August 23rd, 2008: 4:08am
It’s my last night in Webequie! Or rather, by now it’s my last morning. I spent the night cleaning the gym, our house, and then finishing our Memory Book from back in Kingfisher (it’s essentially a camp scrapbook that we need to hand in). It’s crazy to think that in just a few hours I’ll be leaving this dusty island, likely for good.
As I’m typing, there’s a dog barking outside – it sounds close enough to be in the living room. It’s probably going after a bear, since they tend to hang around our house.
I should back up – this week has been too exciting to just glaze over! The highlights of this week included starting Lauren’s 10 Step Program to Trust (she is too scared to play Catch Me, so we started a “trust other people program”), going to a sweat lodge, going for a boat ride around south Winisk Lake, running a community treasure hunt, cookie baking, and our camp party!
The sweat lodge, which we attended on Monday, was one of the things we’d really been looking forward to and trying to work into our schedule. It’s like a sauna inside a canvas hut, but has a lot of spiritual ties as well. The hut is shaped like a womb, turtle, or signifies the sun, depending on who you ask and when. It’s covered in canvas, and after a short ceremony acknowledging the four directions by tossing tobacco into a fire, we all entered in – men on one side, women on the other. There were about 7 of us in the lodge, 5 men in their underwear and then Lauren and I, fully dressed and ready to sweat. There were three sections where rocks were put in, there were prayers and people had a chance to speak, and then the hut was reopened for a short air break. They went easy on us and didn’t make it too hot, and Lauren and I were close to the door, which isn’t as hot. The experience was really refreshing, especially thanks to Bob, who ran the sweat and was very welcoming to us!
On Wednesday night, Kenny, our community counsellor, took us out on the lake in his boat. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find his hooks, so we didn’t fish, but we got to go to a few islands to see where his family campground was, and another where people sometimes go to fast. On the trip we also saw 3 eagles, and a flock of about 9 loons! On our return, Kenny was about to drop us off at the dock by our house, but there was a bear there. It didn’t look very threatening (it’s hard to look threatening while going to the bathroom), but we ended up getting of at Kenny’s dock further down instead – after following the bear around, trying to see it through the trees for a while!
Camp itself ran pretty smoothly this week, except for the few usual fights and tears, but nothing severe! Many of the campers dwindled away during the week, as a lot of families are going to Casamonica (sp?), a nearby reserve that’s having a festival this week! The best part was probably the treasure hunt we ran – we stayed up until 3am planning it and putting together clues, and then ran the 1-2h community treasure hunt the next day. The morning group didn’t have time to finish, so we brought them to treasure early, and the afternoon group all finished, but the treasure was stolen! Thankfully, it was returned, and the treasure hunt itself went well, but it still caused quite a kerfuffle. The treasure hunt took us across Webequie and back, and had 9 different stations where campers had to do tasks like doing crosswords and wordsearches, making pyramids, and deciphering poems and word jumbles! All the campers said they loved it – I guess it was worth the late night after all!
Today was our camp party, and we were finally able to get some community guests to come in! In the morning, two elder women came in and did beading with the kids, and in the afternoon we had a drumming group play for us! We arranged it through our good friend Howard, and they turned out to be really good! One of our campers came in and was drumming along with them, and he certainly held his own in the group. Our numbers for the final day weren’t crazy high, but those who were there had a great time!
Now, being as it’s 4:30am, I’m heading to bed and catching a plane in 7 hours back to Thunder Bay for debrief! I’m excited to hear from the other teams, but sad to leave this community and experience behind.
And yes, to all those who told me to before I came here – I did buy myself moccasins. I guess my trip can be considered complete.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
HalloWeek
I think this is the time where I’m supposed to say, “I can’t believe that there’s only a week left!” but for whatever reason, I really can believe it. I’m not looking forward to leaving, but I am completely aware of the fact that we have spent three week here already. It’s been great in Webequie, and with Frontier College in general, and we still have a week left!
