Life has been busy at Mashkodens, and we´re only a few days away from the start of the Ricing Moon.
After repairing and improving the main group shelters in Mashkodens, I took some time for several canoe trips to explore more of the numerous waterways in our area. We´re located right on a major watershed divide – some waters flow north and east into Lake Michian and Lake Superior and ultimately into the Atlantic, other lakes and rivers empty into the tributaries of the Mississipi which empties into the Gulf of Mexico. For the Native people of this area, travelling the waterways by canoe was usually the fastest and most efficient way to move over long distances during the Green Season, especially when it involved moving cargo.
Preparing jerky for a trip
On one of those trips which lasted for almost half a Moon, I took a limited supply of jerky and fat with me and supplied the rest with foraging and fishing (and loosing a few pounds in the process too 😉 ).
The diversity makes this area particularily interesting for paddling: On the major rivers and lakes, paddling is easy and straightforward, and on some of the more populated waters the biggest challenge may be manouvering around speedboats… The smaller sidestreams and creeks can be thickly overgrown with alder – so thick indeed that following them involved more climbing or portaging than paddling.
A shallow, spring-fed creek...clear and cold water
A "creek" past a large beaver dam. Easy paddling. The dead standing trees indicate the flooded area after the dam was built
There are usually open sections along meadows too, and beaver dams tend to make paddling easier, since they raise the water level. In some cases this makes it possible to get to areas that would otherwise inaccessible because the water level would be too low.
Some creeks are clear and cold – ideal habitat for brook trout – whereas others are more tea-colored and warmer, which is caused by tannic acid released by bogs and other vegetation.
An abundance of wildlife sign can be found around here – muskrat, beaver, otter, deer, black bear, to name a few, plus a variety of species of waterfowl, birds and fish.
Plenty to be seen and explored indeed…
On another note – as the name “Raspberry Moon” indicates – the berry season is progressing. Blackberries and cherries areripening fast, and I frequently come across bear feeding sign in one of the many berry patches that tells me that they´re busy with putting on fat for the winter.
Allison joined us for close to half a Moon, and her presence and (female) energy was a great contribution to our clan.
Chris, Allison and Alex busy with preparing dinner. Fish and fat is roasting by the flames...yum!
During her stay, we set up a winter firewood camp in the same area where we went for sucker fishing in the late spring. The supply of hardwoods like oak or maple is fairly limited around Mashkodens, and we only burn hardwood in our winter lodge hearth – for several reasons: It hardly sparks compared to conifers (which can be dangerous with an open fire inside a lodge – there is a lot of dry, burnable material around), it burns hot and long and the coals last for quite a while after the fire has died down which maintains more heat in the lodge throughout the night.
We also organized a thanksgiving feast for everyone at Nad´mad´ewining (the support center) for their continous support – without them, it wouldn´t be possible to have an immersion-style experience like this…