told them they all look so handsome in their tight fitting jeans (no more sweat pants for Ryan), they all laughed, even our Elder John was laughing.  I think Ryan is looking for a wife…look out ladies, this former Bareback Rider is on the prowl  ;) (ha ha ha).

After everyone left, I thought I would help out Gerald & clean up the kitchen so we don’t get unwanted pests besides our two gophers.  Our daily local visitors stopped in for coffee, Dennis & Alex.  While they visited, my cousin, Gerose (her nickname) & her man stopped in to bring us moose liver & kidneys from a moose they killed this morning.  Gerose cooked it up & our Elder visitors feasted good.  We had a good visit, Gerose interrogated Jules for all his knowledge (lol)…she was quite interested in what we are doing.  Just before they left, she invited me to go over to help cut up the meat for drying.  I was excited, I wanted to learn how to dry moose meat so I told her I would come over as soon as I’m done cleaning & our visitors are gone.

Well our visitors were determined to stay & have coffee & tea & tell stories, reminisce about days gone by so going & learning to dry meat was off the agenda.  Oh well, I couldn’t leave the Elders, they liked to visit, “like the old days when our Dene people used to gather like this with tents & stuff” right here in this very spot.  Gerald’s old style canvas tent.

My 1 of 3 rooms in my tent (lol)

As we were visiting, I saw a burgundy van approaching, “hey that looks like my sister, Bernadine”…”IT IS MY SISTER”.  What a great surprise, Bernadine, Dennis (brother-inlaw), their two boys, my other sister Colleen’s two girls, & my other nephew.  It was so nice to have family visit…the first thing I did was show my “castle” (lol) & the kids all got on my queen sized air mattress.  We were all laughing because Dennis (who is like 6 feet 3 inches plus) was even comfortable in my tent…then they laughed when they saw my porta potty & tented outhouse…we were living in style, (lol jokes)…for camping that is (hee, hee).

It was a great visit with my family & Alex said it felt like home with all the kids running all over the place (lol).  You wouls think these kids never get out ( hee, hee)…they were so excited & Chloe so wanted to stay!

Our Ritualistic Daily Camp Fire Evenings

It was a restful day with awesome company and we ended the day with our “daily evening ritual” around the camp fire sharing our day while Ryan, John, Angelle, & Duane told us about the rodeo and Duane almost getting into a fight with the local CLFNS bottle picker.  See Duane is very conscious about the environment too & will also collect bottles daily (there are a lot of people who throw their bottles everywhere).  Well, apparently, he was in competition with CLFNS other bottle picker, but luckily for Duane’s “diplomacy” all was well on the “rez” FOR ANOTHER DAY in the neighborhood (wink wink)!  However, from the sounds of it, I heard Duane was the Spiffiest looking Bottle Picker of all the 7 Nations in the area…he is my HERO.  We need more contributors to protecting Mother Earth, there is only pride in being proud of keeping our environment beautiful ~ however it’s done! 

Day 10: Soil Ingestion Research Project ~ Cold Lake First Nations (English Bay)

Day 10 (Friday):

Our Elder, John

This morning was funny, Pakan wakes up (our early bird) & waits patiently for everyone to wake up…then he gets laughing & telling us about his night.  He was in bed & in the middle of the night he reaches under his pillow & he feels something soft.  So he puts his flashlight on & he sees the brightest hot pink XXL silk panty (lol).  We were all laughing & he says, I guess this is what I get for being a teaser, I get my own medicine back.  We laughed & laughed & told him it took him 3 days to discover it.  It was our other Elder participant, John (he is a man in his 60s & very quiet & reserved.  So quiet that when he speaks, you want to listen) who found the panties at the E-bay Community Centre’s free clothes donations.  Pakan was all surprised it was John who thought & did this joke on Pakan…what an excellent way to wake up.

