Katimavik house in Peterborough

Wow! What a great night with some amazing people! The ladies and I had invited the Metis Council to join us for supper, so they could see what a day in the life of Katimavik was. I was thrilled to be cooking supper for all of these incredible people, but was terrified that the Pulled Pork and Pulled Bear with homemade BBQ sauce, was not going to turn out that great. Not only did we have the pulled pork and bear, we also had apple coleslaw and homemade Metis Bannock.

Everyone was thrilled with the meal and the Mardi Gras game that was played. Earlier in the day I went around the living room and hid over 20 Mardi Gras bead necklaces. Once everyone had arrived I asked them to go and find 2 necklaces that were different colours. Once everyone had found their beads, I explained that during supper they were not a loud to say 3 words: Meits, The, And. Everyone seemed to love the idea of the game! We had a lot of great laughs.

Now that Katimavik is starting to come to an end, I am realizing how much I am going to miss everyone from the council! They have helped make our time here so special! I hope to see you all again!!! <3

Erin

We went to Lang Pioneer Village to enjoy some Christmas celebrations. It was very interested to see how the early settlers lived and how their lives were so different from today. I would say that one of my favorite parts of being there this evening was seeing the old print press at The Register (that was the name of the newspaper). It was very interesting to see how they used all natural products to use for the ink (cow fat and other natural ingredients).

Erin

It was really cool setup, I wish they would have it during the daytime but they didn’t so it was pretty cold outside. I really liked the old houses and how they lived and how spoilt we are now it just shows there was a lot of hard work to be done in those times. Everyone was really friendly I was taking so many pictures of the scenery. There was also a lot of singing which I did enjoy we also went to a few different buildings and they would educate you on what it was like to be in that time period. How lonely it can be because they did not have social media let alone a telephone in 1800’s. Overall I did like the experience and I would definitely go again but maybe next time during the day. 

Skye D

I enjoyed the horse ride the most. like way too much. It was the one thing we as a group did together that didn't involve carols. It was fun to see the entire village at once, almost, and it was great.

Ciao!

_Ron

I enjoyed the hotel as I thought about the travellers who would make their stay there. The building gave me the chills 

Chelsea

My favourite part about the lang pioneer village was going into the transportation barn and realizing that back in the day they had to work so hard training their horses to transport goods from the store back to their homes. It was amazing to see how our ancestors worked so hard at getting what they needed to support their families.

Super Skye

So, as you probably all know, the Katimavik household is being CLOSED in January. So what does that mean? It means we have to pack up our house, that's what. So like any good group of girls, we packed up each deigning to do various little things.

A group of us tackled the bookshelves, and we still have... A lot... Of books left over. That Jackie is taking care of. Maybe.

But we moved a lot of things downstairs, and it's exciting because we're going to fully and slowly pack this place up between job placements and school (WE HAVE A THOUSAND WORD ESSAY DUE SOON OH GOD), and our insane calendar.

To top it off we also decided to switch up the rooms, so those had a good overhaul of cleaning and moving and a lot of frustrations were to be had. Basically us and full insane cleaning is a... A good time.... I think....

Anyway, ciao guys!

So, back home I'm USUALLY a part of a dance group called the Blue Bird Native Dance. I think Group is tagged on at the bottom. So, I'm a Jingle Dancer, and I love dancing when I hear the drums and it's hard to sit still at that time. See, I haven't danced for a LONG time, and I had decided "Hey! Let's do a traditional dance workshop!"

So, hah, that's all fine and dandy. I showed the group how to do a jingle dance, how to... Well I think I showed them how to do fancy shawl, it's been god knows how long since I danced that, and I showed them how to do traditional woman's. JoDanny joined in and... Since I don't know men's dances very well he participated and did the woman's dance with us. I feel bad for him, I was trying to show him the dances and just... It's a lot of fancy footwork (compared to the round dances here it's nothing!)

We worked up a sweat, I think we wore out one of the girls, but it was super fun and I'm glad everyone at least tried it!

That's all for today, guys! Ciao!

So, when we do workshops, it's really fun. I love doing them. It makes me feel special. But so, I did two workshops back to back (almost) on crafts. Basically.

First! I taught everyone how to bead. It was insanity. We ended up with these insanely tiny as hair needles that were a pain to thread. I showed everyone how to bead in two different methods I was taught, with the vast majority preceding to use the way I was originally taught, which I think is far superior but whatever really floats your boat.

Second, we worked on plushness. Fun stuff, right? Eh. I guess. I traced out the pattern and taught everyone how to do basic hand sewing. We had a courageous group member that sewed it differently, and I'm.... Curious as to how it will go.

Anyway, ciao guys!

I had offered the idea of telling traditional Haudenosaunee stories with the volunteers. They loved the idea of storytelling, so I had agreed and had to gather some stories that I had heard from my grandfather long ago.

I had prepared the stories by going back to my reservation and asking my primary source of information… My grandfather and all of my elders. I had written all of the stories down and then put them into a final document to be printed off for the workshop. When it was time for storytelling, I was very nervous! I had never had to read a story from a piece of paper before. I usually expand, or shorten the stories when I tell them from my head. Because I wanted to be on a timely manner, I had to write them down onto a piece of paper. Once I read the stories, I had asked everyone what they thought of the story and why?

