Our community, Naotkamegwanning FN, has been dealing with tricky roads for a long time and they will always be around due to unaffordability and other factors. Over time, most of the community’s members and regular visitors have been able to figure out the pothole hot spots – which makes it less bothersome.
The employed group that officially repairs the community’s potholes is the Operations & Maintenance crew. Though sometimes community members take time out of their days to fix the pothole problem themselves, they only provide a temporary solution. With the help of the O&M crew and community members, we do our best to ensure safe and smoother passage into our great community for visitors and our fellow community members. They always do a great job and they always make the roads smooth as they can be. Those people are always thanked and very appreciated for the repairs on our roads.
On April 8, 2019, Managing Editor Damon Hunter of the Naotkamegwanning Mazina’igan released his first amateur short film on Youtube. The video was a submission for the charitable non-profit organization, TakingITGlobal.
While taking on a leadership role for participating youth as an audio/interview mentor, he also partook himself, producing the short-film alongside Mazina’igan executives Karli Zschogner and Laval Namaypoke.
The finished product features Ian Crow, Kirby Paul, Sherry Blake, and other prominent supporters in the area of Naotkamegwanning First Nation.
Raven Crow with Jyles Copenace weighing a pike catch Jazlyn Fishing Derby (Photo Credit: Damon Hunter)
By: Damon Hunter
On Saturday 19, a local family had gathered a total sum of 39 participants to partake in a fishing derby. The derby was appropriately situated on the frozen Lobstick Bay ice road. With 19 teams of 2 and a large sum of money as the prize, it was reportedly an especially suspenseful event – as suspenseful as the sport of ice fishing can get.
The derby’s organizers, Jyles Copenace and Jolene Fontaine, said they particularly want to fund their daughter Jazlyn’s “Junior Jingle Dress Special”, which has the intended use of honouring her for how far she’s come in life.
Furthermore, the special is expected to be a large gathering which will hopefully help Jazlyn visualize the wide range of supporters surrounding her.
The special is set to happen at the Manito Ahbee Festival between the days of May 15-19, in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
“She’s going to be a young woman pretty soon”, says Jyles. “The people that are going to be helping her with this special are [also] going to be the people that keep helping her through[out] her life. So that’s kind of our way of honouring her at this young age”.
The derby had additionally been held to show respect and acknowledgement for the shockingly recent victims of Canada’s residential schools, especially the ones that prematurely passed.
Due to largely undocumented history, the current statistic is no more than an educated guess. The current estimate for student deaths within residential schools is, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, somewhere in the 3,200-6,000 range. To scale, there were over 150,000 Indigenous persons who attended residential school – many of whom had endured multiple forms of abuse.
To this day, some local elders and adults still recall certain events from these schools. One person, in particular, Jolene Fontaine’s mother, recalls the recurring average of 2 pupils per month going missing, according to Jolene.
“I want to honour the ones that passed on, [the ones] that didn’t get to go home”, Jolene recalls daughter Jazlyn saying.
The event had garnered enough attention that, through word of mouth, found its way to Gindon, who has only been a permanent resident of Canada for 10 years.
Originally from the Philippines, he’s now found joy in fishing. He says he was invited to the event by his friend, Jeff Qi from the Bimose Tribal Council situated in Kenora.
Filleting a fish just metres away was Bill Girard, from Northwest Angle #33. In conversation, Bill revealed that because of his parent’s interracial marriage, he had in turn, lost his Indian status.
It wasn’t until April 1985 that the Canadian government passed Bill C-31, effectively ending the inequality set before indigenous peoples.
He claims to have thankfully never attended a residential school or was ever expected to – a fortunate loophole.
On the flipside, his only education was at a university level, which he claims to have obtained through an indigenous-supportive program. He says he regrets never having a formal education.
At one point in his life, Bill says he worked as a tour guide for people from all corners of the globe. He once spent a day with Wayne Gretzky, touring and cooking for him. This was the highlight of his career, he states.