After breakfast Angelle & I went with Brian to go pick raspberries at a prime location north of camp that he found but the only thing it was right next to an oil company's station site.  That’s the thing about here... everywhere is oil activity, it’s so bad that there are times you think you are in an area where man hasn’t touched or affected then…poof…there’s a Well, or a Seismic Cutline.  It’s actually quite sad :( but we keep picking the berries & ingesting them so our researchers can see how much industry is affecting our food supply & traditional way of life…to be blunt ~ infringing on our Treaty #6 Right to hunt, gather, fish, & conduct our cultural ways without prejudice ~ “infringing” by affecting the environment negatively, an environment we need, require, & depend on to exercise our Treaty Rights…without an environment, we can not fulfill our Treaty Inheritance!

Treaty Hunting Rights: http://www.sicc.sk.ca/saskindian/a85sep18.htm

The Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations: http://www.treaty6.ca/default.aspx?page=About%20Us&ID=3

INAC Treaty 6 Resources: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/al/hts/res/btr/tr6-eng.asp

INAC Treaty 6: http://www.ainc-inac.gc.ca/al/hts/tgu/pubs/t6/trty6-eng.asp

So much life...in something so simple but
Yet...so complex...LIFE!

Like I said earlier, we picked to eat later in camp & really had a good time chatting & getting to know each other better as we picked.  The only thing is we sure have been cleaned out of berries from the bears.  We can't blame them, only respect them...they are having a hard time finding food too.  Many of the bears we saw are skinny, or have unhealthy coats, the cubs are small, & we also read in the Cold Lake paper the bears are in town looking for food.  It's sad because a bear was shot in town just because it needed to try & "survive" because humans are affecting it's habitat!  There is not one location we have went where we can see the bears were there first.  Sometimes, we get to a location just after a bear feasted on berries for a while, this is shown by fresh bear scat…luckily for us this day, no bears but I'm glad the bears ate first!

Well, we picked until we got hungry & couldn't stand the direct sunlight any longer.  So we had lunch & headed towards Glendon, AB area to get berry samples & hunt rabbits from a location farther away from industry so Graham & Jules could get comparable samples to test from areas less affected by industry.  The funny thing, as we drove on HWY 55 is we had a hard time finding a location far enough from oil industries influence, there were batteries everywhere, sometimes more than homes.  I just know, I drove & drove for an hour & a half away but they were everywhere.

As we drove & drove, the two of us chatted about how much fun we are having, how glad we are to be apart of this project, how much we have learned, & how each of us in the camp bring a unique character or personality to the group to make it enjoyable, fun, & memorable.  We especially talked about how much we enjoy Pakan’s fun, easy-going, & humorous personality; which, lightens up each of our day!

We finally stopped at a spot I thought wasn’t fenced in or private property (probably was private).  The berries were skimpy so we picked only enough for a sample & soil sample while the mosquitoes tortured us & we did a little hunting.  We sure noticed the difference from the vegetation in this area from Cold Lake First Nations territory, this area was dry & even the moss was dry.  Unlike CLFNS territory, such plush rich looking vegetation. However, I kicked myself in the butt when I missed the huge juicy rabbit we saw, so we headed back to camp in time for supper with nothing to brag about but a missed rabbit :( unlike our Muskrat Warrior a few days ago who brought back two rabbits for soup & “baking powder free” fry bread (used egg whites) I cooked that night.

After supper, the men & our regular visitor, Dennis were hinting for mint with comments like “ohhh gee, it would be so nice to have mint tea right now”…”do you guys want mint tea?”, I sarcastically ask.  Ryan, so eager to answer with a big smile on his face, “yes, please”…so Angelle & I jump in the truck & say, “we’ll be back in 20 minutes, we gotta go to Nature’s Super Market” (lol).  Just when we are almost at that beaver dam (Beavers provide the mint), we see a deer…I stop & Angelle & I look at each other with excitement….then we both realize Brian has the 243 gun & our faces drop, our heads go back & we both let out a “geez Brian, he’s got the gun” ~ we laugh at our same gestures & carry on to gather mint.  Well, at least we will return to camp with mint!

As we drove back, we talked about the missed deer & reminisced about “what ifs…”.