  I had a lot of responses from the volunteers as I could see their hands shoot up and waiting for the chance to speak. I thought that it was nice that people were interested in my people’s stories. After I was done telling my stories, one of the volunteers was so interested in the stories, which she wanted to tell me a story that was similar to my story that I had told. So I gave her a chance to tell it and was very interested in the story! I thought to myself… Wow! I’m so lucky to hear a story from a different tribe across Canada. The story was very good! I really enjoyed all the stories she had told even after the day was over! After I was going to talk to the volunteers on a 1-on-1 bases. I had talked to all the volunteers and got their responses; all the volunteers got the message within the story/teaching. Two of the volunteers had asked me to send them the stories that I had told them. I thought to myself, “I’m so glad that these two volunteers really liked the stories I had told them!”

It was a sad day when I discovered all of this spoiled food in the fridge. In the photo I have about 15 pounds of rotten food in my hand. Meats, vegetables, fruits and left overs were all wasted! This happened for various reasons. Food that was put away was not properly labeled with a date so when Katimavikers went into the fridge to look for lunches or snacks they didn’t know how fresh some of the food was which deterred them from eating it. Food of that week was not cleaned out or rotated in the fridge therefore there were leftovers from 2 weeks ago just sitting there (gross). The house manager also did not communicate with fellow Katimavikers what needed to be eaten and leftovers and older produce was not incorporated into the menu.  As much as I wanted to get rid of this rotten food and throw it into the compost immediately I left it on the counter for the volunteers to see and deal with. I hope that as a group we have learned from this and that this amount of wasting will not happen again. How much food do you waste on a weekly basis? 

Michelle

My name is Brooke.  I'm a Fleming College placement student with Katimavik.  Coming into the program I wasn't expecting it to be what it is.  The first time I walked in it was during dinner.  Everyone was looking at me as I slowly, awkwardly found a spot at the crowded table.  We did a grace which was a sheet on first impressions.  And just as I thought, I was described for the most part as awkward and shy.  Finally the food came around and that wasn't what I expected either! Which didn't turn out to be a bad thing, because since starting with Katimavik they have helped me to make some healthy lifestyle changes that led to me losing about 30lbs. so far.  

I didn't just forcibly stop eating because of Katimavik. It all started with that one shy, awkward dinner, and now we are like a big family eating healthy meal after healthy meal.

Not only did it help change my lifestyle and to help me lose weight, but before Katimavik, my daughter and I were eating whatever was the quickest, convenient or "good" meals. After hearing all of Jackie's knowledge on what is truly a good meal (compared to the junk I was shovelling into my daughter), it made me want to cringe.  All the fillers, salts, sugars, preservatives and chemicals we were eating was ridiculous. 

One of the Calendar activities that I had planned was to do a Cree Bingo night. I thought it would be a fun learning activity on the Language of our people. I didn’t take into account the amount of research that I would have to do in order to find Cree Words, let alone make the bingo cards. ☺ It took me about 3 weeks to finally get all the information that I needed, but I did it! 

The day came to play my game; I was excited but nervous at the same time. I had put so much time and energy into making this a fun activity for all the KatimaLadies, and was worried that I had messed up with some of the words or meanings, which I did. But the ladies were very patient and really seemed to enjoy the game. We played 3 rounds and were all laughing and giggling the whole time. ☺ Hiy Hiy (thank you) to all the girls for making the game fun and interesting! 

So much information was gained on the weekend that Wayne from Career Aviators came and stayed at the KatimaHouse with us.

Wayne has been working with us since the beginning of the program on the many subjects that can help prepare us for future job interviews and job preparation. He has had us do many activities such as calling local business with professions that we are interested in. We had to ask them questions on how they got into that career, what they like about their profession, what education would someone need to get onto this career path and if they think that there will be jobs in that field in 5 to 10 years. He has also had us do some calming exercises to practice before an interview. These exercises are going to be a great help not only when we are stressed about an interview but also in everyday life.

It was great to finally meet Wayne in person, when he came to stay with us for a weekend seminar. During the weekend he gave us some very great advice on building resumes. Wayne not only has helped me gain the confidence that I will need in the future, not only for the job interviews but for the job as well. Wayne is a remarkable career advisor and I would recommend him to anyone that is in need of resume building and job preparation.

Hello everyone my name is Skye Durocher I am from Fishing Lake Metis Settlement one of eight Settlements in Alberta. I would like to take some time and read some of Louis Riels quotes.

  “I am more convinced every day without a single exception I did right, and I have always believed that as I have acted honestly the time will come when the people of Canada will see and acknowledge it. “

“We must cherish our inheritance we must preserve our nationality for the youth of our future the story should be written down to pass down. “

These two quotes are two of my favorite’s, Louis Riel was looked as a traitor and hanged for treason for doing something he thought he was doing right. In another quote after all the work he had done with all the other metis leaders he talks about how we must preserve the nationality for the metis youth. 

I had been asked a question before coming here and I thought I would answer that question now.   

What Louis Riel day mean to me?  It means that I have a community waiting for me back home.  Because of Louis Riel I have a home community where I can practice my culture and traditions. It is soon time for me to get home and I am starting to miss my community. I recently had a conversation with one of the councillors and telling her how I am starting to get home sick and she told me that Fishing Lake is my rock and my stars. That meant a lot to me that where ever I go my community will always be there and I can come back and they will welcome me again. It is because of strong Metis leaders like Louis Riel that I have a community to call home.  

I would like to take this time to thank Metis Nation of Ontario for inviting me out here and Katimavik, Rupertsland institute  and Metis Nation of Alberta for giving me this opportunity.