One of our interviews in the Takla First Nation Reserve took us to the home of Monique….

Our purpose in visiting her was to hear of her passion for the mental health of the Takla Nation, particularly for the youth.

She is actively involved in programs designed to bring healing, beginning with the adults who are still struggling with the scars from the Residential Schools that I mentioned in yesterday’s post.

Monique spoke with great reverence about the importance of the hereditary Elder system in the Takla Nation. She herself is a Chief and a medicine maker. Her title will become “Elder” once she turns 65.

Just as Julie had, she told of how she gives away the things that she makes…whether it is canned bear meat or an elixir to cure a cold.

She also talked to us about the importance of the Potlatch. I had actually seen this word written in RED on the calendar at the school……

….but I hadn’t understood what it meant. The word itself looks like “pot luck” and that was my immediate thought……

I WAS WRONG!!

The Potlatch is a ceremonial gathering of all of the clans in the reserve. It can be a celebration where someone gains “status” (more about that later), a sending out of the spirit of someone who has died, a celebration of a new birth, or even a shaming ceremony to discipline members of the clan.

We were told that the four clans…. Beaver, Bear/Wolf, Frog and Caribou…. enter the room separately and sit on the four sides of the room. As the ceremony progresses, individuals share their resources with other clans, handing out food, supplies and even money if needed.

Just like Julie, Monique had a beading setup sitting on the table in front of her….

As she talked, she absentmindedly took a stitch or two….

When I asked what she was working on, she said she was making a headdress for a “Naming Ceremony”, the next step up on their “status”. This is where one receives their spirit name, which tells you something about that person, their personality, or their mission in this life. They are often given names from their Ancestors.

The woman who will wear this headdress is in her mid-thirties and is being given her grandmother’s name. She has already been thru the “smoke ceremony” where smoke is used to cleanse. She has also appeared before the Elders and has proven that she is a good person.

Monique has already made the apron that she will wear…..

….and also the shawl….

I love the beads and bells….

Isn’t that a fun way to attach the button…..as a square rather than two lines!!

So, Monique now has to finish the headdress….

The center will feature a professionally embroidered “Bear/Wolf”clan emblem and the beaded flowers will decorate each side of the piece.

I asked about the color purple and was there a significance to the color. Monique smiled and said….”no, it is just her favorite color”.

From looking at Monique’s house, I think that it is also HER favorite….

As we left, she thanked us for coming and thanked Michael (our guide) for his continued work with the young men. As the decal on her truck said, she is a…..

….to the youth of the Takla Lake First Nation!!!

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Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

Yesterday, I introduced you to a number of people in the Takla Reserve. Today, let’s meet a few more!!

This is Caroline…..

As you might be able to tell, she is NOT First Nation, but she is an integral part of the society!! She serves as a counselor to one and all and is often summoned in the middle of the night to help.

We met with her and she expressed her love and concern for the people of the Reserve. Her compassion for them oozes out of her pores!! Her house is in the middle of a Reserve gathering point and has a gorgeous view. She said that she often sits and lets the beauty around her work it’s magic to calm her life.

She is truly a blessing to the community!!

We also met Richard…..

……who is a “knowledge keeper”…. an “indigenous librarian” if you will!!

He has recently retired and is looking forward to working with the youth of the Reserve, helping them to remember and understand the history of the Takla people. You could call him an “Oral Historian”!

We visited the home of Devondre…..

….a 17-year old who has just completed Michael’s apprenticeship program. He was not in camp when we first arrived because he was in Prince George sitting his graduation exams. Instead of moving to Prince George for the final three years of his schooling, he had learned via an online course and had PASSED his exams!!

His Mom, Samantha, was thrilled…..

She felt that Michael had come into Devondre’s life at just the right time and had helped him to succeed.

He told us that his favorite classes were Math and that he was trying to decide whether to go to college or work in some other area. Regardless of where he lands, it is apparent that he has the will and drive to succeed.

I loved when his younger brother climbed up into Devondre’s lap…..

It is obvious that Devondre is going to be a shining role model for him as he grows up!!

This is Gina. She was a VERY important part of our visit!!

She is one of the chefs at the local cafe, and arrived early each morning to make breakfast for us, and man it was a good one….

There is one final story that I want to tell…..

When we were driving to the Reserve, we passed a truck with two men sitting on the back. One of these men was Clarence…..