What if…we did shoot the deer?  Well, we would drive up to camp, me driving the truck & Angelle on the back truck box with the deer, proudly, on her shoulders ready to present to the others…it would be classic.  We laughed & laughed at how cool that would be (hee, hee)…we would show the guys we can “live off the land” (lol ;))

We ended our day, with our ritual of mint tea & it was nice to see my mom, who came for a visit.  She was sleeping in the car waiting for me (she is still recovering from her radiation treatments) but she tried her hardest to forget her pain for a few laughs & play a little fun game of 100 points with Pakan & John.  She enjoyed herself until it started to get a little chilly but it was nice to hear her laugh & giggle with the others for a while until I kissed & hugged her good night.  Love you mom!

Another good day of gathering…fall is near & we don’t have much time left…let’s see what tomorrow brings. 

Just feeling a little sad & disappointed because Pakan made a “choice” & returned back to camp under the influence of alcohol & we all knew what that meant…we are going to lose a “valuable” member of our team & peer…many of us are going to bed with a heavy heart tonight.  It hurts so much, not only to lose Pakan but also what his actions represent ~ we are losing another good good person to the cunning & baffling bottle...sometimes such a hurtful reality for our people!  It's so obvious, alcohol & drugs doesn't belong or fit in with our relationship with our Father ~ Creator or our Mother ~ Earth...it strains our relationships & our sacred connections so much & we sometimes lose ourselves completely in the process!  A wise Elder once explained it better:

Before, I retired to my tent, I expressed to Pakan how much we all enjoy him here & how valuable he is to all of us, he smiled & gave me a thanks with his eyes ~ I will miss you & pray for you because you touched my heart...Pakan!

Day 9: Soil Ingestion Research Project ~ Cold Lake First Nations (English Bay)

Day 9 (Thursday):

I caught Angelle of guard, she's usually
smiling (hee, hee) ~ she's watching...
water boil (lol).

Today wasn’t a busy day for picking.  It was on the schedule but everyone was kind of all over the place & had things to do.  Today was laundry day for a few of us, so Angelle (my other female participant), Graham, & I went to town & did our laundry in the morning after breakfast.  I never eat breakfast like this at home, every morning we get eggs, potatoes, bacon/sausage/ham, & sometimes toast made over the camp fire.  I defiantly have to get me one of those six bread camp fire toasters hmmm good.  The only thing that turned me off from toast for a few days was because on the day before on whitefish & sucker fish day, it was all cooked on the camp fire grill & we made toast for breakfast the next day & Angelle & I could taste fish toast ;/ ~ not tooo tastely…however, the breakfasts show hold you over until lunch & usually eat pretty light…a sandwich & fruit.

Anyways, enough about food (hee hee).  As I was saying, it was laundry day & when we got there, we did our usual thing, you do at a laundry mat but the thing about the Rez so close, you see people you know & get to chatting.  It was nice to see Homer Janvier & his wife, I hadn’t seen them in a while since Christmas.  The cool thing about waiting for laundry, I got caught up on transferring pictures to my computer etc, Angelle got caught up on the facebook news flashes, & Graham was being his studious student self & reading a novel…he is a very pleasant and respectful young man.  He is the same age as my son, Germain (25 years old), & I have a tendency to treat him the way I mother Germain…he says I’m “such a mother”, roles his eyes, & laughs. 

We are all so close these days & really have bonded.  So much that Graham is starting to speak back to me & I have to put him in his place every so often (laughing jokingly)... just kidding but we are pretty comfortable in our little camp community by Sardine Lake (lol) ~ Angelle & I joke around saying we are going to use one of our airbeds & float on Sardine Lake & tan (lol ~ it’s more like a big slough hee, hee) because we so miss being by Cold Lake.

After we got back from camp, Muskrat Warrior took Angelle to see his half Wolf & Husky cross German Shepard week old puppies.  Her & I were scheduled to go gathering again, so I waiting in the E-bay Community Centre (for wireless Internet) & I got caught up on my blog postings, chatting with Auntie Melanie, & Tom Piche. 

I am so glad Angelle is here with me, we make a great team
gathering food & medicines ~ it's all about a woman's
touch, the female Elder, Mary said that's why woman are
the gathers & men the hunters...two different temperaments
for each :)

We didn’t end up going out today so I hung around camp & tidied up, helped organize the kitchen with Angelle, &  visited with our few Elder regulars like Dennis from down the road, he says he’s going to miss us & he’s so hooked on the mint tea.  I like his company, he is such a funny man & we likes teasing each other & joking around.  He plays cards with Pakan and/or John now.

