Media.Knet.Ca

Eight Canadian Rangers have become the first Canadian Rangers from Northern Ontario to leave Canada for training. They completed a week of advanced training at the U.S. Army's training facility at Fort Knox, Kentucky, which has some of the world's most sophisticated battle simulators and about 5,500 troops. The eight were Master Corporals Matthew Gull of Peawanuck, Joseph Lazarus of Kashechewan, Craig Moore of Constance Lake, and Rangers Redfern Wesley of Kashechewan, Derek Moses of Moose Factory, Barry McKay of Kitchenuhmaykoosib, and Richard Mekanak and George Tait of Sachigo Lake. At the request of the U.S. general commanding Fort Knox, the Rangers set up a tipi at the main entrance to Fort Knox and they became headline stars when the media learned about their presence. They received a full-page report in The National Post, appeared on CTV's main newscast, were reported on by CNN, and featured in special reports by CBC-Radio in both Ontario and Quebec. The Canadian Rangers astounded both Canadian and U.S. troops with their competence, including their shooting, rappelling and their expertise during a day-long combat exercise at Fort Knox's artificial town, where soldiers learn to fight in the world's most advanced urban warfare training facility. the Rangers played the role of local partisans assisting the Canadian troops. On March 13, 2002 the National Post carried an article about this Canadian force. Read this story

The dog sled expedition arrived in Keewaywin just this morning. They will be camping here overnight and tomorrow the kids at the Keewaywin School will be getting a special treat. They also did a little rescue as my cousins were leaving to go to Sandy Lake by skidoo, their machine broke down almost half ways. They were stranded. Then they saw something coming over the horizon. At first they thought it was wolves running in packs but upon closer inspection they saw that it was the dog sled expedition. They were rescued and brought home by dogsled. Now that was something quite unexpected and also a little adventurous.

The Keewaywin winter road is now open. People who were travelling from town going home to Keewaywin were left waiting for the road to open. The equipments were constantly gettting stuck, breaking down or the fuel just ran out. About seven vehicles travelled home, the going was not easy and had to rely on each other to pull each other out. Today is the first day it is open, the road is still not complete but they made a one way lane for the seven vehicles that were stranded, so they can get home. And we are also thankful for the people of Weagamow for helping with the clearing of the winter road from their end and Koocheching. It was a joint effort to get the winter road open.

Keewaywin winter road is progressing very slow due to the machinery getting stuck in the high snow and the equipment breaking down. The winter road crew is working on the portage near the Weagamow Lake junction. The road is very steep with snow and only has a one way lane. On the other side of the portage on the ice, it is very slushy. There were vehicles parked on the ice, due to the fact that the winter road is not opened yet. Most of the Keewaywin people who were stuck on the other side had someone from the Keewaywin community pick them up by skidoo and traveled to the other side of the portage where they are picked up by vehicles. We are anticipating the road to be finished by this Friday. One person got stuck in the high snow going to Weagamow Lake. He didn't make the trip and got stuck on the ice. He stayed there for hours and his battery gave out too. He had no winter clothing and almost froze to death. It was a good thing someone was driving around, checking up on the road. Remember to take warm clothing when travelling on the winter road. Take a lighter, matches, and warm blankets with you. A little axe would be great to put inside your vehicle for protection and also for survival.

Jim Ryder, from Wisconsin, USA, began a solo dog sled expedition on March 16th. He started in Fort Severn and will go through Peawanuck, Attawapiskat, Kashechewan, Fort Albany and end in Moosonee. Jim encourages people to stop and say hello. From Moosonee Jim will ride with his dogs and sled in a rail road box car to Cochrane where his pick up crew will meet him. Jim has enough food for his dogs and himself to last 40 days. That doesn’t include the 5 day trip to get to Fort Severn from Wisconsin, nor the 3 day trip from Cochrane to home.

Ryder raised all of his ten dogs he has on his expedition. They are all greenlanders, a breed of sled dogs from Greenland that are well known for their strength and good disposition, not speed. & of his dogs were with him on his expedition last year that started in Churchill, intended to go through Fort Severn and end up in Moosonee. Unfortunately bad weather dramatically slowed his progress. With food supplies dwindling, jim chose to pull out at Gillam.

Jim Ryder lives on Madeline Island which is off the North Coast of Wisconsin in Lake Superior. Jim owns and runs “The Island Inn Motel” on Madeline Island, and also sells real estate. In the winter months, Jims gives guided dog sled trips to people of all ages and abilities. Some trips may consist of a few hours, others can last 2 - 3 days, winter camping and visits to other islands on the frozen Lake Superior.

