Full Stomachs, Full Hands, Full Day

Bannock, goose, and fish

Full stomachs ride ATVs

Warm hands are stitching

I don’t want to leave

Why are we not in Churchill?

Well, screw everything

Sky finally cleared

On our 15-hour train ride

Saw the Northern Lights

After an exciting night of work and play, most of us woke with a bit of difficulty. Those of us who hadn’t already packed our stuff up did so before and after breakfast. Later, we all brought our bags down to the foyer.

Too quickly, our stay at the CNSC was over and we headed to Cape Merry. Cape Merry was really interesting! We got a tour from a Parks Canada Ranger. He told us so much about the first European inhabitants of Churchill. My cheeks were numb, and I’m sure I wasn’t alone in that, but most of us stuck it out for an extended tour. Those who were lucky found nearly frozen cranberries growing in a dusting of snow beside lichen-covered fragments of the Canadian Shield. Isostatic post-glacial rebound is fascinating, and so is France’s role in the American Revolution.

After our visit to Cape Merry, we went into the town of Churchill to visit a few stores so we could bring home mementos for you all.

Next, we went to Jill’s house for lunch, ATV rides, mitt (adult mittens) making, discussion, and general merry-making. Jill is a Canadian Ranger, and leader of a group of Junior Canadian Rangers, some of whom were part of this trip. The snow goose, Canada goose, ocean river trout, and bannock were delicious.

We cleaned up our mitt making mess then left Jill’s house for a visit to Dene Village. Dene Village was the third site that the Sayisi Dene people were relocated to by the Canadian government. We paid our respects by sprinkling tobacco below a plaque honoring those whose lives had ended in Dene Village.

Next, we visited a Métis woman named Myrtle. She told us about her past and her culture while helping us make key fobs (chains).

After sunset, we headed to the train station where said our goodbyes to the Junior Rangers, Jill, and the camera crew.

We gorged ourselves on donuts and Gypsy’s pizza for dinner then quickly got to work processing our pictures with the WhiskerPrint program. It has been exciting to see results from our work. Others continued work on their mitts, which look superb.

Around 1:30am, those maniacs who were still awake (most of us) realized that the sky had cleared and the Aurora Borealis was visible through the train windows.

Assorted Kelvin and Park students (We miss you, Jordan, Antonina, and Dania!!)