This past week was quite interesting – I fought my way through the start, surviving the first couple days at camp, although not functioning at the top of my game thanks to what turned out to be strep throat. I went to the clinic and had a couple days of Tylenol, and was able to avoid antibiotics. By mid-week I was feeling a bit better, and now (Saturday) I feel almost completely better.
The week itself was pretty routine camp – our numbers were low to start with, but then blew up by the end of our week, especially as some kids started coming to both morning and afternoon camp! Thursday night was intense. Lauren, Orion and I spent from 5pm, when camp ended, until 5am creating a Haunted House. Kenny helped us for a bit after camp, but then disappeared to catch up on sleep – he got in early that morning from a hockey tournament in T-Bay. We took a break to eat dinner and watch Skins (which is really getting me in the mood for England!), but overall it turned out to be a 17 hour workday! Friday was spent outside most of the day, first creating a story about how demons got Lauren, the sending the kids through the haunted house. It was too scary for the younger/morning campers, so we turned on all the lights then guided them through, after failing to coax them in. The older/afternoon campers almost stampeded over me to get in, and in the end tore the place up a bit and ran around it like crazed people, but both groups had a really good time and a lot of fun!
We returned Friday night after an hour or two of cleaning planning to nap, eat supper, then go back to clean. I woke up 9am on Saturday and realized that plan didn’t work – we all slept about 14 hours, too tired to wake up at all! Saturday we had an easy start to the day and went back to clean – luckily we had done more than we’d realized the previous night, and Kenny had gotten there early and cleaned the mess of a kitchen for us.
This week we were supposed to have a drumming group in, and a woman to do beading, but both cancelled/didn’t show, so that was a bit of a let down. With any luck, we’ll reschedule them for this week, but we’ll have to play that by ear, since we might also be having a visit from the ex-Lieutenant-Governor and some of the program’s funders!
For those who have been asking, my timeline for the next month or so is as follows:
Currently In Webequie for my final week of Literacy Camp
August 23 Return to Thunder Bay for Debrief
August 25 Return to Chatham
August 29 Move in with Jessica in Toronto
September 2 Hamilton for a short while
September 3/4 Back to Toronto
September 22 Return to Chatham (again)
September 27 Fly to England!
Hopefully these times overlap with when people are in their respective towns/cities!!
That’s all for now!
-V
This past week was quite interesting – I fought my way through the start, surviving the first couple days at camp, although not functioning at the top of my game thanks to what turned out to be strep throat. I went to the clinic and had a couple days of Tylenol, and was able to avoid antibiotics. By mid-week I was feeling a bit better, and now (Saturday) I feel almost completely better.
The week itself was pretty routine camp – our numbers were low to start with, but then blew up by the end of our week, especially as some kids started coming to both morning and afternoon camp! Thursday night was intense. Lauren, Orion and I spent from 5pm, when camp ended, until 5am creating a Haunted House. Kenny helped us for a bit after camp, but then disappeared to catch up on sleep – he got in early that morning from a hockey tournament in T-Bay. We took a break to eat dinner and watch Skins (which is really getting me in the mood for England!), but overall it turned out to be a 17 hour workday! Friday was spent outside most of the day, first creating a story about how demons got Lauren, the sending the kids through the haunted house. It was too scary for the younger/morning campers, so we turned on all the lights then guided them through, after failing to coax them in. The older/afternoon campers almost stampeded over me to get in, and in the end tore the place up a bit and ran around it like crazed people, but both groups had a really good time and a lot of fun!
We returned Friday night after an hour or two of cleaning planning to nap, eat supper, then go back to clean. I woke up 9am on Saturday and realized that plan didn’t work – we all slept about 14 hours, too tired to wake up at all! Saturday we had an easy start to the day and went back to clean – luckily we had done more than we’d realized the previous night, and Kenny had gotten there early and cleaned the mess of a kitchen for us.
