WHERE ARE THE BODIES?

      This morning I heard a radio interview that connected a few dots for me. 

      With the finding of about 215 bodies of children at a residential school there have been many questions. Many times parents did not find out what happened to their children. Parents were somewhat nomadic and wandered to where the hunting and trapping was best. If we go back further many parents didn't have much of an idea where their children went. There was not a legal apprehension just an apprehension. There wasn't much in the way of legal responsibility. There was no such thing as "ward". 

     Many parents did find out about their children's death. A few parents requested that their children's bodies be sent back home. The government refused to pay to send the body back to parents. This is extremely sad. 

     Now I had an experience with a death when I was in Wakeham Bay. A toddler was murdered by the mother. In the matter of investigation the child's body was taken south to Montreal. 

     A year later one of the elders asked me about the baby and where the body was. I didn't have an answer. I didn't know what happened to the body. I can't remember what I told him but it would have been of little value. I was in my mid 20's and the Quebec administrator was also in his mid 20's We were not at an age where we were mature enough to think about the significance of bodies. We were not trained to look after a murder. 

     I have thought of this incident many times and asked myself why I didn't take some action. I  could have written a letter. The powers that be played fast and loose with some of these issues.

    The interview this morning explained just how bad things were when the government refused to send a body back home. 

MORE ON RESIDENTIAL SCHOOL TRAGEDY

     Check out the Furry Gnome for more information on the aboriginal tragedy found lately at Kamloops B.C. 

     Furry Gnome comes from an academic background and has done his research on this issue. 

      Check him out. 

A TRAGIC DISCOVERY

     A few days ago in Canada they discovered the bodies of 215 indigenous children who were at a residential school . This school operated by a church, from about 1890 to 1980 .  The bodies were on the school property

     Churches made an aggressive effort to get aboriginal children to their school. Children were forcibly taken from their parents. Many times the parents did not know where their children were. Just think what a trauma it would be if your young children were taken away from you? 

     The churches idea was Christianity , make the kids into little white men and beat the aboriginal culture out of them. Along the way there were many tragedies. Children were mistreated badly. In many cases they were beaten and assaulted. Living conditions were poor and many children died. Tuberculosis was common and at that time they didn't know much about treating it. Kids were crammed into small quarters so any germs could spread rapidly.

    But 215 kids? Come on. There should have been some kind of communication. In many cases parents were not told of the death of their child.

    Kids went back to their communities and were not able to cope in their home community. The original culture was gone. 

    In 1968 , when I  was a local administrator in a small Innuit settlement, a child was murdered. The police came in and took the body out for forensic examination. About a year later one of the elders asked me where the child's body was. I couldn't tell him. I regret that I did not write and ask where the child's body was. So in the 1960's the authorities still played fast and lose with the way aboriginals were treated. 

     Now begins the sad task of identifying the bodies and telling families what happened to their ancestors.

    Will we ever learn?

RISKY ADVENTURE

        I had many adventures  when I lived in the north. You had to be adventurous to see and learn about things. You had to take some precautions to be safe because there was some risk.

         However, there was one adventure that I took that was much  too risky. Looking back I see that it  was a high risk adventure and that at the time I didn't fully appreciate it. 

          My adventure was to go up the Mackenzie River...all 1010 miles of it.  Not only was it a long river but a large river. At Point separation it is 10 miles wide. As you move up the river there are some rapids and some fast water. So for most of the river there's little  danger.

         Many northern people would dream of boating up the Mackenzie but few ever do it. The micro Manager wanted this adventure and so did I so we made plans. We had a good boat and two motors. We had camping equipment and used the RCMP to keep track of us. Always the next detachment of police were watching for us and if we didn't appear they would have to search for us. 

      The upper Ramparts where the river narrows

There is a tremendous amount of barge traffic on the river as most northern freight comes in on the Mackenzie. So I managed to snag a navigational chart of the river. The policeman I got it from wanted it back and he wouldn't tell me how he got it.  So navigation worked this way .  You would line up between two very large diamond signs that you could see from 5 to 20 miles away. Stay between those signs and you were okay. They sounded and dredged the channel 

       Weather was another thing out of our control . The first five days were

warm calm and beautiful summer weather. One night we happened to be stopped in a settlement. That night a storm hit. Our canvas over the boat leaked like it wasn't there. The next morning someone found us and took us to an empty government house. It stormed for three days. The river rose and was swollen. We were in a hurry so we started out when the storm was over. We thought we would travel along the bank. Within 5 miles we hit a rock. Luckily the boat suffered no damage One of the props had minor damage so we escaped with little damage. We decided to go back to following markers but when we were out further in the river the current was so swift were were going to get swamped.  Luckily we found a small inlet on a sand bar that we entered before the boat swamped. 