It was pretty much an uneventful day except Dr. Jules Blais (opps it wasn’t spelled "Jewels") received the wrong package (ordered calibration parts for air testing machine) but was given someone else’s package (HP toners) instead.  I told them that that’s the thing about small towns (even though Cold Lake is a city but still has a country setting), people can be pretty trusting & slack with IDentification.  It’s good sometimes because you get that personable trusting atmosphere but sometimes errors are made…when Jules returned from his meeting in St. Paul Tribal Chiefs Ventures, they eventually found out the package won’t be in until Monday.  Graham is so hoping it will be in so he can test the air quality in high risk areas.

On our 1st day gathering, Ryan getting
ready to pick his heart out & Graham
looking all studious (hee, hee) in his
cool rubber boots & mosom hat :)

That’s another thing that’s cute, Jules has no sense of direction, I gave him a clear idea of how to get to St. Paul & back but he got lost for a bit…he did eventually get back.  Graham says we all have different strengths!  It is cute though :).  I guess Jules did have an unscheduled tour & maybe got to see more of our beautiful land, he did; however, get to see where I live & our beautiful Kehewin lake.  Now he knows where we get that awesome honey he likes & those tasty blueberries Kenny is supposed to bring tomorrow.

I hope Germain & Darilyn come out to help gather & maybe hunt some large game.  I made sure to get all the bullets for all three guns, the 243, the 22, & the 20 gauge.  I laughed though when I went to Canadian Tire with Angelle & Graham for bullets.  Graham was telling the others, at camp, later that I just gave the girl at Canadian Tire a hard time on Treatys (lol).  He said, “geez, I felt for the lady, she didn’t know what to say & I think she was scared to get you mad”….we had a good laugh, I told him, “you should see if I’m out in a restaurant & they mess up my order (hahaha).  He said,
“oh my god, you’re one for those people” (laughing).

Back to the Canadian Tire lady.  Here’s me, “Can I have some 243 shells, please”, do you have your Firearms Card (FAC)” she says without a smile.  I tell her, “yes I do but I will show you my Treaty Card first then my FAC because you should be asking me for my Treaty Card first then my FAC.  My Treaty Card is what matters first anyways because it’s my Treaty Right to hunt & buy bullets.  I just thought you should know incase you get people who come in here & get on you about Treaty Rights”.  She looks at me not knowing what to say, then points to the FAC Sticker on the gun case & says she is only asked to ask for this card.  I tell her, “I know that but you should really be aware of Treaty because you will get people in here who will show this card because it’s more valid than this FAC anyways”.  She just gives me the bullets & guides me to the front so the cashier can scan my purchase.  I just had to educate the poor girl (hee hee), save her some of the trouble of blind ignorance about us Treaty people surrounding the city of Cold Lake.  Hey, if you haven’t even read Treaty #6, I invite you too…it sure isn’t the Indian Act,  It’s a powerful agreement our Ancestors went through days of ceremony, discussions, & asking for spiritual guidance (which aren't written in the history books) for to ensure we, their future, would survive & live on to live life to the fullest according to our culture & honor who we are, where we come from, & where we are going.  

Aiy-Hey, Maci Cho…the evening was quite quiet besides the usual laughter & our ritual chats around the campfire.  Oh ya, we were still laughing about Pakan’s apple juice sample!

Day 8: Soil Ingestion Research Project ~ Cold Lake First Nations (English Bay)

Day 8:

Our CLFNS Coordinator/Representative, Brian
~ I'm grateful for all he has shared in regards
to traditional knowledge, Aiy-hey, maci cho 

This morning started off early for our Outfitter & Coordinator, Brian.  They went out at 5:00 AM to try & hunt for deer or moose.  I finally crawled, literally (so tired) crawled out of bed this morning.  We go all day & all the fresh air is good because it gives you energy but then when you drop to sleep, you literally drop.  We all have been sleeping really well since we’ve been drinking mint tea each night.  So much that we are sleeping in having breakfast at 8:00 AM instead of 7:00 AM, even our researchers have been sleeping in & they are on Eastern time zones.  I told them all, that I’m not giving them mint tea anymore, going to change to muskeg & tamarack tea (we pick the muskeg & use the bark from the tamarack tree) because everyone is getting to relaxed, they all laughed but said they have been sleeping well but agree we should cut back on the mint tea.

