Our first day with them on the reserve was very rainy and cold, but the warmth of their greeting and hospitality seemed to push aside any gloom from the weather. Each day we had the opportunity to sit around a fire, listen to their stories, eat lots of delicious food, and learn about their different traditions and rituals. Throughout the week we also got to visit a few landmarks which are sacred to their culture.
On our last day with the Anishinabe people, we had the opportunity to participate in a sweat lodge. While some decided not to participate, the rest of us (including myself) decided to see what this experience was all about. So the guys all changed into their bathing suits and us girls changed into some scandalous ankle length skirts (which we rocked by the way). Inside the sweat lodge we sat in a circle around a pit of hot rocks which initially makes the lodge a decent temperature until you start poring water on the rocks... And then its like a wall of instant sweat that hits you! So we sat in the lodge praying and singing some traditional songs (in which we didn't know the words to but sang along anyway... Or at least tried). During one of the songs, they asked out to shout out as loud as we could, so we did that two or three times and then on the fourth time we all shout out and then there was a slight pause... And someone from our group yelped out "Kikaw!" Naturally we all started laughing, and Peter who was leading us, started laughing along with us and said "That was a good one!"
After the sweat we were all invited to a Pow-Wow demonstration where we all made fools of ourselves attempting to dance to the beat of the drums (which, by the way, looked hilarious). It was a lot of fun and a great honor to participate in something that is so important in their culture and to their people. The sense of openness and community was clearly felt in the air and will not be forgotten.
Thank you Anishinabe of Roseau River!
Christina
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