Waskaganish - 2

Well, I’ve made it through my first week in Waskaganish! I can’t believe how fast the week has gone by. The weather here was unpleasant – and by unpleasant I mean windy, rainy, and COLD (think: 2 or 3 degrees as a high)! up until Monday afternoon, when the sun finally came out of hiding. On Tuesday, it was sunny and – finally – warm. The temperature is still hovering in the low teens now, but that’s ok because there are no bugs, yet. As long as the sun is shining, I don’t care.

So, when I last wrote, I mentioned that I was invited to a “cultural event.” My contact was very vague with me on the phone. So I wandered down to the Meechuwap (a traditional building of sorts) where there were a couple of men gathered around a pick-up truck. I was handed a camera and told that I could document the “processing of a moose” (which I think is much nicer than saying I watched a freshly killed moose be chopped up). It sounds horrifying, but it’s really not. These people have a tremendous amount of respect for the animals they hunt. The animals are not mistreated, and they are tended to with the utmost amount of care. The best part of the experience was that I was invited to taste some of this moose. They always cut off a piece of the meat and test it to make sure that it is good to serve at a feast (which is coming up on June 21st). Well, it passed the test! Moose looks like beef and tastes very similar to it, but much, much better. It has so much rich flavour in it that it needs no seasoning. Paired with a piece of bannock and I was in heaven (all you meat lovers out there - I know you would have loved it too).

On Saturday, I tried my hand at pottery (ahem ... pun intended). There is a potter who comes up here a couple of times of year to teach the students at the elementary and high schools how to do pottery. He currently has a “studio” set up in one of the classrooms, which is technically open for anyone in the community to use. However, since he is not around all that often, there are two teachers who “run” the studio in his stead. I made a cute little bowl on my first attempt, so I’m very proud of myself.

My roommate and I ended the weekend by going on a little adventure in the woods near our house. We ended up in the middle of a clay bog, so we had to turn back because the stuff is like quicksand. The trees protected us from the violent winter-like wind which made the walk very pleasant. I look forward to many more adventures around here. I’ve heard that there are some wicked rapids that I need to check out before Hydro diverts the river and all of its power disappears forever.

It was back to work on Monday, and I’m pleased to report that I’ve made some progress with my project. My interview guide is being reviewed by key members of the Band Council (including the Chief, who I am supposed to sit down with at some point in time). I’ve also got my first interview lined up for next Monday morning! And ... I've just managed to invite a few community members to participate as a couple of people from the Clinic just stopped by our house to bring presents! (stainless steel toaster, a coffee maker - which means I can pick up some coffee at Northern - and some stainless steel mixing bowls!)

In other exciting news, we were on bear watch yesterday. A black bear was spotted wandering around the Lodge yesterday morning, so some bear traps were set up around the town, including along the path my roommate and I usually run along in the evening. We didn’t want some bear stopping us from getting our exercise, so we brought along a bear bell to jingle as we made our way along the path. I think it worked, because the bear did not make an appearance. I haven’t heard whether they actually caught him or not yet.

All for now...