Monday 21 May 2012

Caribou Days and River Break Up

It has been a very exciting few days in Old Crow. The caribou have arrived and are migrating through Old Crow on their way from their winter grounds to their summer calving grounds in Alaska. I was walking up the mountain on Monday evening when my friend all of a sudden said, "Caribou!" And there was a caribou on the road in front of us. We saw another one on the road and several in the forest later on the walk. We have since changed our walk route, because there are many hunters up there now.

People are hunting caribou and peoples' freezers are filling up with caribou meat. For thousands of year, the Vuntut Gwitch'in have relied on the caribou for food and survival, and it is amazing that the caribou are still such a vital part of life for the Vuntut Gwitch'in.

Swimming Caribou (not my photograph)
The return of the caribou is just in time for Caribou Days, the festival that happens here in Old Crow on May long weekend. It has been a fun filled three days. So much local, traditional food, demonstrations (caribou skinning, muskrat skinning) and games and races.

A funny thing happened to me during a race called the Gwitch'in Man and Woman Race. The race is an individual one, where one person goes at a time and you are timed. The race is simulating a day out at Crow Flats living traditionally and involves the following:

-Running out of a wall tent
-Hauling a fell tree into the tent
-Pouring tea
-Sawing a log of wood
-Running with a pack filled with rocks
-Portaging a canoe around community hall (still wearing the pack)
-Setting a muskrat trap
-Skinning a caribou leg
-Saying a phrase in Gwitch'in to an Elder
-Running back into the tent and lying down

So I entered the race. It was all going well. I was pretty speedy during the canoe portaging portion and people were even cheering a bit. The trap setting went well. The trouble came when I unsheathed the knife I was going to skin the caribou leg with. I somehow managed to slice my finger while unsheathing the knife. Thinking nobody would notice my blood among the caribou blood, I finished skinning the leg, said my Gwitch'in phrase to the Elders. Drin Gwinzee. Dini Choo? which means, 'Good Day. How are you?' And I finished the race. I then had to go to the nursing station because the nurse thought I might need stitches for my quite deeply cut finger. Moral of the story: Southern Canadian teacher does not make a very good Gwitch'in Woman. Lots of fun, being in the race though.

The other exciting thing that happened recently is the break up of the ice on the Porcupine River. A sure sign of spring, and a very exciting even in the year, it happened on Friday. I lay on a beach beside the River, enjoying the sun. When I lay down I was 15 feet from the river's edge. When I opened my eyes, the river was at my feet. It had risen so much in the half an hour I was lying there! Very exciting and a very beautiful fleeting moment. The beach was long gone when I walked by the next day.

There are massive chunks of ice floating down the river. Yesterday there were caribou on the ice. I also spotted a mouse on an ice chunk. He was running back and forth, and to the top of the ice chunk trying to get off it somehow. Poor little guy was doomed, but did he ever look cute on that floating ice berg!

Hope everyone is enjoying spring. I am excited to see everyone this summer, whether it be in Vancouver, Vancouver Island, Muskoka, or Golden Beach Road. Thanks again for reading.

Warm Regards from Old Crow,

Haley

1 comment:

  1. Wonderful blog. Thank you for writing. I have applied to work in Old Crow and was wondering if you could offer any tips, advice for teaching and living there. Not sure I will get the job, fingers crossed.

    Thank you again, Haley.

    Joel

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