When asked why he would do a 40 day solo trip, Jim said it was to have a chance to be alone and reflect. The adventure is a bonus.

View pictures of Jim's Preperations and departure from Fort Severn.

We had our Grand opening for our new Northern Store this morning at 11:00 central time. In spite of the snowy conditions, crowds of people arrived for the excitment. We all waited outside for the ribbon cutting so that everyone could go see the inside. Our community elder and Northern Committee member Josie Strang (My aunt) did the honours of cutting the ribbon. There were three Northern vice presidents (Carol, Karen, Gary) and others that came from Winnipeg to attend the opening. After the ribbon cutting, my aunt Josie, Chief Dennis King and Jim (another Northern vice president) gave their speeches. Everyone was eager to get in and do some shopping. The Northern store offered chidren colouring books with crayons and balloons. The adults got a free Northern cap plus a mug. Everyone enjoyed a piece of cake with juice or coffee. There was also a draw for 3 electronics that will be drawn on Saturday March 23,2002. To see pictures, please go to http://photos.knet.ca/PH-northern-opening

Watch for "Pimagihowin 2002, Living from the Land!” It’s an adventure in education and culture taking place, right now, on the land and in a community near you! Paul Pregont, Eric Larsen and sixteen (16) sled dogs are traveling in two (2) sleds from the Keewaytinook Okimakanak offices here in Balmertown and on to Pikangikum, North Spirit Lake, Sandy Lake and beyond. Their adventure will take about a month and take them to many communities on their way around to Pickle Lake. Their goal is to visit with students and elders to learn more about our subarctic region and traditions of the Northern Ojibway, Cree and Oji-Cree people. Their objective, using the Pimagihowin 2002 Curriculum & Activity Guide, is to share knowledge of our traditional culture and the importance of the region we live in with students here and in other countries through encouraging student and youth collaboration. To accomplish this Paul and Eric will introduce and expand on weekly topics and themes during their trail reports, online chats and student questions. The Pimagihowin 2002 Curriculum & Activity Guide provides links to chats, questions for the team, additional resources and much more. Chat topics will include: 1. Planning an Expedition, The Effects of Exploration and The Native Perspective 2. Thinking Seasons, The Climate of northern Ontario and Our Traditional Lifestyle 3. Heroes, Our People and the Rich Tapestry of Our Culture 4. Bio-diversity, Nature in the Subarctic and Traditional uses of Plants and Animals 5. Globalization and The Relationship of Legends, Language and Culture 6. Building a Nation, Defining Freedom and The history of Nishnawbe-Aski Nations Meet the Mushers Paul Pregont Paul is in charge of communications and making sure the technical equipment is working properly. He is also in charge of navigation. Paul’s favorite food is caribou steak fried in butter and “GORP” (good old raisons and peanuts) and cliff bars for snacking. Paul also likes lobster. Paul’s favorite colour is blue and his favorite animal is the polar bear. Paul likes white water rafting, being outdoors and reading. He usually reads books about the arctic and its people because, he says, “The arctic and sub arctic are amazing, they are so unspoiled and in the spring the light makes everything beautiful. He also likes reading about history and geography, because he has always been interested in maps. Paul says, “My advice for young people today is to work hard and keep working on your goals. You may experience temporary set backs, but if you keep trying, you will succeed at whatever you set your mind to. I hope that the students involved in the 2002 program will learn more about the Oji-Cree and why the Hudson Bay area is so important. I also would like students to be able to learn from each other.” Eric Larsen Eric’s favorite food is all kinds of pasta including rainbow rotini, bow ties, spaghetti and ravioli. He likes pasta so much that Jim, from Keewaytinook Okimakanak, has nicknamed him “Noodles.” Eric’s favorite colours are “all of them” and his favorite animal is the Wolverine. Eric likes camping, canoeing, skiing, biking, hiking and just about anything outside. When Eric got into college, he majored in biology and studying plants, animals, ecology and the environment. When Eric was only ten months old his family took him on his first camp and as he grew older he thought that a career as a professional camper would be his goal. So, whenever he looked for work he tried to combine his love of the outdoors with education. Eric says, “The arctic and sub arctic are some of the most environmentally fragile regions in the world. Studying these regions helps create awareness that will ultimately make people more conscious of how their actions affect these regions. I sincerely hope that the students will become more responsible world citizens, respect one another and develop an environmental ethic. I also hope students have fun while learning.” Meanwhile, back at polarhusky.com in Grand Marais, Minnesota Mille Pregont Porsild anchors the “Pimagihowin 2002” project. Mille’s favorite colour is blue and her favorite animal is the wolf. Mille is originally from Denmark and is no stranger to ice, snow covered open spaces and crazy sled dogs. As a little girl sitting on her Grandfather’s knee she listened to his stories about her great grandfather Morten Porsild who was the founder of the first arctic research station in the world, which he built on Disko Island in Greenland. It was Morten’s sons Erling and Thorbjorn Porsild ( Milles great uncles) who moved to Canada and traveled throughout the Northwest and the Yukon Territory by dog teams and eventually built the Reindeer Station at the Mackenzie River Delta. Mille’s favorite food is Risengrod, a Danish Christmas Rice Pudding. Here is the recipe: 568ml (1 pint) milk 75g (3 oz) pudding rice 50g (2 oz) caster sugar 4-5 drops vanilla extract 50g (2 oz) chopped almonds 1 glass sherry 300ml (½ pint) double cream toasted almonds one whole almond Put the milk and rice in a saucepan and simmer for about 20 minutes until the rice is soft and most of the milk is absorbed. Add the sugar, vanilla extract, almonds and sherry and stir well. Leave to cool completely. Stir in the cream then put it all into a serving dish and push the whole almond into the pudding so that it is well hidden. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours. Decorate with the almonds and serve with Kirsebaer Sauce (a Hot Cherry Sauce) made with: 225g (8oz) cherries 110g (4oz) granulated sugar 300ml (½ pint) water 1 tbsp arrowroot Take the stone pits out of the cherries. Put the sugar in a heavy saucepan, add the water and heat very gently until the sugar has dissolved. Then turn up the heat and boil rapidly for 1 minute. Add the cherries and cook them for 10 minutes until tender. Mix the arrowroot with 2 tbsp water and stir into the cherries. Simmer for 2 minutes until the sauce is clear. Serve hot. Risengrod and Kirsebaer Sauce are both traditional Danish favorites for the Christmas season. YumYum!! And oh yeah, in case you were wondering about that whole almond buried in the middle of the rice pudding, it’s a tradition. The whole almond is always placed in the pudding for luck and represents health, wealth, happiness, long life and fertility. If you are the one that finds it in your pudding you get a gift and if you are single, it means you will be the next to marry. Mush on over and check out our pics

