routeroute NORTHNORTHrootsroots magazinemagazine SaskatchewanSaskatchewan CentCentennialennial CanoeCanoe QuesQuestt I Ride along with Myrna Guymer GordonGordon LatLathlinhlin I Remembering OCN’s soft spoken Chief YYearear of the Veteran I Hugh Bunn shares memories of our War Veterans Free August/September 2005 poetry Perhaps a little charm; I tried a little teasing, If I kept that up, she said, then we had best be leaving! The lilly-like hand I touched; her voice quaked out, “Oh no you don’t!” “I do, I do,” I gasped, “It’s you it seems who won’t!” “What’s so wrong,” I pled, “with just a kiss or two?” “When you agreed to come with me, what did you think we’d do?” Love strangled by a frigid lass, frustration held me tight, A start that looked so promising, now proved a Illustration, Dave Negrych dreadful night! Then on the drive to her home, she seemed to have warmed, Was this ice-cold fish, Courting Irene slightly melting to my charms? The long, long night which could pass for any- By Dave Negrych Back in my time of hun- french fries, our faces gry desire, when I was wrapped in smiles, thing but bliss, young and keen, As hormones popped Took a twist, when she weet Passion, they say, One Friday night at the and whirled and sped, with- chirped, “Now you may bloomed back in days Jubilee Hall my eyes fell in me all the while! have your kiss!” of yore; upon Irene! I drove the car to Mandy But my manhood had S been stifled; balloon punc- Napoleon and Josephine, A girl so fair, who dwelt Mine, parked near the glis- and even long before. nearby, I knew from long tening lake; tured, Lovers drew together ago. A vision in the moon- I was livid with this like fingers to a glove, Suddenly the sight of her light, where lovers delight- dame! Overwhelmingly smit- had made my juices flow! ed to be, I angrily informed her ten, shot by Cupid from Her moves, her grace; a There we sat and gawked that two could play that above! desirable flower indeed, at it; just Irene and me. game! The wooed and the woo- And I a rogue; well I Her every breath lifted a There was no forgive- ers, love accepted or love was just a wee. bosom so appealing, ness, all night she’d spurned spurned, Sidling to dear damsel’s Together with that hour- my pleas, Caresses and fondles for side, I begged if she would glass shape, had my senses I would not kiss her which untold numbers dance, reeling! now, even if she begged yearned! As the music played and I peered into her dreamy upon her knees! The twitterpation that we slid across the floor, eyes and moved a little “I don’t want it! My the Browning wrote upon, I held her in my longing closer, desire you have broken.” Took place one night, arms and lusted for When lo! Calamity And since that night so mid the rocks and lakes of romance. struck; she shrieked out a, long ago, Irene and me ain’t Flin Flon. A shared soft drink and “NO SIR!” spoken.n TABLE OF rr Faces of the north N magazine More portraits from the sketchpad of Gerald Kuehl The North’s independent magazine ContentsDeath from within 4 Alien has nothing on tent caterpillars Publisher/Editor Frank Fieber Birds of Churchill 6 Associate Editor On the Cover Why Churchill is a birder’s dream Pamela Fieber Dog whispering on the dock photo by Frank Fieber 10 Those awesome alliums Graphic Artist Something big is brewing in the garden Doug Fedrau 12 Lessons from the tackle box Postal Address August / September 2005 Unconventional wisdom from Ray Gauthier Box 911 Vol.2 Issue 3 Flin Flon, MB R8A 1N7 18 Saskatchewan Canoe Quest Phone rNr magazine is distributed free Ride along with Myrna Guymer 204-687-5411 at more than 100 locations in 25 Fax communities. Our web site, Heeding the call 204-687-3280 northroots.ca displays an elec- 24 tronic version. For those who Hugh Bunn remembers our war veterans Email would like a paper copy mailed [email protected] to their address, we offer Home 30 Temperatures rise Website delivery at $30 for six issues. A www.northroots.ca Our region takes global stage in enviro-research cheque or money order along with a name and address will get Contributing your subscription going for your- 36 My Red Blood Writers self or a friend. Chief Gordon Lathlin worked for his people Hugh Bunn Raymond Gauthier Myrna Guymer 40 Book review Jerrold Hamm Dick Madole, King of the North, by Walter Shmon Andrew Keddie Gerald Kuehl Dave Negrych 44 Lorraine Petryk From the editor Brenda Schmidt