Last days in Chisasibi

Our last week of work in Chisasibi ended up being no technology week. Er, well, uh, lower your carbon footprint week I suppose!  Which is why I havent blogged (even if I could I wouldn`t have had the time regardless though.)

As this month was spirit month, there was a lot going on, but these past few weeks have been a little slower since there were actually two deaths in the community- two very important deaths.  They cancelled all community events the week the doctor (I cannot remember his name but he`s been here for years)  Then, Jimmy Sam`s wife  (Jimmy is the photographer that I never got to meet) passed away and they closed the school since there were so many in the community that are related to her.  It`s really too bad, but because of all this, they postponed the talent show, couch and armchair race and it seemed fewer were participating in the daily events.  (pajama day, for example, was AWESOME because I got to wear my Tweety onesie!)  In fact, I wish I could wear my onesie everyday- it made so many kids smile! :)

Thursday and Friday at school were carnival days!  It was too bad I didnt get those last two days with the two classes I`ve been visiting regularely, but I finished the book I started with Rose`s class which made me happy and I got to see all of Mike`s kids at the carnival- I painted their faces! 
By the end of the day, I had to set up for our ``Poetry Slam`` er, well, open-mic-but-we-want-to-encourage poetry-sorta-thing, that is. 

My friends at the school helped me set up there, which I was really thankful for since I have no clue how to work the sound system!  They were so easy to work with too!  I didn`t really have to ask them to do anything- they just did it all!  

At the end of the day, I was feeling rather exhausted. 
Our group was hitting a few rough areas, suffering through what we call our ``storming`` period.  Great... I thought, nice timing.  It felt like I was getting on everyone's nerves and I just wasn't getting the respect I deserved.  On top of that, it didn't feel like I get a proper goodbye from the teachers I worked with at the school- not even a picture with the class I stuck with throughout my stay!  Or a card for that matter... 

On the other hand, I tired not to worry because I figured the group would perk up a bit once we all realized that we were going to have a change of scenery really soon. As for the school, I do feel I did everything I possibly could and I think I made a difference in the kid's lives, even if just for a few moments.  

Nonetheless, I was feeling a little lonely being far away from home with noone I felt comfortable just going up to and saying `hey, can we talk?' 

I didn't say a word to anyone.  Until Julie, who saw a tear in my eye asked if I was okay.  

That's when I realized that maybe I'm not the open, outgoing person I like to think I am.  At least not around other people anyway.  Even just by asking if I was okay and listening, Julie made me feel 10 times better.  And I love her so much for that!  I don't realize how much things bother me sometimes and that was the week I let things build up.  I managed to wipe my tears away and get excited about the poetry slam though, so I'm pretty proud of myself.  I may be sensitive, but only for moments do I let things bother me.  It wouldn't bother me so much though, if only I'd just learn to communicate with others what bugs me!  

It's good- I'm learning a lot about myself and Katimavik had really been a big help, even just in 3 months, for personal growth.

Sorry, no pictures tonight.  It's really late. Er, early (I pulled an all-nighter since it was my last night and I was sewing with Michael and Yvonne :) ) 

More reflections about Chisasibi will come but until then, wish me luck on my trip to Steinbach! 

SOOOOO looking forward to Steinbach :)

Chisasibi- Val D'or- Montréal- Toronto- Winnipeg- Steinbach (I will get there at like 2AM)! 

Apples Onions and irrelevant pictures!

I'm falling behind a bit on my blogs :S

I don't blog about everything! There's just so much that goes on around here!

But one thing we usually do at every meal is what we call apples and onions. (I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before.)  Every day we share something we enjoyed that day, or just something good (our apple) and one thing that wasn't all that great (our onion, even though some of us love onions.)
Today, I'd say I have pretty close to an "apple pie" (Term coined by Mike, followed by an "ahhhh" and a knee slap and I'm so clever after)

At lunch, I hung out with some of my friends, Summer, Maryy, Stephany, Miranda and a few others and we chomped down on the delicious leftover pizza from the mini-party they arranged for those who helped with the talent show.  They ever-so-graciously invited the Katimavik-ers from the school to come last night and I stayed around but the pizza was a little tardy (late) so I ended up having to leave before they ate.  Luckily, they had plenty left over and we shared some today at lunch! :)  It's nice to know I have some friends apart from the Katimavik group.  Finally- Friends!  I wish I'd made friends with them sooner though.


