A Visit to Doig River First Nation

By Teruyo Yamada

There were many moose skins and fox skins and a bearskin. I was surprised when I saw them. I can learn about hide preparation. And I was glad to meet Upper Pine School students again. They wore First Nation clothes. It was so cute. Many people came there. I thought that this event is very famous and traditional. This event will be a good experience memory for me. It was very fun, but I felt so cold. I regret that it was raining. I wanted to go on a sunny day. But, lunch made me cheerful. By the way, I don’t like the smell of moose. It felt like rotten meat and wild animals. I thought everyone doesn’t like that smell. I got the impression that a bear skin was real. I was surprised that they left the bear’s head. And there were some fox skins. The fox’s head was also left. Then the memory of animal life came across my mind. When I was an elementary school student, I learned animal life from my teacher. We saw a lot of dead bodies of animals. But they didn’t rot and were very beautiful. A face and a body were the same state and shape. I want to go again, but only on a sunny day.