ur region is as beautiful as any on tory as it played out in our region you’ve the planet. Sitting on the deck in the got to check out our book review. evening, with the sun sparkling on Our bug and bird columnists get up real Web Master O Heather Johnsgaard the lake, I am reminded just how short close to the action, and we go along with and precious our summer is and how so scientists from the U.S who have arrived to 8,000 copies distributed free many people spend that time in their own way. study our Boreal Forest. at over 100 locations across If the cool September nights get you to our region. Whatever your circumstance as you pick route NORTH roots up your copy of rNr magazine — a tourist, thinking of far away places, we’ve got a magazine a local or a seasonal resident — this issue story from China. From Snow Lake, an old published six times a year. All rights reserved. has something for you. soldier honours the year of the veteran. Reproduction of photos, Our contributors have once again pro- From OCN we have a story of a Chief’s illustration or text in any determination, and 30 big canoes come rac- form without permission is vided a snapshot of life in our region. prohibited. Whether you are a fisherman, gardener, an ing out of the wilds of Saskatchewan. art lover or an adventurer we’ve got a story We start this issue with a poem and we to pique your interest. If you like local his- finish with a drink. Relax and enjoy.n route NORTH roots August/September 2005 - 3 Portraits Gerald Kuehl Charlie loved his life – Charlie and said he smiled Editor’s note Contributing Writer the ability to support his when his image was dis- family yet enjoy the free- played. Unfortunately This is the third pair of Charles Learjaw dom to travel and hunt Charlie's health began to pencil drawings by Gerald without outside interfer- deteriorate at this time and Kuehl. Last issue we ran met Charlie Learjaw in ence. This loss for a period he was admitted to the two portraits from Thicket the summer of 2001 at of time, resulted in Charlie Lynn Lake Hospital. He Portage and Nelson Tadoule Lake. Born in and others developing mis- was such a delightful fel- House. This time we go I trust of non-Aboriginal low that after he passed further north to Tadoule 1911, Charlie hunted, fished, and trapped in this people. Overcoming initial away several months later, Lake in rememberance of area of vast lakes and tun- reluctance, Charlie shared in 2002, at age 91, the two well respected elders dra. In the 1920’s he had a life stories and we enjoyed nurses named the room in of the Sayisi Dene. To find cabin across from Tadoule several hours together. “I which he stayed, after him. out more about Kuehl and Lake and for one summer would like to erase every- I am proud to say the his work, check our last while following the cari- thing and go back to the Charles Learjaw Room issue, online or go to, bou migration, he was old life. To be left alone to now displays my portrait www.portraitsofthenorth.com stranded there. He built a hunt and fish. Life was of this fine member of the birch bark canoe to contin- much simpler then.” Sayisi Dene First Nation.n ue his journey north in the Charlie had a definite fall, a skill Charlie learned dignified presence to him years earlier from his and I promised to pro- father. The Sayisi Dene duce a drawing of him. It were relocated to Churchill was in fact completed in the 1950s. Charlie and several months later. others found work with the Fortunately my work was Canadian National filmed by CBC while Railway but for many, the being exhibited at the forced relocation to an Manitoba Museum that urban community con- fall. I sent Charlie a video tributed to many social tape of the program problems. Eventually many because his portrait was surviving Dene returned to prominently displayed. their traditional lands set- Some friends in Tadoule tling at Tadoule Lake. Lake saw the video with Pencil drawing of Charles Learjaw Courtesy of Gerald Kuehl route NORTH roots 4 - August/September 2005 of the north Betsy Anderson n 1910 Betsy was ten years old when Treaty Five between the ISayisi Dene and the Dominion of Canada signalled changes affecting the Sayisi Dene forever. Several years after the treaty signing, her people moved to Duck Lake to be by the Hudson’s Bay Company trading post about 100 kilometers south of the six- tieth parallel in order to sell their furs.