The Keewaywin First Nation clinic will be closed for the duration of the week due to the fact that there is no running water. The clinic will be closed by the order of Health Canada. The community has been having difficulties with their water. The treatment plant needs to be replace due to the fact that there is hard water and most of the community residents have been complaining of stomache aches. The clinic has their sewage backed up and there is no pressure in the taps. Only a trickle of water is available for most houses. We must rely on buying bottled water from the community store for our drinking water. Due to the hard water, when we tried to boil tea or make coffe, some thing from the hard water floats to the surface, lime deposits are ruining all coffee makers all over the community. I personally have bought two coffee makers due to the fact of hard water. Someone will be coming from Balmertown to check up on the water situation today. They will be conducting tests and will try to remedy the situation.

About a week ago Allan Kakepetum's cable connection stopped working shortly after the cable modem was installed. I went there numerous times to figure out what was going on. All we knew was that the connection wasn't getting through to the house. On Friday we (Raymond, our community volunteer Joseph Meekis and myself) went out to the house to see if we could get it going again. First Raymond went up to the cable box on the telephone pole and connected a cable line to the adapter. Then we connected the other end directly to the cable modem which was plugged into the house with a long extension cord running outside. The cable modem wasn't recieving any data. Raymond then called Blair Electronics and told them about the problem. Blair suggested that we connect to another adapter on a nearby telephone pole. We found the nearest adapter about twenty feet away. I connected a cable to this adapter and ran the cable over to the connector at the house. When we got inside, to our delight (smiles all around ) the connection was once again established. It was a great feeling to have the connection going again because we had a hard time with it. I actually got a fever while doing this job but on Friday I was feeling better. The pictures were taken of the three of us, Raymond, Joseph and myself, by David McKay. I asked David who was busy at work if he had time to get these pictures posted and he was very much pleased to do so. This is what good team work can aspire to, big smiles and shiney faces all around. See the pictures

From the 10th to the 15th of March, there is the Little NHL league happening in Thunder Bay, Ontario. This tournament is for all young native american hockey players. They will be coming from reserves all across Ontario, Toronto area to Kenora. This is the place to meet a lot of new friends? Inviting everyone ... from your friends and clans who will be there and are looking forward to meeting you.