Chapter 136
Did you know? Half of Canada’s Chinook Salmon are endangered. By some estimates, in the past century, we’ve obliterated 75% of Canada’s Sockeye Salmon. Exacerbated by over-fishing, poor watershed management and a changing climate, this has significant effects on related ecosystems, bringing other species to the edge of extinction.
The west coast Tsleil-Waututh traditional practices enabled them to harvest salmon for a thousand years and still have the famously abundant salmon rivers that the first Europeans ‘discovered’. By using an incredibly simple principle of harvesting predominantly male fish to enable the salmon to continue breeding and maintain their numbers, the fish population remains high. Doesn’t this highlight the importance of learning from others, rather than assuming modern technology will resolve everything?
I am reminded of a book about the search for the famed Franklin Expedition (in search of the Northwest Passage), there were 50 or so expeditions to find Franklin’s sailors and ship. I think it was Overland To Starvation Cove that brilliantly brought things to life; making one experience the frigid temperatures, mind-numbing cold and the ear-numbing cacophony of the ice packs, along with the dumb resilience of the 128 men on board Franklin’s lost ship. This book highlighted the simple truth that those explorers who interacted consciously with the Inuit and adopted their dress and manner of eating, suffered no scurvy, malnutrition or frostbite which had carried off all previous explorers to their deaths. The trauma that those westerners went through on their route to death included cannibalism. When reports filtered back to England, the smear campaign that was launched in denial of these suggestions was rooted so deeply in anglo-saxon arrogance it’s painful.
There’s currently an exhibition in Ontario that showcases the history of this ill-fated expedition and subsequent search teams, from the perspective of the Inuit and how those events impacted them. It was the assistance of the Inuit that finally, in 2014, brought the wrecks of two of the lost ships back to light. I would love to see that!
On a completely other note… I had occasion to check out the offerings of a new place in Bragg Creek! The Handlebar Cafe and Bike Tours hub is centred in the Old West Mall and they have a fantastic, but small, selection of home-baked goods, along with the obligatory great coffee and tea to wash things down. I had a lovely chat with the folk there and treated myself to the most delectable Apple Strudel I have eaten in decades. I felt like I had been transported back to the Bavarian countryside… packed full of apples at their peak, with super spices, nuts and love jammed into that little package. If you’re planning a cuppa and a chat with friends, you may do well to try out this new little gem to add to our already great group of cafes and restaurants in Bragg Creek.
Maybe we can hang out there some time.
With gratitude and love,
Kat Dancer
bodymudra@gmail.com
403-931-3866 (h)
+1 415 525 2630 (c)