I also didn't mention face painting on Saturday!
It actually turned out so well! We would get one kid to get their face painted, then, out of nowhere, they'd bring three more kids.  It was face painting day and we got to see some of the hockey games so it was really nice to integrate into the community.

I also started helping Mike's class- a grade five English class on Tuesday and I'm really liking it.  The kids are a riot- they're actually really enthusiastic about some things which is really nice to see. And oddly enough, Mike knows my brother from playing rugby!  He taught in a New Zealand native community for 10 years, so he shares a lot of his knowledge from there, like doing a bit of the Maori people's Waka dance with them outside.  He's also really efficient in how he does things so he manages to get a lot done while maintaining a routine for the kids, which is nice for me to see because I really feel like I'm learning from it.  I have a video of them doing it, ending with their tongues out and their eyes wide open, laughing and getting pumped.  (It's a sports warm-up- apparently all sports teams in New Zealand do stuff like that before games.)

Well this picture has nothing to do with this post... (but the one before, I guess) Julie made apple crisp to take with us to the elders camp. SO GOOD.

The Chicken Francois was so thrilled to get in his Easter package... 
Hahaha, it dances and sings and made my day a whole lot brighter!

It was dress up to work day and I felt pretty so I asked Yvonne take pictures of me and this is me trying to be pretty...

What a cute little button!  This is Brooke in her suitcase.  Do you think you could take her on a plane that way?  I think YES.

The HWAH! Of the waka dance. They do this after the Kamate, Kamate Kamate, then they go HWAH! to show they're ready.

All together now- all the kids are doing it!

And then they did a dog pile. Hahaha. "Guys, you're defeating the purpose of the dance!  remember,they do the dance to scare people away so they don't fight!" - Mike

Pardon the awful picture, but I ran out of battery :S  This was the Pow Wow dance that won first place at the school talent show.

Again, with the whole relevant thing... that's not working for me today.  this is a picture Francois took of us at Sylvain's.

Sylvain`s place again!

Oh man, I didn't upload a single picture of the face painting...

MORE TO COME! :)

And happy St Patty's Day! :)

Traditional Food and the Elders Camp!

So on Sunday, we got to eat some of the traditional food!

Mike was at the Coop at some point and he asked a man (a stranger) if he knew where to buy game meat. (hunted meat) The guy, who was apparently pretty shy said he actually had some he could bring to us.  Later, he brought over some moose meat and 4 Ptamigans! (small white birds.) As if that's not nice enough, he actually came over again with his wife and they taught us how to cook the food!   I was already making apple curry (mmm so good) with rice, so it was an awfully huge meal FULL of carbs haha.

Not only did they cook the meat, but they taught a few of us how to make fried bannock and dumplings too- the Cree way.  Later, Chris made moose steak and honestly, SO GOOD.  Incredibly good!

Last night, we went to the elders camp!  It was so wonderful seeing some elders, some adults and others coming together and just sharing their culture.  This was the snow shoe making class that goes there every day all month so they all know each other pretty well!  So we got to join them for dinner, then we sat with them to learn a little about snowshoe making, carving and some other little projects they had on the go (like thumb-sized mittens :))  I didn't take any pictures but I'm kind of glad because I really enjoyed myself actually experiencing the whole thing and taking in what the elders and adults had to say.  I love that they want to share too.

Not everything is sunshine and lollipops though.  I went to a little meeting with some high school students after school and they were brainstorming what they want to do to make a video portrayal of Chisasibi.  I suppose I didn't realize that my view of Chisasibi is a little skewed, since I'm new.  Since I'm new and people know I'm here to get what I can from the opportunity, they'll show us all they can.  And the truth is, the snowshoe making and things at the elder camp, that's a very very tiny portion of their culture.  The truth is, modern culture has worn a great deal of the knowledge passed from elders and apathy has taken it's toll on many of the people here.  An English teacher was telling me about how she tried getting the kids to answer what they might do differently in a situation and they did the  common Cree shoulder shrug "I don't know" until she mentioned the dam. Then she got full page answers.

