We awoke refreshed and ready to see more of the family. The large tent was abuzz with people setting up for the wellness fair. They also had Tim Horton's coffee and bagels. I walked around the tent looking for relatives, although in many ways, they all were. There were many familiar faces even though I had not been back in many years.
The two dogs from the night before came by the tent again. More play ensued until a local law enforcement official came by and told us that dogs were not allowed on Pow Wow grounds. They shooed away the visiting dogs and then looked at ours. I told them that I had just traveled 4000 miles across the country to come to Pow Wow. The officer allowed the dogs, but they had to be tethered. No Problem. They were pretty used to it anyway. It was sad that their new friends had to go away though.
My family came to the grounds that morning. My mother and sister had to go renew their indian cards, so I went with them to the band office as Tom watched the dogs. My mother had come to Canada without a passport and only her expired indian card. She definitely needed to get a new one. My sister's expired in a few days.
Sign Outside of Band Office
They found the woman to talk to and get their cards renewed. We waited for their pictures to be taken and I tried to find out what happened to the gas station and my cheap indian petro. I never really found out what the reason was, but customers now had to collect their receipts and mail them into the government for a refund. A lot of work for a business on the reserve. Certainly too much me as a visitor.
We got back to the wellness fair about 10 AM. A group of volunteers were setting up the three teepees next to the large tent. These were new for me to see and I liked them.
We went through all the booths at the wellness fair, picking up information about the reserve and their services. Most of the booths had raffles, which we signed up for. Relatives were showing up including my Aunt and her daughter-in-law, Betty. My Great Aunt, Deuce was brought down by Naresh. Other cousins stopped by and chatted for a bit. We all sat around talking about we are up to these days.
Lunch was given by the community to it's visitors. In traditional style, the Elders were served first. I offered my services to get some sandwiches and soup for the Elders in our group. Some of the Elders in our group did not like to get served, but I asked them to accept their status of being "old" and be served.
There was a call for help with the trash being accumulated in the barrels around the tent. I believe it is our duty to help, so I asked Tom to help me empty the barrels and assist in the clean up. He did so willingly and I was feeling great to participate in the work.
Restigouche River at Listuguj Reserve
Betty invited us to dinner that evening. It was Auntie's birthday that past Wednesday and my family had brought her a few presents. The highlight of the presents was an ongoing joke between my family and my Aunt. My Father hates salmon. The Mi'kmaq are salmon fishermen. They have been hiding fish on each other in obscure places for years. What does she get for her birthday, but a scary looking fish.
Auntie, Mom & Dad at Betty's
Dinner was great. There was so much salmon, broiled and fried. Some fresh corn and mashed potatoes as sides. It was great to be here with my family. My Cousin, Kevin even brought out his pot plants, proud of his pruning, to show the family.
We left around 7:00 PM, either indian time or atlantic time or some other time. It's always difficult to know the right time due to the time zones. The reserve goes by New Brunswick time although our phones say it's Quebec time. It's just confusing.
We left at a time to get to bingo that evening. The sun had come out by the end of the day and we looked for a shady spot for the car and the dogs in it at the community center. We met my Karen & Naresh along with Deuce at the hall. We bought our cards and played a quick game of cribbage.
None of us won that night, but it was fun to see Naresh get upset about not winning. Even better to see him half way through a game and have nothing on the board except his free spot. Tom had gotten a bit more than he bargained for when one of the special games was one that had you marking all numbers that ended in 3. 3, 13, 23, 33, etc. I got him an extra sheet and he was behind the whole game. It was hilarious to see him scramble.
Back to the tent we went to settle in for the night. We found a few new neighbors upon our return. They were in for Pow Wow and were quite nice to the dogs, even giving them some left over treats from their grill. It was a great day and I looked forrwad to tomorrow and the opening of Pow Wow.
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