Northern Exposure...Summer Beaver: Proud Hunter and Corner Store....Like our Mac's Milk

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Proud Hunter and Corner Store....Like our Mac's Milk

I think this home owner is a man who is proud to be a hunter, bet Scott and Rob are jealous and no Rob we are not hanging those things off the house either so don't even ask. Forgot to tell you yesterday that I had an interesting case come in with her 2 month old baby with cold symptoms. She told me quickly that her baby's bottom lip was burned because she took her to the local traditional healer and he had a long pipe or such that he was blowing smoke into the babys face and she got burned. She told me that the baby had a heart murmur and that he was healing her.

The picture to the left is the corner store that is open when the regular store is closed (picture with the 4 wheeler on its side). Yes I went in and acutally purchased something.

I posted the note on bannock because I went to a bake sale today in a local home and they were selling this bread as well as indian tocos and hot dogs wrapped in bannock this is the traditional bread. A local woman was baking pies, tarts, bread, tacos and other things and her home was full of people. Anyway I was interested in the history so I am sharing that with you.

Someone made a very interesting comment yesterday. We spend a great deal of money to support world peace and humanity. I really wonder if anyone ever put much thought into looking after our own country. I think about the box's that I have participated in putting together with tooth brushes, soap, toys etc to be sent to a needy country. If more people could see what is happening in Northern Ontario I think the box's would be coming here. This is our third world right in our very own country.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: This is so true mom. IT is sad how naive most canadians are about this awful situation. They did not ask for this yet for some reason it is "their fault" and they dont deserve anything from us bc they get free tax's etc etc. so many misconseptions. Im so proud of you for taking this risk and seeing what it is really like and why it is the way it is. keep posting these as i am very interested in all of this. love you mom. BE SAFE!! xoxox Cait; May 17, 2008 at 6:37 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow.. I was off line for only 2 days... You have done so much already! You are so brave to be doing this. I am really proud to call you my Sista. You really do make the world a better place. Keep posting. It really is a whole different world out there.. yet so close to home! Miss you lots. Keep up the good work. Send me your phone # . Love you.; May 17, 2008 at 9:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Thanks for the interesting information a totally different world for sure. Would love to go Moose Hunting with the store keeper.

Well hopefully the ice is out before I arrive, was to C-Tire and bought some heavy fishing line and tackle in anticapation of doing some fishing and I hate ice fishing..

Luv ya Play safe talk soon.....Rob; May 18, 2008 at 4:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Cyndi: What an interesting story you will have to relate when you return. Here I am sitting in my warm house today looking out at the geese on the water & these unfortunate people are eeking out a living in god's land. It isn't right at all. Our MP's should be sent up north for a month & perhaps they would wake up & spend our money for Cdns. Your blogs should go to Ottawa & maybe there is half a brain down there that will sit up & do something. I am proud of you.............aunt g.; May 18, 2008 at 8:55 AM

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Pemmican, one of the ladies had made this for the feast.......

Pemmican was a staple of the Plains people’s diet with the name originating from the Cree word, “pimikan”, or ‘manufactured grease’. Pemmican was made from buffalo meat, although antelope, deer, elk and moose were also used. It was a mixture of dried meat pounded to a powder, a quantity of rendered fat, Saskatoon berries or choke cherries, and sometimes peppermint leaves. The whole mixture was stored in parfleches, or skin bags, where it could be stored indefinitely. Pemmican was portable and highly nutritious with 1 kilogram equaling 5 kilograms of fresh meat. It was one of the most important contributions native people made to the survival of the Europeans through the harsh Canadian winters.

How to Make Pemmican
To make pemmican the Indians began by cutting meat into thin slices or strips and drying it either in the sun or over a fire. After the meat was dried, it was spread out on a stone-headed mauls and then pounded. This pounded meat was called "beat meat" by the natives. "Beat meat" was then mixed with melted fat and marrow. One early European observer noted that 40 pounds (18kg) of fat were added to 50 pounds (22.6kg) of beat meat. Sometimes a paste made of fruits or berries were added to this mixture.
Pemmican was stored in folded rawhide containers called parfleches. They were flat which made them easy to store and transport. Parfleches were greased along their seams to keep out air and moisture. Pemmican could therefore be kept fresh for years. Three-quarters of a pound (.34kg) of pemmican a day was a sufficient ration of food, although a hard-working traveler might eat between 1 and 2 pounds a day.
"... to make this essential food, the women would cut buffalo meat into very thin strips and hang them on hooks or a rack over a slow, smoky fire. The fire was used mainly to keep flies off the fresh meat. After a day or two the fire was discontinued and the meat was allowed to dry in the sun and wind. Three or four times a day the women would crack the meat open to allow the outsides of the strips to dry. After the drying process, which took about a week, the meat was broken into small pieces and put inside a flour sack. The women then pounded the meat into powder. This powder was mixed with dried berries, and melted buffalo fat was used to bind the substance together into balls. The pemmican balls were then placed into bags made of green (untanned) buffalo hid, and sewn up tightly. A bag of pemmican, made properly, could be cached in the ground for several years and still remain usable.
Rubaboo is the name for a stew made of pemmican and any wild vegetables at hand. Boiled in a pot of water, the chunks of pemmican would fall apart. Additions - the likes of onion, turnip, asparagus, parsley, sage, bullrush root, cattail heads, dandelion root, wild parsnip, wild carrot, mushrooms, pine nuts, daylily roots, or wild rice, would turn it into an appetizing stew.

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