Turtle Lake: Where I live

Page 5

When the Thunderchild First Nation was moved from Delmas, the community was given land on the water at Turtle Lake so the people could fish. The lake is in the shape of a turtle but there are no turtles in it (at least we haven't seen any).

The eagles nest at Turtle Lake over on the island just down from the house. There are also geese, ducks, and herons - there are thousands of birds. The moose have their babies down the lake by the island and so do the birds. And it's spring time now, so all the animals are having their babies. I take my kids down the lake to see what we can see.

After the snow is gone and the buds are out on the trees, the creek is running high. It is full of thousands of suckers making their way upstream to spawn if they can get by the beaver dams. The kids and I go walking in the creek and each of us get a hundred suckers nibbling at our legs and toes. We scoop up the fish and toss them onto the bank. It's fun cleaning and smoking them. Good eating them. It's hard to believe but people as far away as North Dakota have been there when the suckers are running up this little creek down the road from my house.

Where the creek is, Thunderchild has a culture camp for the kids every year. At camp the children meet Elders and the Elders teach them about sweetgrass and other Indian medicines as well as ceremonies such as the sweat. This place is very beautiful in July.

There is an osprey's nest right by the log houses that were built by some friends for the culture camp. During the cultural camp, we have teepees there and they are scattered around. There's buffalo living at a farm just across the road. Some people bring their horses and wagons. It makes me think of what it must have been like for the people a long time ago.

Turtle Lake is a beautiful place with the island and the hay flats. It is a beautiful home for the moose, deer, rabbit and fish. We have plenty.

My family has been here at Thunderchild for five generations now. I left a long time ago but Turtle Lake called me back just like the geese and all the animals that keep coming back.