He also has experience in the traditional powwow scene. He proudly volunteered to work in the Pow Wow Committee for approximately 10 years, he claims. Alongside this, he also claims to have served as an Education Board member for about a decade as well.
Jazlyn Copenace Fishing Derby along the Lopstick Bay Ice Road(Photo Credit: Damon Hunter)
All in all, the event was a commendable and diverse get-together with an intriguing idea supporting it.
The winners are as follows:
1st – Tag and Jammice Joseph
2nd – Shannon Rochelle/Dale Cowley
3rd – Terence Gordon Sandy and Samantha Cowley
4th – Murphy Kakeeway and Raven Crow
5th – Fred Morrison
Subcategory winners:
Mystery Weight – Murphy Kakeeway
50/50 – Megan Cowley
Skunk Pot – Marcel Bill Girard
The March Break Games are a series of annual events that happen yearly in Naotkamegwanning First Nation. This year’s March Break Games will be it’s 21st annual holding since it was first created in 1998.
The games unify local organizations as one to host individual, separate events for the community. The goal is for everyone to have fun, enjoy some good food, and win great prizes together a community.
Below is an official but tentative list of scheduled events given by Linda Namaypoke of the Naotkamegwanning Band Office.
Monday’sevents will include:Opening Ceremonies,Opening Prayer, Chief and Council Remarks Etc.
Tuesday’s events will include: Fun Mountain (kids/youth), Family Amazing Race, Hungry Hippo, Etc.
Wednesday’s event will include: Various Activities for children/youth, Scavenger Hunt For Families, Nail Drive, Etc.
Thursday‘sevents will include: Kids Bouncy House, Strong Man Competition, Snowshoe Relay Race, Etc.
Indigenous Executive Producers individually answer questions from Northwestern Ontario’s Naotkamegwanning First Nation following Rumble film screening
Left to Right: Tim Johnson, Tony Bennett, Catherine Bainbridge, Stevie Salas
[LONG READ]
By: Damon Hunter
Last month, I wrote about the screening of the hit film, Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, which was produced under the Indigenous film production company Rezolution Pictures. Within my closing sentences, I included the fact that the film’s starring celebrity and executive producer, Stevie Salas, would be answering community-given questions. Salas, a renowned Apache rock guitarist, has worked among Hardware, Justin Timberlake, Mick Jagger, and Rod Stewart. He hosts the music and comedy show ‘Arbor Live’ on APTN, alongside actor Adam Beach.
The opportunity to do so stemmed purely from an email conversation with Rumble’s producers. What you’ll find below are answers from two: musician Stevie Salas and his co-producer, Tim Johnson.
The interview has been edited for length.
Q: Rhonda White, Gr. 7 teacher at Baibombeh Anishinabe School: “I wonder what had inspired the makers of the film to tell this story. How did it come about?”
Salas: The story started when I was young – just a few years out of high school playing guitar for Rod Stewart. I was playing Madison Square Garden in NYC and thought: “Am I the only Native American musician to ever play here?” Once I started to research this, I found out that I was NOT and that there were some amazing Native musicians that I didn’t know were Native. I thought, “The world needs to know about these musicians!”
Johnson: While serving as associate director overseeing exhibitions and programs at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian, I was responsible for identifying and hiring Indigenous talent. One of our programs focused on contemporary Native American music.
We produced a symposium with related concert entitled The Blues: Roots, Branches, and Beyond, that provided a fascinating look at the contributions Native musicians made to the development of the blues, including points of convergence between Native American and African American communities. We even featured a concert series called “Classical Native” that sought to dispel stereotypes by presenting the works of contemporary Native American classical music composers.
These offerings advanced my interest in music produced by Native musicians and I wondered what more could be done to increase recognition of their contributions and talents. It was during that time that Stevie Salas first came to my attention. Of particular interest to me was his role as producer of Arbor Live, a music variety show featured on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network that highlighted Native musicians alongside popular recording and performing artists of stature.
