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(All meetings were held at Allan
& Lucy's near
Penetanguishene unless otherwise noted.)
March: Inaugural
meeting. 10 people attended a meeting in Toronto and held a pipe ceremony,
discussed future meetings, and generally got acquainted.
April 27-28: Seven folks
gathered for the weekend. Saturday activities consisted of a long slow walk
involving track analysis and plant identification. As well, atl-atl and
throwing stick practice. A sweat lodge was held in the evening. On
Sunday folks foraged for lunch, and wild leek soup was made and enjoyed.
The tracking box was used to analyze tracks made by people carrying weights.
May 25-26: On Saturday a
sundance and pipe ceremony were held. Then a long walk in the woods,
collection of plants for tea (pine needles & mullein leaves), dandelion root
coffee, and morel mushrooms and nettles for food. A sweatlodge was held
Saturday evening. On Sunday the indoor tracking box was used while it
rained outside. Eight people attended.
June 4: A small meeting
of 4 people in Toronto to view Tom Brown's special on PBS television.
June 22-23: Five folks
gathered and during the weekend practiced debris hut construction, burning bowls
and spoons, and straightening arrows. Wild edibles were collected for
salad. A sweatlodge was held Saturday evening.
July 20-21: A group
of 6 met for many different activities, including smoking hides, working on a
beaver hide, burning bowls and spoons, swimming (hot weather). The
highlight of the weekend was the experience of eating groundhog meat. A
sweatlodge was held Saturday evening. Again, wild edibles were collected
for salad (purslaine), and sumac lemonade was made.
August 24-25: This
meeting was cancelled because everyone was away.
September 21-22: The
meeting was highlighted by the construction of a teepee. Poles were
gathered in the woods and erected. On Sunday the group of 7 went into a
nearby marsh to collect cattails which were used to try thatching the
teepee. Cordage was made from the inner bark of Hemlock trees, and this
inner bark was also eaten. A sweatlodge was held Saturday evening.
October 26-27: Seven
people gathered for a long walk in the woods Saturday morning, collecting wild
edible mushrooms (toothy wonder, redcaps), and mullein stalks for handdrill
practice, and grapevines for baskets. One person made a cattail poncho for
the rainy afternoon. Others worked on clay pots and baskets. A
sweatlodge was held Saturday evening, without the insulating blanket covering,
and it was found that heat dissipation was quick. On Sunday the group went
to a store on a nearby Indian reserve. Quills were gathered from a dead
porcupine.
November 23-24:
Eleven people gathered this weekend. On Saturday a walk to a nearby beaver
dam and pond. One group member shared their notes from a recent Animal
Behavior course at the Tracker School. Sweatlodge on Saturday
evening. Also the group collected rocks for future sweatlodges, as well as
clay for pottery.
December 28-29: Nine
people attended. The group gathered cedar boughs for a teepee, in which a
singsong was held later on. Some folks worked on baskets and braiding,
others on nettle/milkweed cordage. Others on pipes and pipe bag.
Lots of tracking practice in the snow. A sweatlodge on Saturday evening.
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