We didn’t go out in the morning, we all hung around the camp while Jewel & our Muskrat Warrior went out to Cold Lake so Jewel could take care of University business.  In the mean time, I went and helped the E-bay Community Centre staff with their Weekly Wednesday Community Soup & Bannock lunch.  I did little stuff but asked them to document all they are putting in the soup because we have to record everything.  I’ve kind of taken it on as my responsibility to help Graham record when he is away from Camp because today he had to take a run to Edmonton to send the first batch of test samples to Ottawa…yes we Ginny Pigs (lol) are so important, the capital of Canada wants our bodily waste (hee, hee) ;)…we always get a kick out of that…but did they get to Ottawa, so we thought but we found out different by mid-day…

When noon arrived, I weighed all our servings & had all of us record our food but BANNOCK was off limits.  We aren’t allowed to eat bannock throughout this project because, apparently, baking powder has aluminum in it & it messes up the test results, so E-bay staff we very generous enough to accommodate us & give us whole wheat buns…..hmmmm our compliments to the chef, the soup & berries with whip cream was the best!

I was so glad to see my mom & auntie Terri, they came for soup & bannock, I hadn’t seen my mom in over two weeks & she just finished her last radiation last Friday.  She was looking well, she is walking better & I can see hair is starting to grow back, not enough to make braids (jokes) …  love teasing her!  However, when we had lunch, I warned Pakan that I was going to have my auntie sit beside him & he better not flirt with her (we had a good laugh)…he is teaser too.

Later mom & auntie came to see our camp & they laughed at my mansion, all mom kept saying was, “oh my” & keep laughing.  She is cute, now she wants to come sleep with me.

One of the four bears we saw over 2 days ~ the bear is
probably wondering what strange creators we are while
he/she is minding their own business...doing what
Muskwak (Cree) or Susas (Dene) do best

When Jewel returned from Cold Lake, five of us: Jewel, Brian, Pakan, John, & myself went up to the Imperial Oil site, right within the area an hour north of Bonnyville & we even drove as far north as to the Bombing Range gates.  Our Coordinator took us to many interesting sites & we also say two bears again.  It’s amazing how many bears there are in this area.  As we drove to a few sites to take samples, we picked raspberries, more muskeg, & tamarack.  I can never get tired of seeing the beauty out here & all the vegetation.  There are places is the bush, so plush, moss all over, & everything is green etc. that you would think you were in the mountains.  

It explains itself ~ "You Are Here" lol

That’s how much amazing beauty there is & all of Imperial Oil has all that land.  There are pipelines all over the place.  At one point, we stopped & there was a sign with map, in the middle of the bush, that told us, “you are here” & the wells are here.  We kind of laughed because, there are signs in the middle of the wilderness that tell us where we are just like you would see those maps in shopping malls.

Pakan picking muskeg

Pakan & John walking back from picking
kinnikinnik ~ see the one of many oil pipelines that
goes on for miles in the background

As we took a brief rest in the wilderness, our awesome Pakan, opened the dust filled back of the truck box & saved our yearning hunger by offering to share his afternoon snack (in a paper lunch bag) with us all; which, he just pulled out of his one rubber boot from the back of the truck.  We laughed when we say the rubber boots & bagged lunch covered in dust (we were on gravel roads).  I said, “well, they want to test how much soil we ingest, I guess this will be a good reading”, we all just laughed especially when I took a bite of a cookie & it tasted like dirt.  While we were eating all of Pakan's food, Jewel found out, Graham was having a hard time shipping our  precious & valuable samples to OTTAWA...we were so proud to send part of us to Ottawa & the darn Alberta Province won't let these Federal Treaty Indians scats out of the their so called jurisdiction ( how did the province get so much control over our "scat"? ~ my sarcastic satire for the day ;)) ...therefore, Graham came back & will try another day...oh well, we felt honored our adopted brother, Graham (University of Ottawa Master's student) escorted our valuable samples on a touring return trip from Edmonton to Cold Lake First Nations & back...I've never been in two places at once, now I can say I have (lol).

