Happy Victoria Day........

This picture is for you CA…. you have been looking for people. I have been pretty careful taking pictures, as I do not want to offend them. I want to gain their trust and that takes time. This is an elder who makes leather crafts. She is very busy. She makes purses and moccasins. She showed me how she creates the beaded patterns for her items. She is very talented. She does not speak a word of English but we seemed to communicate pretty well. I am going back to have tea with her this week. The picture below is her home. Quiet day at the clinic, as it is a holiday. It is sunny and cold but just nice for a walk through the village.
Met the gas station attendant that informed me that gas is 1.65 per liter. I also asked him about how one can get some money here in the village. He told me that the money machine never has money in it but if you ask the store clerk they may be able to help me. I did find some money but what a process…the store does not have any money but the place to buy guns at the back of the store did which was lucky for me because they apparently do not have much cash in the village on hand.

They have an interact machine at the store in which you can use to purchase groceries but because they do not have cash you cannot do a cash back so lets hope I have enough to keep me until the end of this journey.
It is really different walking around this village. I get a sense of what it must have been like 100 years ago. The village is quiet the sound of a dog barking, the smell of wood burning from the chimneys and the sound of skidoos and four wheelers in the distance. No one is in a very big hurry. Few cars on the unpaved roads, houses sitting close together and every one knows everyone in this community. Met a familiar face on this trip, the caretaker from the station. He was on his four-wheeler getting ready to go hunting. Today he is after ducks, called them long tails. Some of you reading will be very interested to know that there are some weeks throughout the year here called cultural week. This is the first week of each hunting season. Individuals are given the week off work with pay (often more, last one lasted three weeks) if they are employed. It is their right as it is their way of life.