We began August with the end of the floor hockey tournament held in Gift Lake. Gift Lake took home the dub in all age groups, they’re really good. Our team may not have won, but we had fun working together to get a few good goals. I had to ask Arjun to drive home from High Level, such a long trip!

Our first activity with the kids was on August 5th, we made bannock with Zetta and Tanner. The kids got really involved, they all love bannock! (It turned out very good!)

On that same day, I began to focus more on preparing for the Alberta Indigenous Games. I got most of the same kids to come to Archery and Basketball Practice.

Activities such as pie making and slo-pitch continued until August 14th, which is the day we leave to Edmonton for the Alberta Indigenous Games 2019!

The trip to Edmonton was definitely a highlight for me, the Archers and I got to learn much from the Archery instructor. We learned the official rules and safety regulation associated with all Olympic sports. I was very gladdened to see that the instructor smudged the athletes who chose to, we all got into a circle to pray for a stress-free, safe and fun environment

Another amazing thing to see was the basketball team’s willingness to participate and their willingness to listen. They all greeted Arjun as coach, and played like they meant it. I would like to watch all those games again. The amount of sportsmanship displayed by our team matched every other team. The games were all clean, except for a few bad calls from the referee. I couldn’t have asked for better teams to feel apart of.

Leaving Chateh

Leaving Chateh was emotional for me. I feel like I got to know myself better. I know where I want to end up, and that’s in the North. I can still feel a piece of me there. My late-father called the North his home for many years as a travelling teacher and principal of many schools. He told me how much he loved it up there and I can see why. I will return to work in the North someday soon.

I am happy now because of the people I got to meet, know and spend time with in Chateh.

I hope that I am remembered for such a small part in a very big community. I am very thankful for the beautiful beaded vest I was gifted by the Dene Tha’ First Nation.

After a busy beginning to July we continued with youth activities as well as activities that were for my own well-being. During the assembly, I got to meet one of the councilors of Chateh named Shane. We came up with an idea to upgrade the horseshoe pits at the health center. Shane took Arjun, Zetta, his kids and I to harvest spruce logs. After we finished Shane taught us a few interesting bush-survival techniques. We learned how to eat poplar tree fibers and which berries to eat. He also told us great hunting stories which got me very excited. We went fishing and camping mid-July.

We went camping with a Blackfoot photographer named Blair Russel. He came in to do a photography workshop with the AFL participants. I learned some camera techniques such as time-lapse and background tone configurations. According to Blair Russel, “children take a very unique photo. They have such a different perspective than older youth and adults alike. What they come up with are truly great photos”.

Upon Mr. Somera’s request, I am an assistant coach for the Alberta Indigenous Games. I will be assisting the coaching of archery and basketball from time to time. I have started an archery club which meets every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I have had a few show up but I am having some difficulties in getting more registrants. I have also been running other activities such as floor hockey and basketball with the help of Arjun. Another activity I have been focusing on is open gym. All activities are open, as I open the equipment room. I bring all of my musical instruments in and have kids play or listen if they so choose. They really like the drums.

Alongside our daily activities, we finished July off with a carnival! In High Level they brought all of my favorites rides I rode since I was a kid. Such as the zipper, the tilt-a-whirl, the tornado, the grava-tron and lots of games. I met up with some of the kids from Chateh such as Sage and Angela. I got very sick after the Grava-tron and was out of commission for the rest of the day.

The Dene Tha’ Assembly was a very fun and immersive time for me. Arjun and I got chosen to help run the Youth and Adult events. The assembly starts off with a daily breakfast and traditional foods workshops. Moose meat was available to try as well as the dry variation of it. This was followed by an opening prayer on the first day, we all stood in silence to listen to the songs and prayers in Dene. This is all centered around a large fire which burns throughout the assembly. People will throw tobacco and medicine offerings into the fire, they will then pray.

At 1:00pm we began the Youth and Adult events, this began at the same time as hand games which posed a difficulty with adult tournament timing. This was also my first time running a tournament, but I was coordinated mostly by Gordon Pastion who runs the events every year. We started off with mixed horseshoe later in the day when everyone was done watching and/or playing hand games. The first tournament did not work out well so we did another the following day.

It was very relaxed as I got to walk around every now and again to immerse myself at this celebration. To me this kind of event is very familiar. My family is on the powwow trail, we go to powwows to spectate and to watch my cousin and sister compete. This celebration reminds me of my childhood at powwows, I used to be one of those little kids running around barefoot, playing on the bleachers and binging snow-cones till my lips turned red.

On Friday and Saturday I held a long drive and closest-to-the-pin contest. In order to bring in contestants you need plenty of advertisement! I had announcements made and I walked around with signage to see if anybody was interested, this gave me lots of opportunities to meet people I had a great show-up for both events. I also participated in the long drive, and I won! The prizes for the long drive included pay-out plus an outdoor-themed prize. On Saturday came the closest-to-the-pin contest for both Adult and Youth. There are plenty of great golfers in the Dene Tha’ communities, Gordon won 1st in this contest.

Art is very important to me. To me it is a way of telling a story, it doesn’t even need words. At this assembly, I was re-inspired to dance Chicken again. To see the dancers in their beautiful regalia in was breath-taking. A renowned Traditional dancer named Adrian LaChance was there to MC and encourage dancing during inter-tribal. Watching all these dancers revitalized my love for native arts.