It just goes to show that they feel it, they care. They just don't show it.

Yvonne cutting the beautiful bloody birds :D

Dumplings!

Yes, I took a picture of a boiling pot!  This is how we cooked the ptarmigan and the dumplings.

Evidently we fried the bannock

Curry :D

Finished bannock

The final meal :D

Another angle- check out that ptamigan ohhh baby!

Brooke's version of the meal. "It's so pretty, take a picture!"

Witnessing History - a must read!

Picture this: you sit in a dark, small tent on a pile of boughs and blankets with about 25 people around you.  The aroma of cedar and sage surrounds you while men are bringing scarlet red hot rocks from a fire just out the door.  “This is history, living history,” the elder says.  You peer out the opening of the lodge to see the face of a bull’s skull watching, with food teasing you from all around.

Soon, you are about to sweat more than you’ve ever sweat before, and it feels so good.

“The door!” The chief yells.  After piercing the skin on the top of both shoulders, he sits directly in front of the bull, facing it, and gets tied to the ceiling of small lodge.  Why would anyone do such a thing, you ask?  “For the youth,” he says.  He informs us all that the youth of Chisasibi are in turmoil, that suicide is prevalent and he wants us all to help pray for his people.

I’m sure I was one among many nearly reaching tears while he described the realities of their current condition.  I thought of the girls that showed me their scars, the ones that would never dare to show anyone, and the children that seem so happy whenever I see them.  And somehow, as it seems to be characteristic of the Cree people, the chief ends what he has to say with a laugh. It’s going to be a good sweat, I thought.

First round: turtle.  Pray for the toddlers.

As the door closes, they begin explaining the purpose of this sweat once again.  Although I felt a little anxious, the chief’s voice somehow calmed our spirits, ending with a laugh, as always.  Nathan, a young man on the other side of the grandfathers beats the drum and begins to sing. I’m looking up to the Spirits now.  God, please bring good to these people.

 In my mind, I could see a child at the daycare pushing their little toy cars, then going home only to block out a fight caused by the result of an alcohol addiction. 

Second round: Youth. 

While I was physically in the tent, I was mentally back at the youth centre.  I took their wrists in my hands and healed their scars with one simple touch.  I hugged them one by one and said “don’t do this to yourself sweetheart, you have so much to live for.  You’re beautiful.”  I knew this wasn’t reality, so I just kept praying: God, oh please, help these girls and boys, they haven’t done a thing to deserve this misery.  Dear God, I pray that these people see the light, because it’s really there, I can really see it.   Help them see it too and it’ll come.

Third Round: Adults

Mom was the first to come to mind.  All I want is for her to be happy, for her knee and all her health problems to heal.  And Elizabeth, Jack’s wife, I wish her the best of luck for the third child she is expecting.  “Man doesn’t control all, God does,” the elder reminds us.  “That’s why he sometimes gives a woman a stillborn- to remind them that he is there. 

After the round, they pass around the fish with bear fat, blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.  Best berries I’ve ever tasted.  We took a longer break to prepare for a much hotter fourth round.

Fourth Round: Elders

As the heat intensifies, I sing louder, I concentrate higher, but I don’t move.

Grandma, I miss you. But I don’t remember you.  And grandpa, I need to reach out to my grandpa because there’s so much more to know.  The first person that came to mind as I thought of the elders in Chisasibi was Annie, who I met at the Elder’s camp. “Would you like to try?” She asked me when I visited.  How sweet of her to make me feel so welcome at the elder’s camp.  Please God, bring sweet Annie and all her grandchildren happiness. 

Happiness is, after all what matters most.

55 large grandfathers later, I might not expect to feel so cleansed and pure but I did.  More than anything, I was honoured.  Before I left, I was sure to shake the chief’s hand to thank him. “Thank you,” he said.  God, I love these people, I’ve never met so many people in one place that I adored so much.  The chief is thanking me after enduring that same ceremony I found hard with blood dripping down his chest and he’s thanking me?  

