Thanks to dear friend and colleague (and my honorary nistês) Aaron Fay for permitting me to share his collection of images along with his thoughts on leaving Kevin Lewis’s kâniyâsihk Water Gathering held annually on the grounds of their family home at Ministikwan Lake, and warmly hosted by the whole beautiful family, too numerous for me to name completely, but I’d still like to specially mention ocâpân Margaret Crookedneck, okâwiya Matilda Lewis, and otânisa Sierra (whom I first met about 20 years ago at CILLDI). It is a thing of joy to see the family stand together in offering the best imaginable feeling of home and family. To visit this place is a special kind of blessing.
Here’s what Aaron wrote:
kâniyâsihk is a magical place. mitoni mamâhtâwan ôma askiy, and the people here are special. So nice to see familiar faces, visit with so many who are dedicated to languages and water, heard so much language, stories, picked medicines, laughed real hard, feeling inspired and blessed. Water gathering is hard to top and I find myself already thinking, about what can I prepare for the trade blanket next year.
Thank you everyone at ᑳᓂᔮᓯᕁ kâniyâsihk Culture Camps for making us so welcome, we really can’t wait to be back to visit with you all again.
For those of us working with Knowledge Keeper Wes Fineday, it was a thrill to see his talks and storytelling reach so many thirsty ears with “ancient Indian wisdom” along with tears, and deep, genuine laughter (I sure hope those videos come out soon!)
One Response
This looks lovely. Sincerely hope I will be able to attend in the future.
Kinanâskomitin Arden and Aren for sharing.