Northern Exposure...Summer Beaver: Made it in one piece........

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Made it in one piece........

Hi all,

Well I guess I made the journey in one piece, little rocky at times but I could kiss the inventor of my ipod and portable DVD player...... I am exhausted! The day started early and is ending too late so what happened in between.., flight from Ottawa to Toronto and then to Thunder Bay was good (Westjet) the other end o f the journey not great TURBULANCE. I really hate it when you try to look out a window in a plane and you cant see anything but clouds the entire trip and that is what it was like for me on the last leg. The weather was cold, windy and rainy. So much for the sunshine I started with in Ottawa. See the snow in the background of the picture....so no bugs yet brrrr.

Would really have liked to arrive with my luggage but unfortunately the plane was full (9 passengers) so had to leave it in Thunder Bay. Hope to get is in a few days??????

The topography is quite interesting, land o lakes truly beautiful (I did get a view from the last reserve to Summer Beaver). As far as Summer Beaver did not get the tour yet I can just see the houses and they tell me to be careful because the place is swarming with bears, and I forgot my bear spray. Did not see much from the trip from the airstrip to the Nurses Station. The Nurses Station is quite nice clean rooms, security is good, windows have grill bars to keep out----?, and the 2 nurses seem very nice and welcoming. My room is attached by a corridor to the nurses station so do not have to go outside at night if patient comes in.

I will post a few more pics to follow and get back at this tomorrow I am beat so off to bed. Miss you all....

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Sounds like it's going to be a great adventure!! hope to chat with you on msn!
love you have fun
Josh; May 13, 2008 at 8:58 PM
Anonymous said...: Hope you slept well your first night, I know you will bring Sunshine to Summer Beaver because you are a truly Unique individual, have Fun and Play safe...... Luv Rob; May 14, 2008 at 5:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Glad you made it there safely. The window bars....another bear precaution?? Please be very careful, bears are your biggest threat up north. Love, Kathy; May 14, 2008 at 6:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Cindi,Glad to hear you made it there,Tried to phone you but u already left.Stay Safe

Love Scott,Cheryl,Chels,Dessa; May 14, 2008 at 9:02 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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