The past week or so has been another interesting one, every week seems to have a different set of moods associated with it. This past week included my being house manager, the menu included ribs, shisk kabobs, and a turkey dinner.
On Saturday the 23rd we met with local historian and night owl, Peggy Sanders. Peggy is the person you go to to learn everything about Sioux Lookout. Once a librarian her home still reflects her old career with wall to wall books. When Peggy speaks, people listen, so this was an interesting evening. Peggy is famed in the community for this and her ability to stay up past 2am. She loves to remind us that, in her words, "Katimavik is a dream come true." When she was young she join the air force and was station in Victoria, where she met other young women from around Canada and they used to discuss how they needed a program that could introduce young people to their country during the peace time. Now every time Peggy spends time with a Katimavik group, she likes to call her friend in Vancouver, and her friend in New Brunswick to remind them of the dream come true.
On Monday the 26th there was great excitement for the women of the house who had the unique opportunity to receive their name. But not just any name, your spirit name. Again Victor and Charles brought over the drum, and their friend Nick, to lead us in a Receiving Ceremony. In addition to several songs we each took a few moments to speak about the connections we have with nature and animals. We also made offerings of tobacco and fruit to give to the spirits in our lives. I was given the name "Kitchki Genoojay" which is Ojicree for Whale, the literal translation being, "Big Fish" because they don't have a lot of whales out here. The Ojicree language has no set spelling, it's all phonetics, and Ks and Gs are interchangeable, same with Ps and Bs. So I might actually be "Gitchki Kenoojay". My clan is the MaHingan Clan, or Wolf Clan. This is based on the idea that spirits go west to die. There was a story of an old wolf spirit who travel west to die, and when he reached the Pacific Ocean he stepped out and became a whale, the last paw mark is left on the Orca whale. Part of the ceremony came into play afterwards, where you go to make your offering. Nick told us that in times where you feel troubled you should go into nature and offer tobacco to an animal. He told us amazing stories of interactions with bears and wolves and eagles. But when you're really lost, scared, or troubled, you should go into the forest and call you name out in each direction and the spirits will come find us. So, I laid down my bark basket of oranges and tobacco and called out "Kitchki Genoojay Iquay Indigo MaHingan Dodem" in each direction. It's gonna be a while until the whales get here, they got a long way to go and there's a lot of land in the way.
Thursday the 28th was the final installment of the entertainment series at Queen Elizabeth High School. We help set up and take down for the concert, and we got to actually watch it too! Andrew Craig Trio was playing and it was a real treat, I would encourage you all to see what you can find out about it music, he is an excellent performer.
During this week I also received a wonderful package from Gma and Gpa along with a postcard from Oma. To my G-parents, thank you, you had the rest of the group hungering after my Nanaimo Bars.
That weekend we attended a Pow-wow at Pelican High School, about an hour outside of Sioux Lookout. There was drumming virtually the whole time we were there. They may have stopped when the food came out, but I didn't know I was too busy eating. Then I got to add a new item to my list of 'Weird Things I've Consumed': Moose Tongue.
On the way back this moose stopped are Katimavan. Didn't say much to us, maybe he lost his tongue?
On Monday night I was homesick. Homesick for Montreal that is. We had a Skype date with Etienne to catch up. He got a job as a PC in Moncton, New Brunswick. When we were writing his performance review we all made sure to add "would make an excellent Project Coordinator" in the comments section. Guillaume had mentioned that Etienne was applying for a job as PC and that they'd be reading our comments. I'm glad they did.
Again in group news, we've lost another. That's right on Wednesday the 27th Val boarded a train to take her home to Guelph. This was easier to handle because she'd been talking about it since Montreal, she's traveling to Ireland this fall and she needs to get some money for the trip. Val was a great part of the group, especially musically, it's still really weird to not hear her mandolin. We'll miss you, Val!
Therefore testosterone takes over as our girl count drops to four, including Sarah and myself. No changes have been made to the houses so far as Tiffany rules the attic at Prince. It will be awhile until any of that is taken care of, cause were going into BILLETING! Yes, on Tuesday we met with our billet families for a little tea and cookie evening before we move in on Thursday night. I'm more than thankful for my family, Lynn and Allen, in addition to their 48 inch television and 5 minute commute to work, they are very friendly and welcoming. We're going out for Chinese food this week, I am so happy. I've grown more and more tired of Katmalife here. We work all day, there's hardly any food, were constantly worrying about protocols,meetings, calendars, competencies, applications, projects, and paperwork, and to top it off my room is SO cold at night, I don't even sleep. So, billeting? Bring it on!
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