A bit of culture...

Beading is a traditional Dene craft, and there are beautiful examples of handiwork all over the NWT.  Below is a picture of the moccasins that my cousin's mother-in-law made for my aunt in commemoration of my cousin's wedding.

I have been wanting to try it since I got here and tonight I had the opportunity to participate in a small workshop.  Our instructor was a woman from the DehCho (Providence)...  its quite a lot of work, so no,  I didn't come away with a pair of mocassins, or even a card holder... but I did make a little Santa that I will turn into a brooch.   It probably took about an hour per Santa for each of us starting out... so maybe a card holder next.  

Some pics from our evening:



If you would like to see some other examples, here is a link to an on-line store operated by the Tlicho (near Yellowknife) where you can will find lots of great beading handiwork.

http://www.tlicho.ca/tlicho_onlinestore/catalog

Summer in Smith

Its hard to believe the summer is over -- it really flew by.  We had an amazing 'first' summer up here (yes we've already decided it won't be our last) and were very very  happy that Rob's boys, Jake and Jamie, were able to come up.

I spent the first three weeks of summer teaching for Aurora College's Teacher Education Program in Edzo (see earlier post). When I got back to Smith we only had three weekends left with the boys and we crammed in a lot.  Here is a quick recap of some of the highlights:

• Canada Day -- the boys were in Smith and I was in Rae. 
• Story telling festival and Aikaitcho Assembly -- my fist experience watching Dene hand games. Its a guessing game with high stakes -- apparently a lot of betting goes on (sometimes tens of thousands of dollars).  The drums, energy and showboating are amazing -- you can watch for hours.    
• Annual Pine Lake Picnic in the Park (Wood Buff) -- lots of food and fun -- the boys participated in traditional Dene games as well as a canoe race while I helped out with the kayak demonstrations.
•  A fly-in fishing trip to a cabin owned by one of Rob's staff on Lake Germaine.  It was a beautiful spot -- lots of fishing, hanging by the fire, swimming, canoeing, boating, eating, etc. -- a great little getaway.  
• Paddlefest on the Slave River (see earlier post). 
• An evening trip to the Salt Plains (WBNP), a unique habitat with salt mounds and a great place to check out tracks. 
• Road trip down to Edmonton -- included are some photos from Alexandra Falls, NWT.
•  We also did a rafting trip on the Nahanni near the end of August-- see separate post below