At this celebration, I got to use my drum skills to play with professional-level musicians. The music they play is the exact same kind that is popular in my community. Good old country/bluegrass and rock n’ roll. I was a bit tight at first because of nervous tension but I felt right at home after drumming for 10 minutes. We played the Red River Jig which is a favorite of Metis people such as me. It is a very fast song, but I kept up. I played with them from Friday until Sunday.

After Canada Day, we started off July with a floor hockey/volleyball tournament against Tallcree First Nation youth. At 9:00 am Arjun and I began with the setup. When the Chateh teams got to the gym we began warm-up. I got to play floor hockey and keep score for volleyball. What I enjoyed most about this tournament is that everyone who played put in their best effort. It was very obvious to see that everyone had a sense for each others way of playing. The plays made on both sides were very coordinated and fun to be apart of or watch. The Chateh team has great jerseys that look good and are comfortable. Though the jerseys were a bit warm, it felt cool to be apart of a team. I was playing defense and right wing mostly, until the goalie wanted to play offense. I offered to jump in net and we continued playing the last 2 games. The most interesting part was goal tending, I have never been in net with proper goalie pads, and the weight took some getting used to but I eventually got the hang of them.

Next was the volleyball tournament, we set down floor hockey and set up the volleyball nets to official heights. Mr. Somera’s son and Arjun both reffed alongside Mr. Somera. I have never watched a full volleyball game and the games played were intense and very fun to watch. There were lots of good players on each side and there was good teamwork as well. Tallcree eventually won the volleyball tournament, and the Chateh team kept up with Tallcree through each match.

My return to Chateh went smoothly. I began youth activities with Tanner and Zetta of AFL. They were kind enough to allow me to help them coordinate. The activities we did the week of June 17th were basketball, volleyball, badminton, slow-pitch, creative hula-hooping and pizza-making.

I got to meet most of the kids during the first two weeks, they are all very funny, smart and honest. The next week consisted of more sport activities like kickball and basketball. Also we got to create paintings and vision boards!

After we were finished with our stretch of activities we got to have free time, we used this time to play slow-pitch in High Level and to take nature walks. I love taking photos of vegetation and flowers.

So far, I feel right at home here! The people are very welcoming and I am so grateful for my current experience. Hiy hiy nimosômwak and thank you to Dene Tha’ First Nation.

On May 19th, Arjun and I were notified that Chateh and surrounding communities were on evacuation alert due to the Chuckegg Creek Fire by High Level. We packed our essentials in case the alert became an evacuation, we did not packed as much as we needed however. I honestly did not expect it to occur, however the next morning we were told to pack and leave Chateh as soon as possible. We were told to follow one of the nurses out to the other highway. We had to follow because the main highway to High Level was blocked off, so we needed another way to get there. We had to take the back roads, which was a much longer drive. My gas tank was only above a quarter tank, it was very worrisome. Arjun and I left and attempted to get gas at Chateh Gas and Food Store. I was next in line to put gas into my vehicle, then the pumped stopped working! I hoped the store manager would fix the pump so that the others and I can get gas to evacuate Chateh. The gas had either ran out or the electricity for the pump was not working. Either way I was not able to buy gas in Chateh. Luckily, a gentleman who lives near us told me to follow him. So I did and he took us to his house where others were gathered. He gave me more than 20 liters of gas so that I could make it out. This fill-up put my gas gauge above half. I am very grateful for that man if it were not for him I would have ran out on the highway for sure. 

We were now on our way back home, our families were very worried about us due to the size and uncertainty of the fire and smoke. I was not prepared for this type of situation. We had only brought cash, clothes and a little bit of food. We stopped in High Level for gas but every pump was closed due to the proximity of the fire, and the surrounding community gas stations were very packed. We drove by one station with about 40 vehicles parked outside and most waiting for the gas pump. We decided it was a lost cause as we needed gas again and there was still a chance of the pumps running dry. So we waited until the next gas station, which was open and vacant with only 10 cars in line. The power was down at this gas station, therefor debit/credit purchases could not be made. This is where my cash was very useful.

After I had my first complete fill-up I knew that every thing was finally for sure going to be okay for Arjun and I. We continued down towards my community of Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement so that we could rest after a long drive.

While we were evacuated, we worked with Maggie and Trish in the Engage North office on campus. We edited photos, looked for articles online for northern events and hung up posters for the open position for Youth and Recreation in Beaver First Nation. After almost three weeks of waiting we were able to head back up, our first destination was Boyer River to assist Laura with the youth of Beaver First Nation. On June 10th, Arjun and I headed to Beaver First Nation where we stayed in the loft of the fire hall with Johnny and Laura. We worked on youth activites such as rock painting, games, nail art and pizza making. All the kids were great and the activities went smoothly, Arjun and I had lots of fun!

I learned a lot during this evacuation. I learnt that anything can happen and we must always prepare for emergencies. Especially living in the Boreal Forest where forest fires are increasing.

Today, Arjun and I assisted the children with building projects for their school science fair! We had lots of fun building bridges, airplanes and performing experiments. The experiments included baking soda volcanoes, home-made batteries, and “whispering balloons”. What a great first day here in Chateh, Alberta!

(Photo by Arjun Khabra)