This week we were supposed to have a drumming group in, and a woman to do beading, but both cancelled/didn’t show, so that was a bit of a let down. With any luck, we’ll reschedule them for this week, but we’ll have to play that by ear, since we might also be having a visit from the ex-Lieutenant-Governor and some of the program’s funders!
For those who have been asking, my timeline for the next month or so is as follows:
Currently In Webequie for my final week of Literacy Camp
August 23 Return to Thunder Bay for Debrief
August 25 Return to Chatham
August 29 Move in with Jessica in Toronto
September 2 Hamilton for a short while
September 3/4 Back to Toronto
September 22 Return to Chatham (again)
September 27 Fly to England!
Hopefully these times overlap with when people are in their respective towns/cities!!
That’s all for now!
-V
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Week 2: Camp Starts
This past week was our first week of camp in Webequie. Lauren was sick, so Orion, Kenny and I were the only ones running camp. Since Kenny sometimes had to leave to take care of things with his hockey team (they are at a tournament this weekend – good luck to them!), Orion and I were left running camp for 20-30 campers. It was a hectic week, but was a lot of fun – especially Friday, when we did cookie baking and decorating with the kids! One camper (she goes by “Girl” – her choice, I swear!) put icing all over her face, and others mounded icing on their cookies until their was more colourful icing than cookie! By the end of the week I was exhausted, so as Lauren recovered, I got sick. The past 2 days I’ve spent mostly in bed sleeping and popping aspirin. Fingers crossed that I’m better for camp tomorrow!
After camp has still been a lot of fun, although not as intense as our first week. One of the local guys, Howard, has been hanging out with us most nights. It’s really cool, because he’s been able to give us a better sense of the community and also has shown us some drumming, sang a few songs, and showed us his regalia (the dancing outfit he wears at pow-wows). He was also kind enough to take us out boating to find our digital camera, which we lost on that treacherous boating trip I mentioned in my last blog. Thankfully, we found it right away, and although it was underwater, it dried out after a few days, and is now working again!
I’ve been going outside the Northern Store to use the internet there, since ours is still down. One night last week I was invited inside by three men who were staying at the connected hotel (no, not in a sketchy way – the door is usually locked and they were having dinner so invited me to join them). Lauren ended up joining me, and we talked to them a lot about the business they were doing in Webequie. They also had wine, which is apparently allowed if you’re staying in the cabins as a guest, so we got to have a glass, which was greatly appreciated after weeks in dry communities. The trio was in town for a signing ceremony; a mine is being set up nearby that the people of Webequie will own 20% of, and will be able to be employed at. After 5 years they will have the right to buy out the company and completely possess the mine. This seems to be a positive step, and is one of the first deals of it’s kind to take place. There is currently a lot of conflict involving Aboriginal people and mining being done on their traditional lands, so could turn out to be a good thing. I guess we’ll see how it goes.
That’s all for now – I’ll be back with more when this week’s Halloweek at camp is all through!
-V
After camp has still been a lot of fun, although not as intense as our first week. One of the local guys, Howard, has been hanging out with us most nights. It’s really cool, because he’s been able to give us a better sense of the community and also has shown us some drumming, sang a few songs, and showed us his regalia (the dancing outfit he wears at pow-wows). He was also kind enough to take us out boating to find our digital camera, which we lost on that treacherous boating trip I mentioned in my last blog. Thankfully, we found it right away, and although it was underwater, it dried out after a few days, and is now working again!
I’ve been going outside the Northern Store to use the internet there, since ours is still down. One night last week I was invited inside by three men who were staying at the connected hotel (no, not in a sketchy way – the door is usually locked and they were having dinner so invited me to join them). Lauren ended up joining me, and we talked to them a lot about the business they were doing in Webequie. They also had wine, which is apparently allowed if you’re staying in the cabins as a guest, so we got to have a glass, which was greatly appreciated after weeks in dry communities. The trio was in town for a signing ceremony; a mine is being set up nearby that the people of Webequie will own 20% of, and will be able to be employed at. After 5 years they will have the right to buy out the company and completely possess the mine. This seems to be a positive step, and is one of the first deals of it’s kind to take place. There is currently a lot of conflict involving Aboriginal people and mining being done on their traditional lands, so could turn out to be a good thing. I guess we’ll see how it goes.
