Far North Rambles #47: Duck!

Have you ever heard a common word, but you have a very different understanding of its meaning? In a far north context, you might think of the word treaty, or partnership, or share. But no, I am thinking of the word “duck”.

One evening, in Fort Hope, in the homeland of Eabametoong First Nation, Lori Churchill and I were invited by Martha and Harry Papah to go fishing (Photo 1). It was always nice to get out on Eabamet Lake to enjoy the lake, the lake shore, and the grassy river by a place locally known as Bushtown. It was nice to spend a quiet evening with Martha, Harry, and their daughter on the water.

I sat towards the front of the boat (Photo 2). It was a calm, quiet evening, but a little buggy.

I don’t think we caught any fish (Photo 3). At dusk, we spotted a moose in along the shore. Harry carefully removed his rifle from its case, and pointed the boat towards the shore. In the Far North, “country food” is an important healthy food source. Harvested game is commonly shared to help feed others who are not able to hunt, so a moose can feed several families for many days.

We were all focused on the moose and Harry with the gun.

Suddenly, Martha yelled “DUCK!”. “Cool”, I thought, “Cool. We see a moose and Martha sees ducks as well”. I turn to the side, looking for what must have been a massive flock of ducks.

“DUCK!” - a second yell with urgency from Martha.

Kah-blam. Harry shoots. It was quite loud (Photo 4).

I thought “Harry will scare the ducks”. I kept scanning the lake for the ducks.

I hear Martha yell again “DUCK!”

Kah-blam. Another shot by Harry. Oddly, that shot was a little less loud.

I turned, smiled at Martha, and asked “where are the ducks?”. I could see her lips moving, but I could not hear her. My ears were ringing from the rifle shots.

Her moving lips seemed to say “DUCK!”.

Kah-blam. A a third shot.

Then it was quiet, except the ringing in my ears.

I asked Martha again “where are the ducks?” Martha responded “ducks? There are no ducks. When I yell “duck”, you are supposed to lie down in the boat so that Harry has a clear shot.”

Long pause. No ducks? Lie down? Ahhh. The boat was pointed toward the shore, where the moose was. I was sitting toward the front of the boat. Harry was shooting from the back of the boat. Now I get it. Slower than most, you are thinking.

Harry was a good shot. He skillfully missed me three times. I am grateful. The moose was also grateful as it ran off into the bush.

Unfortunately, there were no ducks. I caused Harry to miss harvesting moose food for many. My ears were ringing. And I learned that sometimes we use the same word, but we mean something quite different. On the plus side, I could not hear that annoying whine from the hordes of mosquitoes - at least for a few minutes.

Miigwetch Harry and Martha. To this day, I cannot see, or think of, ducks without seeing Martha’s moving lips.

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Dec. 25/20 (Facebook Dec. 18/20)