I made a point of meeting Stevie [and] we quickly found common purpose in our shared objective of elevating public attention to the depth, range, and contributions of Native musicians. I then hired Stevie as my contemporary music advisor and thus, was formed the creative and structural confluence that would lead directly to the development of our popular Smithsonian exhibit, Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture, and the follow-up documentary by Rezolution Pictures, RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World. The development of the concept took form and shape over the course of our two-year collaboration with several members of my staff involved.
Q: Rhonda White, Gr. 7 teacher at Baibombeh Anishinaabe School: In mainstream media, we are often shown how music has evolved from deep south rhythm and blues to rock sounds, most notably black or African American artists. Curious about their process of tracing the initial Indigenous rhythms, drumbeat, and vocals?
Salas: When people started to arrive in what would become the United States, they brought with them many of their unique styles and culture. Soon they would mix with Native Americans that were already here and from that, amazing things would come. Mixing the Native American heartbeat ‘four on the floor’ drums with African polyrhythms was the start.
Johnson: One of the amazing achievements of our exhibit and follow-up documentary was drawing attention to the contributions made by Indigenous musicians to the formation of various genres, such as the blues, jazz, and rock and roll, which serve as the foundations of North American popular music. Research conducted by Brian Wright McLeod, who wrote the Encyclopedia of Native Music, and Smithsonian researcher Chris Turner, amplified our attention on the Indigenous musicians who shaped these genres and how their cultures influenced the sounds of this music.
Take Charly Patton for example. Patton, who had Choctaw heritage, was a seminal influence on the careers of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Howlin’ Wolf. He performed in the 1920s delta roadhouse and juke joint scenes, banging on his guitar, swinging it around wildly, and even playing it behind his back. His energetic performances influenced the theatrical style of famous rock and rollers such as Jimi Hendrix.
During the era of swing and jazz, there was a genre of music played in rural and regional venues that had not yet reached mainstream popularity—the blues. The blues is thought to have developed from a combination of African and Native music traditions. Many historians have traced elements of blues music, such as its shuffling beat, to Native drum rhythms and the call-and-response style of singing.
The influences of this music went beyond the Indigenous beat, extending to melody as well. In our film, Pura Fe reveals how Charley Patton’s blues melodies were shaped by Choctaw social dance and stomp dance songs. Another example is jazz vocalist Mildred Bailey who began her career as a cinema pianist in Spokane, Washington. [Mildred] was a household name by the mid-1930s. Along the way she helped her brother Al and their high school friend Bing Crosby get a foothold in the music scene. Bailey later became a bandleader, working with almost every big name in the swing era, and even hosted her own radio show—the hallmark of celebrity for bandleaders during the ’30s and ’40s.
And of course, Like Wray originated a raw guitar sound shaped by volume, distortion, and simple song structures that became a hallmark of rock and roll. He is almost universally credited with inventing the “power chord,” without which hard rock could not exist. He was also able to create distortion, echo, and wah-wah— staples of today’s guitar sound—without the aid of technology. Wray inspired such major rock figures as The Who’s Pete Townshend and Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page to explore the soundscapes that have made them rock-and-roll guitar legends. Our film is named RUMBLE, because this was Link Wray’s 1958 hit song, that changed the direction of rock and roll for numerous musicians.
Q: My name is Arianna Jack and I am in Gr. 7 at Baibombeh School. Have you ever been to school?
Salas: Arianna yes, I went to school in San Diego where I grew up. I LOVED school because I had such amazing friends who still to this day, are in my life.
Johnson: Indeed. Education is very important, not only when you’re young like yourself, but should be a lifelong pursuit. Q: Jaryn Joseph, Gr. 7 at Baibombeh Anishinaabe School: “What was your school like?”
Salas: Jaryn, I went to several schools growing up. They were public schools in San Diego. We lived by the beach and most of my school friends were surfers. We even had a surfing class in high school.