That’s all for now – I’ll be back with more when this week’s Halloweek at camp is all through!
-V
Sunday, August 3, 2008
What a WebeWeek!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=webequie+ontario&ie=UTF8&ll=52.976426,-87.356286&spn=0.006809,0.018132&z=16&iwloc=addr
I arrived in Webequie (pronounced WEH-beh-quay) on July 28th via Wasaya airlines, where my 2 teammates and I were the only ones on the small 12-seater plane. We waited at the airport about half an hour, getting ourselves accustomed to the black flies that are worse here than they are in Kingfisher, and then were picked up by our fourth teammate, a local counsellor who was in training with us. It was great seeing him again, and it’s nice working with someone who knows the community more intimately.
Our first week has been filled with a lot of getting-to-know the community activities, and not much camp planning and prep. We had about 9 hours of registration in the Northern Store lobby (Northern is basically the Superstore of the North), and have about 25 kids registered from that. We’ve fallen in love with the “lower” prices here, which are still about twice what it would be in southern Ontario, but it’s a little bit less than KFL, which is nice. Being in Webequie is very different from Kingfisher, since it’s about twice the size (around 1000 people). It’s more spread out, has a much larger Band Hall, and there are a lot more people here that are highschool aged, since the school goes K-12.
Last week there was a holiday that I’d never heard of before – Treaty Day! It’s a bit of a joke, but still gave rise to a big community afternoon. This is the day where everyone on the reserve receives money from the government – a full $4 each! I could comment on this further, but I feel like it speaks for itself.
On Treaty Day I helped at a fish fry (yay for lots of free food!) and had my first bannock burger, which is basically a heart attack that you can hold. Fry bread with a burger and cheese – I’m surprised McDonald’s hasn’t tried it out yet. We also took part in a number of contests, from Pilot eating (hard crackers that are about 2” by 2”) to backward shoe kicking and hot potato to canoe races! I ended up making $25, which was then spent on Bingo cards for that night’s Bingo game! Along with a number of community members being there, a YMCA canoeing camp group was also at the events. They had finished 25 days of canoeing, but their travels were being cut short due to time constraints, so they spent part of the day with us instead, and were flown out this weekend.
On Thursday we went square dancing, where my teammates and I earned more money, and had an insanely fun time! It was interesting dancing with no caller to say what moves you were doing; I’m still not positive how people knew what was next. We also took that opportunity to ask the best dancers there to come in and do some jigging with the campers, so fun times are ahead! Friday we went out, the 4 counselors together, to do some fishing. Or rather, we meant to go fishing, but about 45 minutes into the trip the motor hit a rock, breaking the propeller. The next 5 hours or so were spent attempting to fix it, giving up, and paddling back using the rescue oars and a makeshift sail from a tarp and 2 logs. It was rather hilarious, and fun, despite arriving back fishless at 1am. Saturday (last night) was a volleyball tournament, and despite the fact that the team I was in came in dead last, I discovered that I’m not at incompetent as I thought! Always a nice discovery. :)
Sometime soon we’ll have to actually start planning camp – luckily we have an extra day, since Monday is Civic Holiday!
Well, that’s all for the moment! I’ll be back with more when there’s a bit of camp behind me.
-V
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=webequie+ontario&ie=UTF8&ll=52.976426,-87.356286&spn=0.006809,0.018132&z=16&iwloc=addr
I arrived in Webequie (pronounced WEH-beh-quay) on July 28th via Wasaya airlines, where my 2 teammates and I were the only ones on the small 12-seater plane. We waited at the airport about half an hour, getting ourselves accustomed to the black flies that are worse here than they are in Kingfisher, and then were picked up by our fourth teammate, a local counsellor who was in training with us. It was great seeing him again, and it’s nice working with someone who knows the community more intimately.