     The San Sault is a famous set of rapids but we navigated them without problems. Just take your time. We had misjudged our gas supply but got very lucky when we found an oil exploratory camp. 

                      The Lower Ramparts

     After  those problems we had nice sailing for about 400 miles. We had to cross a corner of Great Slave lake for a bout 15 miles. We were in an open area the was exposed to 250 miles of water. We started out right after dawn to try and miss any rough water. The waves did roll in and we could not run into them but had the go slowly and take each wave one at a time. 

                     The end and we're still alive

       So we made it and my mother gave a great sigh of relief as I had promised to phone her when we were finished.

       It was an adventure and trip of a life time. 

      However , when I look back at it I realize how incredibly dangerous it was. A series of small errors could have led to catastrophic ending. 

                     Looking out over Great Slave Lake 

                     There was some great scenery as the Camsel Mountains. Most of it was through flat country. 

ANNIVERSARY

      Tomorrow is our anniversary. Yes, you guessed it it. I was scanning slides and many memories came back.

      We were married in Inuvik. We met there and decided to get married there.

      We were both in our mid 20's and it would have been difficult to organize a wedding back home 1599 miles away.

     The Micro Manager wanted some of the traditions. Many people helped us get organized.   Most of our friends lived with us.

     We were married in the Stringer Hall Chapel. Stringer hall was a student residence for about 300 kids. The residence was run by the Anglican church so they had to have a chapel for the kids. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                    The reverend's wife set up many things for us. She played the organ. She picked the hymns. She got a choir. She found  flower girl and ring bearer. She was a sweetheart and we remember her to this day. 

          So on a bright sunny day  55 years ago the Micro Manager and I took the plunge into a long married life.

     One thing that was unique about the chapel was the painting at the front. It was painted by a pilot who stayed overnight in the hostel . Each night he was there he added to the painting. The children were hostel kids he used as models. Take a closer look and you see the kids with their parkas. 

     Unfortunately this large complex has been taken down. 

      

I DON'T LIKE MY WEATHER FORECAST

      Today we had a rather nasty day. It was windy. Thunder showers would blow through with wind and heavy rain. There was lots of lightning and thunder. 

      I was going to get groceries at 7:00 AM but it was raining. I decided to have breakfast and see if it stopped raining. Well it stopped raining so I got my groceries. 

     About noon there was lots of thunder and lightning and a heavy shower.

     So it's been a very unpleasant day. 

     We are a bit dry here so some rain would be appreciated. I have some garden planted but I think it's too early as there could be frost. 

     Tonight it is supposed to rain and the rain will change into snow by morning so I may have some snow photos for you in the morning. 

     And if I'm lucky it might not snow!

WHALING

      I had the good fortune to be taken on a whaling trip while I was in the western arctic.(Inuvik)   I was teaching in a school with an approximate 900 enrolment, 50 teachers and 6 caretakers. 

      Some of the caretakers would spend part of the summer hunting whales and processing skin, fat and meat. They asked four of us if we'd like to go with them. I couldn't say no to this invitation. 

     They had their camp set up in an area known as White Fish station. They had camped there many times before and a lot of the equipment they used was stored there. 

     They hunted the beluga whales . Their hunting was not terribly efficient. They would spot some whales and chase them . The whales would need to come up to breath and then with a high powered rifle they would shoot at what little part was above water. So picture this. The boat is going up and down on the waves and the whale is also going up and down. Good luck in making a shot.

     However, when I went out they did manage to shoot a whale. Then they have to quickly harpoon the whale and attach floats to it. They then tow it to the beach. They were not able to harpoon the whale when I was there so the whale sunk and was lost. 

    Processing the whale on the beach is a tremendous amount of work. They carefully take off the white skin. Then they collect the fat. Sea mammals have a high percentage of fat. Then they take off the meat. The meat is very black. It is hung over poles and dried to be eaten later. 

    The fat is boiled and the skin cooked in it. This is the muktuk which is stored to be eaten later. I did not try any of this food as I was not offered a taste. However, the people in the area looked at muktuk as a delicacy. This meat is highly nutritious and contains many vitamins necessary for good health.

             

                          Taking a shot

                     Attempting to harpoon

 

                    Separating skin and blubber

                     Skin hung over poles to dry

Boiling the  fat in an old barrel

Meat hung over poles to dry

                       Tending the fire and boiling the fat

The skin has been cut in squares but not separated so that it is easier the work with.

    This whole process is somewhat different in various areas

    To live in an arctic climate rich food containing lots of fat is necessary for energy and body heat. These were some of the few hunters who knew how to harvest whales.