The people of Chisasibi could not be more real either.  They don’t care if you’re fat or skinny, ugly or pretty, they see your spirit. They see you for who you really are, and they appreciate every effort you make, whether they acknowledge it or not.

What an honour and an inspiration to be a part of such a community filled with beautiful spirits.  They’re even nice to you when they hate you! ***Hnahhhh (insert characteristic Cree laugh here)

I can't do it like they do, but if you met a Cree person you'd know exactly what I'm talking about.

Sweat Lodge and Elders Camp!

Ohhhh maiii!  (maiii, not my, because that's how Chris says it and it means the extent of "Oh my" is greater... it's the subtle things guys!)

So I don't have any pictures for either of these things (that would have been a little obnoxious of me to take some in such settings) but they're most definitely up there for most interesting cultural discovery. (Everything seems to come in pairs for some reason.)

"Everything happens for a reason," Rene, or human of the universe (his spirit name translates to something like that) said.  Rene is the man who owns the sweat lodge and who calls himself and Jack ( a good friend of ours here) a 'messenger'. They are more than happy to share their culture and the wisdom of their elders.  Of course, we are thrilled to hear their stories and experience their culture.

So the sweat lodge was an incredible experience. Honestly, it wasn't quite as intense as I thought it would be.  Nonetheless, it was really neat! And, we're going to another sweat on Saturday night!

For those that don't already know (and didn't read my earlier post on it) a sweat lodge is the symbolism of rebirth and takes place in what Olivia referred to as a "hobbit's cave."  On the floor, they put boughs of pine (which is what makes it smell so good!) They put grandfathers (rocks that were heated by a fire) in the middle of it, then sprinkle smudging (a mixture of herbs, often sage, cedar among other things) on the rocks then they dump hot water over the rocks, so the little cave fills with vapour and it gets really hot really quickly.  It's sometimes even hard to breathe because you get so much water in your nose! 

It's really dark during the sweat, and they sing and drum during the ceremony so it really feels uplifting.  "Pray.  Pray for your parents, your grandparents, the elders"  Jack said once.  It wasn't as formal as I thought it would be, but it was so beautiful.  You don't really think about the heat when you feel the rhythm of the drum and you look up to send your worries.  Afterwards, I felt so clean! I thought I would feel so disgusting being drenched in all my sweat, but you're actually covered in a combination of sweat and vapour so it feels really nice. 'this is something I could get used to' I found myself thinking.  I wish there were a sweat in Guelph! I'd love to get Mom out with me to do this!

Today I went to the Elders camp! It was so much better than I expected!  I got to sit with a woman named Annie among others (I can't remember their names) and met a few boys- George, Abraham and I forget the others' names.  So many names... The boys seemed to be about my age and they worked at the camp.  We don't see a whole lot of people around our age here, so that's always nice.  "Potential Friends!" Brooke would probably say.

I finished my mittens and, I never thought I'd hear this, but the woman picked up my mitten and said something in Cree. I picked it up and said "Yeah, it's not the best- I've never really sewn!" and Annie translated what the woman was actually saying, which was just that my sewing was really neat. That was a huge compliment seeing as this what these women do, and they would know what's good!  I guess Janie's a good teacher!  

Also, a group of people came in that I'm guessing came from a vacation in Sudbury.  Chris said that when people are gone for a while, they shake hands with everyone when they return.  So I shook hands with a few people (even though I didn't understand why at the time)  and they kissed each other on both sides of the cheeks. (They left our greeting to a handshake which was kind of nice.) I assumed the little boy was Annie's grandson since she kissed him.  "No, she (pointing to the boy's mother) she's my niece but I do that to all children."  She made me miss my Grandma so much!

Everyone was so friendly at the Elder's camp. "Chaleureux," as I learned from my host-grandpa on my exchange in Quebec in 2008.  They welcomed us with open hands and big smiles. "It's nice to have you guys here," a woman said as we were leaving.

Can I please come back here?

That's where the heart of Chisaisbi really is. The elders.  Everything comes back to the elders. I just keep falling more and more in love with these people. 

Il faut que j'en profites autant que possible!

20 days.  Only 20 days...

Curious how my blog is doing?

So, this is a little random, but I wanted to share this since I thought it was a really neat feature of Blogspot.