Our first week has been filled with a lot of getting-to-know the community activities, and not much camp planning and prep. We had about 9 hours of registration in the Northern Store lobby (Northern is basically the Superstore of the North), and have about 25 kids registered from that. We’ve fallen in love with the “lower” prices here, which are still about twice what it would be in southern Ontario, but it’s a little bit less than KFL, which is nice. Being in Webequie is very different from Kingfisher, since it’s about twice the size (around 1000 people). It’s more spread out, has a much larger Band Hall, and there are a lot more people here that are highschool aged, since the school goes K-12.
Last week there was a holiday that I’d never heard of before – Treaty Day! It’s a bit of a joke, but still gave rise to a big community afternoon. This is the day where everyone on the reserve receives money from the government – a full $4 each! I could comment on this further, but I feel like it speaks for itself.
On Treaty Day I helped at a fish fry (yay for lots of free food!) and had my first bannock burger, which is basically a heart attack that you can hold. Fry bread with a burger and cheese – I’m surprised McDonald’s hasn’t tried it out yet. We also took part in a number of contests, from Pilot eating (hard crackers that are about 2” by 2”) to backward shoe kicking and hot potato to canoe races! I ended up making $25, which was then spent on Bingo cards for that night’s Bingo game! Along with a number of community members being there, a YMCA canoeing camp group was also at the events. They had finished 25 days of canoeing, but their travels were being cut short due to time constraints, so they spent part of the day with us instead, and were flown out this weekend.
On Thursday we went square dancing, where my teammates and I earned more money, and had an insanely fun time! It was interesting dancing with no caller to say what moves you were doing; I’m still not positive how people knew what was next. We also took that opportunity to ask the best dancers there to come in and do some jigging with the campers, so fun times are ahead! Friday we went out, the 4 counselors together, to do some fishing. Or rather, we meant to go fishing, but about 45 minutes into the trip the motor hit a rock, breaking the propeller. The next 5 hours or so were spent attempting to fix it, giving up, and paddling back using the rescue oars and a makeshift sail from a tarp and 2 logs. It was rather hilarious, and fun, despite arriving back fishless at 1am. Saturday (last night) was a volleyball tournament, and despite the fact that the team I was in came in dead last, I discovered that I’m not at incompetent as I thought! Always a nice discovery. :)
Sometime soon we’ll have to actually start planning camp – luckily we have an extra day, since Monday is Civic Holiday!
Well, that’s all for the moment! I’ll be back with more when there’s a bit of camp behind me.
-V
My July
July 29, 2008
Hello! Boozhoo!
For the past month I’ve been in Kingfisher Lake, Ontario, working at a reading camp in an Aboriginal community with two other counsellors from Southern Ontario. It was an absolutely amazing experience and pretty much indescribable, so naturally, I’m going to try to explain it!
Kingfisher is a community of about 500 people who are of the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation, with their native language being Oji-Cree –of which I now know a few words!! It is one of the more financially well-off communities, which became evident with the number of car owners in town! Despite being only a couple kilometres across at most, everyone drove everywhere!! The main buildings in town were the Band Office (like a City Hall), the hotel, the elementary school (the students move away for high school), a mission house, church, nurses’ station, police station, radio station, and a small corner store (literally in the corner of town). Our house, the teacherage, was about a 5 minute walk from Hollywood, which was the main subdivision, so named because of the parties that happen there. This led to a number of jokes about going down “Pot Hole Alley” to buy movies or go to the chip stand “just this side of Hollywood”. The were quite a few houses that acted as chip stands, selling pop, chips, chocolate, ice cream, and slushies. The sugary diet was evident from the number of capped teeth the kids had, but it was also a great way to spend a couple dollars every now and again!
