Friday, August 29, 2008

Whapmagoostui, day two

Due to unforeseen circumstances I haven't been able to get much done here as of yet, and its unclear how much I will be able to do, but despite being a little frustrated I really do appreciate how lovely this area is. Right between the Hudson Bay on one side and the Great Whale River on the other, there are stunning views from every direction. Haven't met many people yet but everyone so far has been amazingly helpful. Even the dogs! (Though that is nothing new, in all the communities there are always dogs running around, who will cling to you if you give them the slightest bit of attention. My buddy today just happened to be much cuter than usual, as you will see below). So here are some pictures of the community - enjoy and maybe I'll be home sooner than thought! (Update: its taken so long to upload all the pictures for this post that I am now resigning myself to being here until likely Tuesday to try and get a guide working.... am waiting to talk to my other supervisor about how to proceed). Wish me luck!

My buddy on my walk this morning. So cute!
A teepee off in the distance, hard to tell if its for smoking meat or no.
A view of the Great Whale River. The river going into Hudson's Bay.A pond atop the hill I was climbing, vainly trying to find more mountain ash.
A better view of the Bay, with a big boat in it!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

And finally.... Whapmagoostui


Greetings all, I'm writing to you from the 55th paralell. I have arrived in the final community of this trip, Whapmagoostui, or Kuujjuarapik on the Innu side or as everyone still calls it, Great Whale. I'm no longer staying in housing from the health board, but rather a research station run by the University of Laval. It's nice, but has emphasized that I'm definitely not in my own apartment, so I'm really feeling the push now to finish and return to Montreal.

The one upside to this place is that is does have internet, so I can try and sum up what has happened in the last little while.

I travelled successfully from Waskaganish to Nemaska around the 11th. Nemaska is a very small community, with only 600 people, in a beautiful spot. There are hydro projects very close to the community though, and I've heard that the environment has noticeably changed in the last few years. I could see large dams being built in the distance.

I was there for a little less than a week, then got a ride with an interesting family to Mistissini. There I was overjoyed to reunite with my dear darling Christine, who had been there all month. Mistissini is one of the largest Cree communities, with around 4000 people, but I still found it to have a nice sense of smallness. I had a great field assistant, Francois - here's a picture of us sampling the tons of mountain ash that was around the town!

I was also lucky enough to be in Mistissini during a traditional gathering, where I saw elders preparing mountain ash as a medicine! We had a very successful meeting between the scientists of our team, represented by my supervisor who I met up with there in Mistissini, where we had some super yummy blueberry bannock. I also got to see ladies make beautiful crafts at the
gathering, and bought a pair of authentic mocassins! (the ones without the fur to the left)

Due to my great help, I left Mistissini after just a few days and went to Chisasabi. I unfortunately arrived just before a weekend of miserable rain and weather, so I couldn't collect, but I had been developing a cold so it was a good opportunity to stay in, work on data stuff, and get better. Once I got collecting, things went well and again after not quite a week, I took off for Whapmagoostui.
It is definitely the north here! I was amazed even in Chisasabi at the difference in the ecosystem, with sand and a lot more moss cover as we approach the tundra. Anyways, I'm now hoping to finish up either Sunday or Monday, and scurry back to civilization. I think that being out here has definitely helped me mature as a person, be more independent, etc., but I really want a Starbucks. Smooches to you all!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Mistissini, then on to Chisasabi

Hi all, sorry for the lack of postings, my access to the internet has been severely limited recently. I am now in Mistissini after a successful sojourn in Nemaska, and am off to Chisasabi, the true north, tomorrow. Very much looking forward to it! Though, Mistissini is great, there is a traditional gathering going on right now, and I of course can hang out with the lovely Christine.
No signs of bears yet, just lots of bugs according to the day. Miss you all - looking on track to be home Sept. 3rd!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Off to Nemaska

Hey folks, I'm flying off to Nemaska today. Ashleigh has a few more days here to finish up her work. I've managed to collect 5 populations here so it was pretty successful. Also got to pick up some local crafts that are really cool.
I don't know how good the internet connection I may have in Nemaska will be, so this could go on hiatus for a bit. Hope you're all well!

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Waskaganish, days 5-6

Went back to the site where Ashleigh had thought she'd seen mountain ash yesterday, and as we went a different way from the other day, we did indeed find it! We had waited to go out for fear of rain, and while it didn't rain, the previous dampness meant that the bugs were INSANE. The things I do for another population.
After that, Ashleigh showed me the amazing rapids near town, and on the way down there we spotted even more mountain ash! Going back there today, along with to the other site I've heard have them, so should have all the populations I need. Tomorrow I'm going to try and interview a few people about the preparation of it.
Enjoy this little video I took at the rapids. Excuse the insane talk, we were pretty tired and had gotten very frustrated of dealing with the bugs....

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Waskaganish, days 2-4

One of the streets in the town.

Hi folks, things are chugging away here. I've collected two populations and conducted one interview! Had hoped to collect another yesterday but it looks like Ashleigh hallucinated seeing them on the blueberry fields near town. But it meant I spent the afternoon working with a really interesting guy, the town's environmental officer, and discussing lots of different topics. I also ended up getting cake and ice cream while talking to an archeologist whose worked here for a long time. Going to go follow up on a tip I got yesterday at some point today, hopefully the fog and moisture we have right now will burn
off. Here are some of the pictures I've taken so
far, its really a beautiful spot here, and having berry bushes everywhere to munch off certainly doesn't hurt!
The Rupert River going into James Bay. (below) A smokehouse and a hide being tanned.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Waskaganish, day one

So we made it safely to Waskaganish, though it was a long drive, with some rain which we were concerned would slow us down, but we made it just in time to claim our keys to our transits. I'm staying in a quite nice house with satellite tv and a pirated wireless connection. I had thought that my posts here would be sporatic, but maybe not.
Had an up and down day, spent a lot of time talking to people and looking for people, but not really accompishling a lot, until the late afternoon when I found a huge stand of mountain ash, and then we found the healer we were looking for. We're supposed to go talk to her tomorrow, we'll see!
I went to a feast this evening, and tried several kinds of bannock and MOOSE meat. It was pretty good. We also found a huge moose bone while looking through the forest, so I'm sure to have lots of stories once I'm back!
The schedule I had painstakingly put together is of course already looking unreliable... my goal is still to be back in Montreal for my birthday. We'll see. We'll also see how often I get to post here! Love to you all.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Val-d’Or

It was a long day of driving but we got off at a decent time and have safely made it to Val-d'Or. Tomorrow will be a longer day, with a long stretch of gravel road. We have accommodation reserved in our first destination, Waskaganish, from the 5th to the 11th, and it in the works for us to go to Nemaska after that. We'll have to see if Ashleigh, my labmate, and I will stick together for a long time though. Neither of us has a field assistant but it would be a lot of work. We shall see. Ta for now.