"Gathering of Generations" Little Red River August 2013

"Gathering of Generations" Little Red River August 2013
Ruth has been with me on my work many times, but at the end of August, I was able to go with her to one of her jobs: being First Aid attendant for the 'Gathering of Generations'

Many of the people attending came from nearby Fox Lake,
but others were from further away, and stayed on site.
Here a family has set up old-fashioned canvas tents supported
by fresh-cut aspen poles.

Fossil branching corals (Thamnopora?) in the Devonian Grosmont Formation.
The round bumps at the bottom of the picture are
the 'stumps' of the 'trunks' of the branches, now flattened,
which were the coral's anchors to the sea floor 400mmya +/-.

Ruth preparing supper for us in the camper.

Our insta-buddies Brandon and Robert.
They glommed on to Ruth as soon as we drove on to the grounds.
and were her shadows for the 4 or 5 days we were there.

One of the field events was the ladies frying pan toss.
A de-handled cast-iron frying pan is thrown for distance.

Another popular event was the post-push, kind of an inverse tug of war.
The idea is to push the opposing team out of the ring

Kind of traditional....
But kind of not.

This little guy is fascinated with the drummer,
who is literally and figuratively warming up his drum.

Part of the festivities are the very competitive 'Hand Games',
where one team tries to guess in which hand a pebble or button
has been hidden by the opposing team.

Sunset at the mouth of the Little Red (Mikkwa) River as it flows into the Peace River.
The boat is waiting for the much-delayed winner, and hundred or so losers
of the rubber duck race.

Ruth's MTC, left, was necessarily close to the action,
and so our camper was too.

Privacy and modesty be damned- we're taking a shower!
John was skeptical of the set-up, but had to acknowledge,
after the fact, that it was worthwhile.

The clearer, but very red water of the Little Red River,
slowly mixing with the muddier Peace River.
The Caribou Mountains are on the far horizon.

Invited for the second year was a group of Dene singers/drummers,
from Meander River, north of High Level- another sign of improving
relations between Cree and Dene, who have been rivals or even
enemies for generations before.
They were also kind enough to pull me out of the ditch I had slid into
while on the very muddy road from John d'Or Prairie to the site.

The round house after the festivities were over,
and after the clean-up crew had done their work.
A skeletal Stonehenge.

Sandhill Cranes on their way south.
But after the gathering, we were going even further north.

Matthew, who lives near the ferry crossing.

Ruth easing the MTC onto the barge for the trip across the Peace River.
Because it was so long and heavy, the MTC was the only vehicle for this ferry run.

BFF
Ruth and Velma Laboucan, who met two years ago
while Ruth was working in the area.