Thanksgiving Thanks

It's time like these when I can't believe how great God is! It is so true that when He closes a door, He opens a window.

Greg has had several difficult days in a row, and has come home and been very depressed.  It is difficult to see him like this, and it made me sad and depressed too.  The kids noticed, and they have been concerned too.  It's not homesickness...it's just life biting us in the butt.  However, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, Greg received a very happy phone call and things are looking much much better.  I'll be able to blog more about this later on in the week, but suffice to say, the spark is back in Greg's eye and he is laughing again.  The Greg I know and love has returned, and that has boosted me, too.  Thank you to our Prayer Army, our Guardian Angels (who must be working overtime these days), and to God!!

Tonight there was a Thanksgiving Feast at Kitti Hall, the Community Centre here in Tuk.  While we did not attend the actual supper at the hall, we did go to watch the traditional Inuvialuctin drumming and dancing.  A few students of ours were taking part, and we wanted to see them in action.  The dances are short, and tell stories about whale and caribou hunting as well as other particular stories passed down through the generations.  There are both male and female dancers.

In order to drum or dance, you have to be in a good state of mind both spiritually and mentally.  I relate it to sin-free Christians receiving Communion.  The boys are all teenagers or young men and they wear a white homemade shirt with a hood over their regular clothing and handmade traditional mukluks when they drum.  The drums are about two feet in diameter, and covered in something white, probably animal hide, and about 6 inches deep.  To me, they resemble large embroidery hoops, just a little deeper.  They bang them with a wooden stick, and they all look the same.  While they are banging their drums in sync, they also sing/chant.  During each song, they get to a point where instead of banging the front of the drum, they hit the back of it too really hard and the beats are closer together than they are when they are beating the front.  The songs are short, but each one definitely tells a story.

As for the dancers, the boys wear what they have on to drum but they add a pair of traditional animal hide gloves trimmed with fur and embroidered.   The dance moves for a guy involve a stepping from side to side and then when the drumming gets louder and the beats are closer together, they bend in a partial squatting position while pounding one foot to the ground, and the other leg is turning them around.   It is quite complicated but really neat to watch.  Their hand gestures all look like they are holding a harpoon or hunting weapon and throwing it.

The girls wear a traditional handmade shirt, usually made of a cotton floral and colourful trim, or a dress, again floral cotton with a square neck, short puffed sleeves and a ruffle at the bottom of the dress, which goes to their mid shin.  The ladies, too, wear mukluks. When the ladies dance they move from side to side and their hand gestures are much more subtle and vague.  There is a lot of side to side movement and twisting the hands, which are held open with fingers straight, back and forth. The females' dances are usually about helping on the hunt, skinning and traditional female activities that occur around hunting.  Sometimes you will see a girl drumming but most of the time it is the males who drum.  Occasionally there will be a dance for both boys and girls, too.

There is one boy in Grade 7 whom I taught and who Greg currently teaches who was drumming and dancing tonight.  He doesn't have much to say or do in class, and he defies all the rules about no hats in the school.  He attends school semi-regularly but he is not interested in classroom learning.  He is, however, an avid dancer, drummer and hunter.  He is a proud Inuvialuctin and I have never seen that made more clear than tonight.  He was incredible!  It was amazing to see him dancing, singing and drumming with his piers, a smile on his face and looking relaxed and confident, a true and proud young man.  I also watched a lot of the younger boys watching him and the other drummers and dancers and you could see the admiration in their eyes.  It was inspiring.

Toward the end of the drumming and dancing, there was an announcement that the last dances were for everyone to enjoy.  Before I knew it, this student, who for some reason calls Greg 'Mike', was in front of us, handing a pair of traditional gloves to Greg.  He said, "Hey Mike, will you come and dance with me?".  It took Greg a nanosecond to accept the gloves, and go to the dance floor.  Apparently, when a man wants to invite another man to dance with him, he hands him his gloves to wear.  It's a pretty big thing.  Greg knew this and was humbled that this student thought well enough of him to ask him.  Before long, all the other staff, including me, were called by name to come and join the women dancing.  It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed hearing the drums behind me while I moved to the beat, watching the female dancers like a hawk!  It was also neat watching this student show Greg the dance moves and going slow and deliberate so that Greg could get the hang of it.

After it was over, Greg looked at me and said, "How many people do you know who are invited to dance the traditional dances of the Inuvialuctin people?  Wow!!".  This student said he was really happy that Greg took up his challenge and hoped that he would dance with him again at the Christmas feast and Greg was most pleased to be asked already.

Later on, we were at the local grocery store, which is open until 10:00p.m., picking up a few items, and this student and his friends walked in, baseball caps securely fastened on their heads again.  I thanked them for inviting us to dance and told them how incredible it was to hear the drums and listen to them sing and chant.  I asked them if there was a way to know what stories or legends they are re-enacting when they dance, and they said that when we come to their practices, all we have to do is ask and the leaders will tell us.

We were really sorry that we didn't have our camera with us, especially because I now know that it is okay to film them.  I haven't had the nerve to ask them before because I felt like an outsider, but now I know they don't mind, and I look forward to posting some pics about them.  They are quite a sight and the drumming goes right down into your soul.  It is quite a spiritual experience.

Anyway, for as many challenges as we have experienced over the last few weeks, this evening has really shown me that we DO have much to be thankful for celebrating Thanksgiving up here in the North.  As we left Stanton's, there was a whole crowd of people in the front of the store who all shouted out "Happy Thanksgiving Mr. and Mrs. Wilson!" and we shouted the same greeting back.  We knew the majority of the people in the store, and it was an incredible feeling.

Before I finish up, I want to express how grateful we are for all your prayers and support, because without them I don't know if we would be experiencing some of the eye-opening things we have, and your love is what spurs us forward when we want to turn and run.

Sometimes it's really difficult to express all the love and gratitude we feel for you, but please know that we truly are grateful for your love and support.

Thank You.