So, I know how many hits I have on the website per day, per hour. I also know if people in different countries have seen my blog and how many have viewed it from certain links, which is pretty cool because that means there are people I don’t know interested in my blog J

All time, I’ve gotten 1,411 page views

And check this out (I think it’s really cool!) Page views in different countries:

Canada              1,288 United States      64 South Korea       9 India                   8 Slovenia              7 France                5 United Kingdom  4 Guyana               4 Malaysia             3 Netherlands        2

Iran                    1

Neat eh?

Well, I think it’s really terrific that people are taking a look at my blog because it’s something I’m really proud of, and I might just continue when I get home too.  But then, I’ll write more than just what’s happening- I’ll write my opinions on various matters along with reflections on this and that.

But after seeing that I have so many page views, I just don't understand why so few are commenting!  Go ahead, say what you like!  I want to hear from you guys!

Profitez-en!

First of all, I wanted to apologize for my last blog entry- it was full of confusing run-on sentences, so I'll try to make sure I edit things before publishing them (I usually do but apparently not that time :S)

Chris told us that, as his project leader told him when he was in his last month at his placement "sleep in Saskatoon!" (Or in our case, Steinbach)  Meaning, we should take advantage of Chisasibi while we can.  So we've been busy, especially since it's Community Spirit Month! As will be the next 3 weeks.

Friday we had a French lesson with a teacher from the school. We were super impressed his lesson. The anglophones felt less overwhelmed because he showed them where their level of French is (with verb flashcards)  Since then, I think their confidences have improved and in our French activity, they seemed to understand more of what we were saying.

We also got to volunteer at the sno-cross here in Chisasibi!  Sno-cross is racing on ski doos (in a nutshell)  and we collected admission for them.  It was a good experience because, the guy who was organizing the whole event actually wasn't there so few instructions were given to us before we did our thing (since his friend was trying to figure things out himself.) We made the best of it though. A big orange sign in our Katimavik van was the best we could do, really.  We were happy to take shifts though, especially because of the cold!  The second group also met a man named Jody who's super cool- he came to visit us later, where he told us some stories.  We really love to hear because that's such an important thing in their culture, and we don't hear enough of them!  Plus, all his serious stories ALWAYS end with something funny and his very characteristic laugh.  Plus, this guy's done everything so he's really interesting. "Any career, you name it, I've done it."

Today, we finally walked down by the river.  It was during our free time so there were only four of us and it felt a little more spontaneous which was nice.  We ended up going to the restaurant for the first time and when we were there, a man walked up to us and asked us for our help to prepare food for the snow-racers.  We didn't know him, but he somehow knew we were from Katimavik and that we'd help so we were glad to!  After we got out of the restaurant that is... the power went out and we were held up in there for a bit since we were waiting to pay.

We had our French meal and a French activity today too.  It was super fun because the energy was so high and sharing stories for 2 Verites 1 Mensonge (two truths and a lie) was super fun, full of laughter and speaking in French was great too.

One of the little one that were racing! She's so cute!

They usually got some pretty good air at the Sno Cross- I was surprised not to see any crashes.

A little off topic, but this is a picture I took on my walk home from the gym a few nights ago.

Like I said, SO MUCH AIR!  This was before it all even started, he was about ten feet above me!

It's not the greatest photo with the shading, but I love the natural feel of this one.  This was on our walk by the river. Willie here was hanging out with a few of the dogs that followed us :)  There were four or five!

They're so friendly and SO cute! While I was walking on my own one day, I realized that I was never really alone here.  I'm sure they'd even protect me from any big bad wolves that might want to eat me too!  They just seem like really happy dogs!

A lot of people here have Ti-pies to practice some of their religious rituals. We've never been in one, but they are everywhere!  (I'm working on it though!)

This is the top of the Tee-pee

Willie and the dogs :P  Just in front of our house!  Aren't they the sweetest? They licked her face and everything! Hahaha ohh the love!

Spaz!  We call him spaz because every time he walks towards us, he's shaking his tail so much that he's zigzagging.  Love this little guy, so much!  That's me petting him too :P (and sorry, it won't let me turn the image :S)