We ran the camp out of the school gym, although for one of the weeks we had to move into a classroom while a Jamboree was taking place in the gym. We had a morning camp for grades 3-5, and an afternoon camp for grades 6+, but couldn’t have any kids younger than grade 3, since English isn’t introduced into the school curriculum until then. It was a pretty normal camp, with games, sports, and crafts, but we also did reading and journaling, which the kids were surprisingly really into! The best activity turned out to be Literacy Bingo, where the campers had a Bingo card with different tasks written in each box. Every time they completed a task (such as reading a book to a counsellor or making a map or postcard) they would get that box ticked off. Completing a line, box, or X got the kids prizes or a night at the counsellors’ house! During the last week we had a cookie-baking night with two campers in our house, and then a movie night the next day. It was a treat for them because they got to come into the house (which is usually off limits), and a treat for us to spend some quality time with them and see some of our most mischievous kids on their best behaviour! We had some special days at camp as well, when one of the band councilors came in to do drumming with the kids one week and took them out canoeing the next. Because I’m female I didn’t get to do the drumming on the males-only drum that he brought in, but it was great to watch and interesting to participate in smudging beforehand. (Smudging is a cleansing ritual where sage, sweet grass, cedar and tobacco are burnt and you waft the smoke toward yourself with a feather – described as cleansing yourself beforehand just like showering!). We also had an elder come in and tell a legend in Oji-Cree, which the campers partially translated for us.
The community had a very small-town feel (naturally), and we had the opportunity to go to a number of events while we were there. We learned how to pluck geese (in Oji-Cree: nikha! Note: plucking wet or bloody feathers is near impossible!), helped at a fish fry, ate at least 40lbs of hamburgers and sausage after canoe and kayak racing on Canada Day, ran a teen dance, went for a day of canoeing and a night of fishing (and caught enough pickerel for a couple nights of dinner!).
The week of the Jamboree was one of the most interesting ones to get to know the community. The Jamboree was being held as a memorial for a family that had three children pass away the previous year. On Wednesday, a vigil was held for the son, who drowned near a rock by the beach. Many people from the community came down for a prayer and a song, and to send votives out onto the water. One of the photos appeared as if there was an angel in it. It was a moving ceremony, and the family seemed to appreciate the support they received in the community. For the next four nights there was a gospel jamboree held, where musicians came in from other communities and some from Kingfisher also played. My teammates and I were introduced to one of the younger musicians, Tim Cofield, who came up from the States (check out his music! www.myspace.com/cofield ). We ended up hanging out with him the second night of the jamboree, staying up past dawn for card playing, night swimming, our nightly poetry reading, and going out to watch the sun rise. Other nights we helped cut up fruits and make sandwiches, and were able to meet a number of the elder women that way.
My Kingfisher memories, both of my teammates/housemates and the community, are hard to describe in anything less than 20000 words. Living with my 2 teammates involved having poetry nights, Friendship Teammate Bonding Nights, games of “Catch Me”, and trips down pot hole alley! Hanging out with kids on our porch led to my learning how to do loon calls (and being teased when I was giddy afterward), everything being “Eww” to the older girls, learning about our 9 year-old campers smoking, doing drugs, and trying homebrew, our door being colourfully and interestingly drawn on (and later washed), and more “Kimama” jokes than can be counted.
All this and more is why I’ll definitely miss Kingfisher, Reserve 212, and the memories made there.
Migwetch, KFL! Thank you.
Hello! Boozhoo!
For the past month I’ve been in Kingfisher Lake, Ontario, working at a reading camp in an Aboriginal community with two other counsellors from Southern Ontario. It was an absolutely amazing experience and pretty much indescribable, so naturally, I’m going to try to explain it!