Yup, we are goooood Ginny Pigs, after all, we all want Graham to get his Masters Degree because this is his Thesis project for the University of Ottawa & Dr. Blais is his advising Professor.  We told Graham, around the camp fire this evening, in a teasing manner to lighten up his frustrating day in Edmonton, that 

“we got your back Graham, we are here for you”

…he just laughed & said, “just like you have Pakan’s back” (read on & the bunchline for that remark is in the end of this journal, so keep it in mind).

When we got back, our Outfitter & my other female peer had started supper & we chowed down.  We were so hungry.  Pakan had young visitors & got to meet more relatives who are working as Environmental Monitors, it was nice to see because when I was working on Traditional Land Use years ago, my contractors & I wanted to see trained Aboriginal Environmental Monitors.  It was nice to see these young people trained.

After they left, we had a few visitors, one was showing a few of my peers a game & the other shared some medicine teachings with me.  I felt so honored she was willing to share some of her teachings with me.  I am talking about a local Elder who was raised on knowing medicines & she was so willing to share some of her knowledge she learned from her grandmother.  I humbly thanked her as per our cultural protocol & we continued to talk over muskeg & tamarack tea.  Another blessing of the day!

The day ended with another healing blessing & one of the best medicines ~ laughter…I’m not talking about just any kind of laughter but the kind that lights your heart & soul so much you feel utter pleasure & joy…

Here is what happened:

Pakan (is in his 60s but a very active person you can tell worked hard labor all his life & he likes to tease a lot & joke around) comes out of his tent & he looks at Ryan (another Ginny Pig participant) & says all serious & confused, “what job, what are they talking about ~ job”.  Then he says, “who was messing around with my piss (our morning urine sample), I put that bottle up there on the cooler & it’s only half filled, I know I filled it”.  I know, I’m confused at this point & he’s all frantic, so he crawls back in his tent & comes out holding a half filled urine sample.  He then proceeds to say with frustration standing in front of all of us in lounge chairs, “look, I know I filled this thing & it’s half full, who was messing with my piss”?  Just as he was going to say something else, our Outfitter grabs the bottle & yells as though he is pissed off, “well forget it then” he opens the bottle & dumps the urine right in front of Pakan & all of us.  As Pakan is shocked & tries to save his sample & yells, “what the…”, I yell, “what the hell are you doing”.  I am mad & Pakan is in shock, we are all in shock, then a second passes & my female peer runs out of her tent & yells, “did he drink it?”.  All of a sudden I started to laugh so hard; as the others, who don’t know what’s happening, are sitting there in shock.  Then someone says to flabbergasted Pakan, it’s “only apple juice!”

We all laughed so hard, I felt to grateful for that Good Medicine, it sure healed the day & helped all of us release any frustrations or tension we might have felt within the day.

Then Pakan, goes back in his tent & shows all of us the note he found with the SUPPOSED IMPOSTER Urine Sample:

“Don’t worry Silas, we got your back ~ we did your job for you”


The joke was on Pakan…& no matter how many times we brought it up right until we all went to bed, we couldn’t stop laughing until tears were rolling own our faces & our stomach hurt…it was the ultimate classic prank ever… 

Day 7: Soil Ingestion Research Project ~ Cold Lake First Nations (English Bay)

Day 7:

Dr. Blais of the University of Ottawa

The morning was kind of slow, we apparently had a wicked storm with thunder, lightening, & heavy rain over us last night.  Jewel (Dr. Blais) was up during the storm & was sure we were all up too, that’s how loud & hard it was…but most of us slept through it (ha, ha, ha).  He was quite surprised we slept through it but, like I said, I love storms, they put me to sleep & keep me under (ha, ha, ha). 

