There are a number of upcoming events in the Wells Gray Rocks series that might be of interest to our readers.
What the old-timers ate
“Pioneer Food!” will be held on Saturday, Aug. 23 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Upper Clearwater Community Hall (located 25km north of the Infocenter on Clearwater Valley Road). Admission to the event will be free.
The presentation by Clara Ritcey and Ellen Ferguson will offer a fun historical perceptive on food in the early days of Wells Gray.
Topics will include gathering, cooking and preserving. Participants will learn how very different lives were in the Upper Clearwater in the early years of the 1900s when food was much simpler. No one bothered with hunting licenses and the seasons of the year determined what was served for dinner.
First Fish
Although not a Wells Gray Rocks event, Simpcw First Nation will host the First Fish Ceremony on Aug. 27 at the Raft River viewing platform next to Highway 5.
Admission once again will be free.
This annual event is a celebration of the return of the salmon.
A highlight is the traditional pit oven where salmon and other foods are cooked in the traditional way of the Simpcw. Food will go into the oven around noon.
There will be Lahal and other traditional games for the kids, knobbies, bannock ball, storytelling, and more to fill the afternoon.
When the meal is ready to eat (around 5:00), everyone will be welcome to share.
Donations will be welcome to cover the cost of the ceremony.
Raft River was the site of a Simpcw village and members of the band still harvest salmon from its waters each year.
Nature Journaling
“Keeping Track: Nature Journaling as Discovery” is a Wells Gray Rocks event that will be held Aug. 30 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Trevor Goward's home Edgewood Blue (25 km up the Clearwater Valley Road). Please register at the Wells Gray Information Centre – 250-674-3334.
The Wells Gray landscape runs rich with a multi-faceted phenomena of a living, breathing world. This hands-on workshop will use a series of drawing and writing exercises to locate ourselves in moment and place. No previous expertise will be needed and beginners will be welcome.
Participants should bring a sketch book, pencil and pens with which to draw and write. Other portable art supplies (water colour sets, coloured pencils) are optional.
Lyn Baldwin is a plant ecologist who teaches botany and ecology at Thompson Rivers University. Baldwin has been recording natural history stories in her illustrated field journals for nearly 20 years.
Her field journals and paintings have been exhibited in local libraries, art galleries and science museums