Kingfisher is a community of about 500 people who are of the Nishnawbe-Aski Nation, with their native language being Oji-Cree –of which I now know a few words!! It is one of the more financially well-off communities, which became evident with the number of car owners in town! Despite being only a couple kilometres across at most, everyone drove everywhere!! The main buildings in town were the Band Office (like a City Hall), the hotel, the elementary school (the students move away for high school), a mission house, church, nurses’ station, police station, radio station, and a small corner store (literally in the corner of town). Our house, the teacherage, was about a 5 minute walk from Hollywood, which was the main subdivision, so named because of the parties that happen there. This led to a number of jokes about going down “Pot Hole Alley” to buy movies or go to the chip stand “just this side of Hollywood”. The were quite a few houses that acted as chip stands, selling pop, chips, chocolate, ice cream, and slushies. The sugary diet was evident from the number of capped teeth the kids had, but it was also a great way to spend a couple dollars every now and again!
We ran the camp out of the school gym, although for one of the weeks we had to move into a classroom while a Jamboree was taking place in the gym. We had a morning camp for grades 3-5, and an afternoon camp for grades 6+, but couldn’t have any kids younger than grade 3, since English isn’t introduced into the school curriculum until then. It was a pretty normal camp, with games, sports, and crafts, but we also did reading and journaling, which the kids were surprisingly really into! The best activity turned out to be Literacy Bingo, where the campers had a Bingo card with different tasks written in each box. Every time they completed a task (such as reading a book to a counsellor or making a map or postcard) they would get that box ticked off. Completing a line, box, or X got the kids prizes or a night at the counsellors’ house! During the last week we had a cookie-baking night with two campers in our house, and then a movie night the next day. It was a treat for them because they got to come into the house (which is usually off limits), and a treat for us to spend some quality time with them and see some of our most mischievous kids on their best behaviour! We had some special days at camp as well, when one of the band councilors came in to do drumming with the kids one week and took them out canoeing the next. Because I’m female I didn’t get to do the drumming on the males-only drum that he brought in, but it was great to watch and interesting to participate in smudging beforehand. (Smudging is a cleansing ritual where sage, sweet grass, cedar and tobacco are burnt and you waft the smoke toward yourself with a feather – described as cleansing yourself beforehand just like showering!). We also had an elder come in and tell a legend in Oji-Cree, which the campers partially translated for us.
The community had a very small-town feel (naturally), and we had the opportunity to go to a number of events while we were there. We learned how to pluck geese (in Oji-Cree: nikha! Note: plucking wet or bloody feathers is near impossible!), helped at a fish fry, ate at least 40lbs of hamburgers and sausage after canoe and kayak racing on Canada Day, ran a teen dance, went for a day of canoeing and a night of fishing (and caught enough pickerel for a couple nights of dinner!).
The week of the Jamboree was one of the most interesting ones to get to know the community. The Jamboree was being held as a memorial for a family that had three children pass away the previous year. On Wednesday, a vigil was held for the son, who drowned near a rock by the beach. Many people from the community came down for a prayer and a song, and to send votives out onto the water. One of the photos appeared as if there was an angel in it. It was a moving ceremony, and the family seemed to appreciate the support they received in the community. For the next four nights there was a gospel jamboree held, where musicians came in from other communities and some from Kingfisher also played. My teammates and I were introduced to one of the younger musicians, Tim Cofield, who came up from the States (check out his music! www.myspace.com/cofield ). We ended up hanging out with him the second night of the jamboree, staying up past dawn for card playing, night swimming, our nightly poetry reading, and going out to watch the sun rise. Other nights we helped cut up fruits and make sandwiches, and were able to meet a number of the elder women that way.
My Kingfisher memories, both of my teammates/housemates and the community, are hard to describe in anything less than 20000 words. Living with my 2 teammates involved having poetry nights, Friendship Teammate Bonding Nights, games of “Catch Me”, and trips down pot hole alley! Hanging out with kids on our porch led to my learning how to do loon calls (and being teased when I was giddy afterward), everything being “Eww” to the older girls, learning about our 9 year-old campers smoking, doing drugs, and trying homebrew, our door being colourfully and interestingly drawn on (and later washed), and more “Kimama” jokes than can be counted.
All this and more is why I’ll definitely miss Kingfisher, Reserve 212, and the memories made there.
Migwetch, KFL! Thank you.
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