Grassy Narrows, Protecting the Boreal Forest

Friday, 07 October 2011 16:48 Written by Administrator

When Dave and I were in Kenora, Ontario, we were very near a place that has been in a heated environmental and human rights battle for years. Grassy Narrows is just 49 miles north of Kenora, located along the English-Wabigoon River. Grassy Narrows has been home to the Anishinaabe for a very long time.  Their traditional lands are about 2,500 square miles of forest. Even today, about half of the community still depends on hunting, trapping, and gathering plants from the land.

They went through various traumas over the years, like children being forced to attend residential schools, relocation away from their traditional lands, damming of the river which flooded wild rice beds and sacred sites, mercury contamination of their water, mining of their lands, and logging of their forests.

This summer, on August 17, they achieved a major victory. The Ontario Superior Court ruled that the province cannot authorize logging if the operations infringe on federal treaty promises protecting aboriginal rights to traditional hunting and trapping. This victory has been seen as a turning point in the battle, with expectations for conservation of the Boreal forest and support for the Anishinaabe way of life.

I regret that we did not visit Grassy Narrows when we were so close!  However, I am glad to share the news of their victory.

To learn more about Grassy Narrows, check out these links:

http://freegrassy.org

http://freegrassy.org/2011/08/18/grassy-narrows-declares-victory-in-logging-dispute/

http://archives.cbc.ca/environment/pollution/topics/1178/

Food for Thought: What Dave and Amy Eat on the Trail

Thursday, 06 October 2011 15:23 Written by Administrator

Student Response  Worksheet (Lower)

Dave and I have a fairly simple diet when we are on the trail. We have to be conscious of the weight of the food, packaging, and the time it takes for foods to spoil. We eat some dehydrated food, but we do not eat prepackaged, freeze-dried camping meals. That would get too expensive and we don't like all the packaging.

We eat a lot of things that you would eat at home, like rice, pasta, and granola. Some things are different. I bet you don't have powdered milk with your cereal in the morning. Dave's mom helped us by dehydrating a lot of vegetables for us. She also made our favorite treat by putting several bananas, strawberries, and raspberries in a blender. She spread this on a nonstick sheet and put it in the food dehydrator. It is like a Fruit Roll-Up or Fruit by the Foot, except it tastes better, it has no added sugar or corn-syrup, and it is homemade.

For breakfast, we have a couple of choices: granola with dehydrated milk or oatmeal with dehydrated milk and raisins. Our lunches consist of foods that we can eat quickly and easily. We usually have crackers and cheese. Sometimes we will switch it up and have tuna or peanut butter and jelly with the crackers. We also have that yummy fruit leather made by Dave's mom and trail mix. Since it is fall in Minnesota, we have been lucky to get some Minnesota or Wisconsin-grown apples. Those have been a real treat! Sure they are a bit bulky and they spoil faster than the fruit leather, but we manage to eat them before they spoil.

We have granola bars or energy bars too. I usually carry one in my pocket to eat sometime between lunch and dinner. Several companies were nice enough to donate bars to us – and they are delicious. We are very happy to be supported by MacroBar, Larabar, and Clif Bar.

Dinner is when we have a bit more variety. Dave always cooks dinner while I set up the tent. He makes a couple of different rice and pasta dishes. Our favorite is probably rice and beans, with some of the dehydrated vegetables. He also makes rice with lentils and a curry sauce. The pasta is usually made with a dehydrated tomato sauce or powdered cheese sauce, with vegetables. We also carry a bag of flower, some baking powder, and a bottle of oil in order to make bannock. This is a special treat whenever we have extra time.

There you have it – our meals on the trail. It has taken us a while to perfect our system. We have a few special things like the dehydrated vegetables, sauces, and fruit leather. The rest of the stuff we eat can be found in any grocery store. This makes resupplying easy. We try to by locally grown, organic food whenever possible. This was difficult when we were way up north. As we head south, it is getting much easier.

We also don't pack each meal separately. Instead, we pack it in bulk, or pantry style. It can be kind of tricky to figure this out at first, but we like packing the food this way for two reasons. 1. We have much less packaging if we don't pack each meal in its own plastic bag. 2. We have a little wiggle room; if we had an easy day and we aren't that hungry, Dave can make less or if we worked really hard, he can make a bit more.

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Fennel's Field Notes

I suppose you might be wondering what I eat too. . . I think that my diet is a bit less interesting than Dave and Amy's. Lately, they have been feeding me dog food. They try to buy stuff for me that is high in protein and fat. If I am extra good, they give me a hunk of lard. Mmm. . . mmm. I love lard! This diet would be unhealthy for a human, but for a sled dog it is just right.

I remember, earlier in the summer, Dave caught fish for me. That was super delicious. I would watch him while he would stand on shore and cast his line in the water. I would get so excited when he caught a fish, that I would wade in the water and try to grab it! Dave and Amy would eat fish too, but they would always save plenty for me. I guess the fishing hasn't been too good lately. Sometimes I hear a splash in the water and I run over, hoping that I can catch a fish. So far, I haven't had any luck with this.

Daily Data

10/1/11 23 miles, 6 Bald Eagles, 32 Canada Geese

10/2/11 20 miles, 11 Bald Eagles, 26 Canada Geese, 1 muskrat, 5 fish, 8 cows, 1 Kingfisher, 5 sparrows, 5 Black Ducks

10/3/11 16 miles, 14 Bald Eagles, 2 muskrats 4 Black Ducks, 100 Canada Geese, 12 crows, 4 raven, 2 sturgeon

10/4/11 10 miles, 4 loons, 2 Bald Eagles, 13 Canada Geese

10/5/11 22 miles, 2 loons, 3 Bald Eagles, 4 Black Ducks

10/6/11 0 miles, 2 Black Ducks, 3 White Tail Deer

We need to lighten our load! What are things we can do without? What should we keep?

Saturday, 01 October 2011 17:16 Written by Administrator

Next week our friend Bryan is joining us. He will paddle with us for the final 3 weeks through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  There are many portages in the Boundary Waters including the Grand Portage, which is over 8 miles long. At each portage we have to unload the canoe and carry all of our stuff over a trail to the next lake or river.  We are trying to make a list of all the things we have to keep and a second list of things we could send home when Bryan meets us.

What are things that you think we definitely need to keep?  Can you think of anything that we might be able to get rid of? One thing that we have been thinking about sending home is our second computer. Do you think we should send our second computer home or should we keep it?

Here is a list of things that we have:

2 laptop computers

satellite phone

2 cameras

food

saw

4 paddles (2 to use and 2 spares)

dogfood

Fennel

tent

2 sleeping bags

lightweight summer clothes

warm clothes

2 headlamps

rain jackets and pants

solar panel

sandals

boots

spray cover for the canoe

battery for charging the laptops

stove

tarp

Thanks for your suggestions about how we can keep warm. We had our first hard frost last night and it seems to be getting colder each night. We have been taking Mr. Speno’s classes advice and wearing lots of layers.  We have also been making soup and drinking lots of warm drinks thanks to the suggestions we received by email from several classes. As it gets colder I am sure we will be putting more of your suggestions to use.

Keep Exploring!

Dave