I so wanted to sleep in this morning & laid in bed for an hour & listened to everyone talking, chatting, & our Outfitter getting breakfast ready.  I got up though when our Coordinator called for me.  Of course, every morning, when I exit my tent, our Muskrat Warrior says, “good morning Princess” lol.  I immediately give him the evil eye & he gets scared of me (laughing jokingly).  No, just joking, every morning I always get greeted with warm “good mornings” & the one cheerful “good morning princess” with a big smile from our awesome Muskrat Warrior (hee, hee).

God's Country (CLFNS 149C): the rich vegetation untouched
~ we call this spot the "Little People Auditorium" ~ the Chief
Elder stands on the rock & talks to his/her fellow little people
(Little People are the the Protectors of the Medicines).

After breakfast, four of us ~ Graham, my female peer, our Coordinator, & I went up to the Cold Lake First Nations reserve 149C.  This is the new reserve CLFNS acquired in their land claims in 2001.  Now, this is God’s country, it is so lush, beautiful, & you can tell in so many places how beautiful the land is.  We came up here to try & find berries & maybe get a rabbit or duck but no luck.  We stopped in four locations along the way but we could tell berries are poor in this area this year but at least I got one more braid of sweetgrass.  That’s the thing about berries, they rotate each year…one year Saskatoons will be good & then blueberries aren’t.  I guess they like to take turns each year to be the centre of attention (hee, hee).  We did however, get a sample of blueberries but none to eat today (with sad face).  I guess another day but I just found out Ken will bring some from Moose Mountain (near Kehewin) on Friday ~ woo hoo!  I gave him some sampling bags too because our researchers need samples of all we eat & even the soil from the area we picked the food, medicines etc..; therefore, Moose Mountain & Kehewin Lake area will be part of this study too.  I guess it helps Dr. Blais’s objective too because he wants different test samples from a wide range of areas for variety & comparable test sampling.

Anyways, back to our trip on the northern CLFNS reserve, the cool thing is we saw two black bears & we had to stop so Graham could get bear scat sample.  All this scat from the bears & us…if anything from this project the theme seems to be: “scat” & bull”shit” from all our joking, teasing, & horsing around (laugh out loud ~ lol)! 

After we returned to camp the others were resting, it has been quite a week & it’s understandable some need to rest.  After all, like Ken said to us, around the camp fire, “we all have been blessed with many gifts this week & we need to sit back & take a rest & soak it all in sometimes”. That is so so true ~ we have been blessed, even blessed to be together, all getting along, & enjoying this experience together.  We all have our roles within our little family & we all have our unique personalities to add to the richness of this whole project experience.  It’s funny, as we have been getting to know each other more each day, we are each getting a nickname or as, we tease each other ~ “getting Indian Names (jokes)”.  For instance, we have our “Muskrat Warrior”, then we have our “Pakan (in Cree this means “nut) because he is a descendent from Chief Pakan like I am.  We also have me as “Princess” lol & the others will soon inherit their strong names (hee, hee)…to be continued as each day unfolds…

An Elder's Bus, fully equipped to live out in the bush
~ home is where the heart is!

As for our visitors, we have a few regulars who stop in daily for tea, chat, stories, & of course, many belly laughs (good medicine)! Tonight we also had a visit from a famous Artist, Alex Janvier J ~ I always love our conversations, they are always so comical, we tease, harass, & bull%^$ each other & he always teases me when I talk or tell stories, that that’s just all Saddle Lake talk (just some good friendly teasing between nations).

It was nice also to get a visit from some other local ladies of the community.  I really enjoyed the evening.  As me & my other female peer shared conversation & laughs with all five Elders (three CLFNS Elders & our to Elders) I felt blessed to be in such great company.  As I sat there listening to them, I tried to engrave a picture in my mind of this moment with these Elders around the camp fire as I took turns serving them mint tea & seeing their happy proud faces just sitting around a fire like I used to see our Elders do in the old days.  I tell you, it was so peaceful & sacred!

Like Ken said tonight before, he kissed & hugged me good night before his hour trip back home ~ we are so blessed with so many gifts this week, we need to take the time to soak it all up!

We sure are blessed & that’s the thing about life, when we slow down enough to enjoy the simple things in life, we see the real joys & blessing we are given each day…