As we are packing up to leave, Sarah
Loutitt and her partner, Ron Campbell stop at our campsite in their motor boat
to say hi. They are on their way back to Ft Chip. It is another sunny day.
Another beautiful day as we pack up
Bruce talking to Sarah and Ron
By late morning, we arrive at the Embarras Portage Trading Post, on flat land 20 m above the river. This is a series of mostly old buildings on a large open sparsely treed plot, owned by Cathy and Larry McGinnis. Cathy welcomes us and is very informative about the area. She shows us a small museum that she and Larry have kept up of artifacts from the past: old food tins and photos, to trapping equipment and dog harnesses.
Cathy (in the background) describes the history displayed in the museum
The post was originally established
by Peter Pond in the 1700s at the portage from the main channel to the Embarras
Channel near the point where the little channel we will be taking exits the
Embarras Channel. I imagine that it is still used in winter for skidoos.
Although the Post is marked at its old location on the topo maps, it has been
moved twice and is currently 30 km south of the portage, at the north end of
the Embarras Airport. This airport was established by the American Army in
1942. It was part of the Northwest Staging Route, a
series or airports capable of handling the fighters, bombers, and transport
aircraft of the period. The Route was a portion of their air defence line against a possible Japanese invasion of
Alaska, and maintained by them until the end of WWII. Some of the soldiers stationed there were African Americans. As a result,
according to Cathy McGinnis, there are some dark-skinned residents of Ft Chip, with
American relatives. I imagine there are also light-skinned residents with
American relatives, too, from that period. Some of the buildings here are undoubtedly of that
vintage.
Three photos taken at the Embarras Portage Trading Post
After the war, the Canadian army and
then Transport Canada took over maintenance of the air strip until it was
closed in the 1960s. But for the past 15 years, the McGinnis’ have maintained
it as there is more traffic here now due to the oil boom. The McGinnis’, in
their 60s, have run a store at the post
selling gas and other essentials, and a bed and breakfast for hunters,
fishermen, and oil company personnel. These they are no longer running as Larry
is very sick with cancer and they are trying to sell the place. They have
already sold the trapline here.
Museum artifacts
Cathy is the first person we meet
who tells us that they still regularly eat the fish. She says that there is
nothing wrong with them. She does admit that the fish often have “wounds from
jackfish”, something I have never seen in many years of fishing in the north. I can’t help but wondering if Larry’s
cancer has anything to do with their enthusiastic eating of the fish. Their
daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren are visiting from Vancouver. The
son-in-law is a doctor on his way out fishing with his son. I ask him if he
eats the fish and he responds in the negative.
Cathy is also a writer, having kept
logs of many interesting events in her life in the north. Bruce gets contact
info from her and, as an employee of the Canada Arts Council, he has many contacts
which will help. In writing this, I note on the internet a number of sites
dealing with the history of this area. In fact, there is a 2010 book, Embarras
Portage, by Nicholas Verbisky, someone I am sure Cathy and Larry must know.
We have lunch here and hold a
talking circle: a formal way of talking about whatever people want to talk
about. It is hot, we are moving slow, and we spend about three hours here.
Twenty-five km and several hours
later, we veer to the west into the Embarras Channel. As soon as we enter, we
start to look for a place to camp as it is past 6:30. It is not looking
promising: no sand bars in sight. We had spotted a big one just before entering
the Channel and, since there are still only islands separating us from the main
channel, as we pass the next island we veer, against the current, back into the
main channel and across to the sandbar. Here we camp.
After supper, somehow a group of us
launch into a discussion about several issues to do with activism and politics.
Before we can get too far however, we are interrupted. Kevin has pulled out painted
sticks to play a Cree gambling game. He explains how to play and we begin.
After a couple of the participants have been wiped out of their initial stash
of decorated sticks, I fold. Maybe this would be interesting if there was money
on the table, but otherwise not for me. Some of the others seem to enjoy it. I return
to the tent to charge batteries and download files. The mosquitoes are out
tonight. Some of the others continue for a while; long enough to hear a moose
coming down to the river to drink nearby.
Cree gambling game
No comments:
Post a Comment