The back story is that Clarence’s sister went missing and was found murdered in a motel.

This type of thing happens so often that there is a group… MMIW (Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women). This group advocates for the end of violence against Native women, drawing attention to the high rates of disappearances and murders of Native People, particularly women and girls.

Clarence is running approximately 150 miles to raise awareness for this group.

EVERYONE in the reserve was talking about it and “Clarence Spotting” reports were ricocheting from person to person. One worker was leaving the cafe, heading home and grabbed a pallet of water and cokes to take with him. When asked what he was doing, he said that he would be passing Clarence and would leave them there.

Another person had paid for a hotel and dinner at one of their stops.

In short, the WHOLE community was on Clarence’s side!!

For the next two days, I want you to meet two exceptional women in the community, and it just so happens that they are both bead artists!!

Please come back!!

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Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!

On Friday morning we left out early and headed to the Takla Lake First-Nation Reserve. We had a full truck with the two of us, Michael (our guide) and the three boys. They were excited to be headed home for a few weeks!!

After 4+ hours of hard travel on dirt logging roads, we were excited to see this sign….

A few minutes later we arrived at Takla Lake and the center of the Takla community……

There are around 800-900 people in the Takla Nation and about 275 actually live on the Reserve.

Our first stop was to drop Tye off and we had the joy of meeting his grandmother, Cecile…..

Isn’t her face expressive??

We had brought some bear meat for her, and Tye got it out of the truck….

She immediately asked if there was any fat on it…..

When we answered “Yes”, she excitedly said that she would use it to make medicine!! Wouldn’t that be fun to watch!!

She pointed to the stretcher bars at the side of her smoke house and longed for the days when she would use it to prepare moose!

She pointed to her flower garden and I discovered this beautiful bush there….

The next stop was to Derek’s Grandmother, Nancy….

She was so sweet as she talked about her grandson and how proud she was that he was part of the youth program that Michael runs.

She was also pleased when a bucket of bear meat was delivered…..

While here, we also met Larry….

….and Darnell…..

Darnell was selling raffle tickets to raise money for the Takla baseball team. We now have a square in the raffle…..

Finally, we headed to Mason’s house. He grabbed his possessions and headed into his Dad/Grandmother’s house…..

…..of course, remembering his fish that he caught last night….

Mason lives next door to the Takla school so we went across for a visit…..

The school houses grades 1 thru 9. First, second and third grade are in one classroom, 4th thru 6th in a second, and finally, 7th thru 9th in the third classroom. If the student wants to study longer they have to travel to Prince George and attend a school there. It is a hard decision for some parents because it means uprooting their lives!

The school has the motto of “Every Child Matters” and that showed in the faces of all of the administrators and teachers!!

We spent some time talking with Sabrina who is the Assistant Principal…..

She is currently working on her Masters in Education and wants to pursue a career as an administrator. She felt that the hardest thing for the school kids is that they don’t have consistency in their teachers. Many teachers will come for a year or maybe two, but often go elsewhere, leaving the kids in limbo.

I enjoyed walking around the school and seeing the kids happily in class. Many of them knew Michael (our guide), and gravitated toward him. You can tell that this German man has found a way into the hearts of these people!!

I loved this poster outside of the library area…..

…especially that the book is “How To Fish”!!

Our final stop for the day was to the Trading Post…..

…. a store, diner and hotel all in one!!

We were careful to NOT park here….

Our dinner that night was cooked by Desmond…..

…..a graduate of Michael’s apprenticeship program. During his time in camps with Michael, he learned to cook and found that he truly enjoyed it. He is now working at the local cafe and is planning to attend a culinary school.

We met his Mom, Lucy, at the school….

….and she also expressed her excitement for Desmond (Dizzy Des)’s newfound passion.

And believe me, he cooked a GREAT meal for us. It was so good that I forgot to take a photo!!!

Afterwards, he sat down and talked to us about what he learned in the program….

…. to be on time, respect others and work hard for your dreams!!

You can’t do better than that!!!

We are about half-way thru our tour of the Takla Lake Reserve…..come back tomorrow and we will meet a few more people…..

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Michael and I love to travel and see new parts of the world and then I love to take those memories and turn them into quilts!!! I hope that you enjoy traveling along with us!!

Be sure to subscribe to the blog so you don’t miss a single trip!!