Johnson: I went to several schools completing my formal studies at Buffalo State College. They were all good, but I’ve always felt education could have been made more relevant and even more fun! This is partly what led me to work in the museum field, where the transmission of information is conveyed through exhibits and publications and media that help make learning more interesting and engaging, in other words, fun! Just like our film RUMBLE!
Q: “My name is West Ranville, I’m 12 years old, I go to Baibombeh school and I’m in Gr. 7. What is it like hanging out with all these celebrities?”
Salas: West, some celebrities are nice and some are not so nice. The famous people that were in RUMBLE were mostly friends of mine from my years of playing music around the world. Remember, that role models come in many packages and some are not celebrities.
Johnson: I don’t seek to hang out with “celebrities.” It’s not one of my interests or pursuits. However, I do seek to spend time and develop relationships with creative, intelligent, and honourable people of good character, those who are honest and have integrity.
As you go through life, choosing with whom to associate and perhaps emulate, are critically important decisions. Making wise decisions about who to hang out with led me to become an executive at the Smithsonian Institution.
I also live in the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, where my friends range from musicians and celebrities like the legendary Robbie Robertson, two-time JUNO Award-winner Derek Miller, contemporary dancer Santee Smith, movie actor Gary Farmer, and fine artist Raymond Skye, to community educators like Dawn Hill (a residential school survivor), wise elders that I really respect and learn from like Rick Hill, Don Lynch, and Ron and Don Monture, and even the elected chief of our community, Ava Hill.
Q: “My name is Kandace Cowley, I go to Baibombeh School, I’m in grade 7. How many pow wows have you been to?”
Salas: Kandace, I have been to many pow wows in North America. My favorite memories are the times that my father and I would go to pow pows together.
Johnson: I’ve been to more pow wows and Indigenous cultural events than I can count. When I was young, I used to accompany my father to pow wows on weekends all summer. He was a vendor who sold T-shirts featuring Indigenous designs. As one of the first to do this, his expressive shirts helped instill pride in those who wore them. Nowadays, there are many folks who sell Indigenous designs on T-shirts and an industry has even emerged of Indigenous fashion designers. Q: Liam Paypompee, Gr. 7 at Baibombeh Anishinabe School: “Would you ever stay on a first nation reservation in Canada?”
Salas: Liam, I actually work on a First Nations reservation. I work with the Dreamcatcher Charitable Foundation on Six Nations, Canada.
Tim Johnson: Actually, I live in Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, which is the most populous Indigenous community within Canada. I am a Wolf Clan Mohawk and my Indigenous name is Waha:tsa, meaning “He gets the job done.” I take great pride in my Indigenous heritage and truly enjoy my community here. I believe going through life as an Indigenous person helps one to better understand issues of justice and injustice, provides a broader perspective on history, and connects us to our empathic cultural traditions respecting all living things and elements in our universe that make our lives possible. These attributes, when applied consciously, foster intelligence and build character. Please know that your own Indigenous teachings are very important, useful, and empowering. Q: My name is Carter Nash, 12 years old. I go to Baibombeh School in Gr. 7. Hello Stevie Salas, What is your favourite breakfast? How much do you turn up the volume in your stereo?
Salas: Carter, both my 11 year old son and I like music loud but his mom doesn’t like it loud so we keep the volume at a modest level. As for breakfast, I love green chili and eggs.
Johnson: I’m not sure what Stevie eats for breakfast, but my favorite is bacon and eggs. And, in my experience, listening to loud music isn’t as effective in choosing a volume where you can distinguish the tone and characteristics of each instrument. So, I’d recommend choosing fidelity l lover volume. In fact, when professional recording engineers are mixing music in the studio, they are careful not to play the music too loud because they need to hear clearly and also need to protect their ears from being damaged. Karli Zschogner, JHR: In consideration of the recognized negative connotation of the term as well as the geographical misrepresentation to the ethnicity Indian, what was the decision to perpetuate the use of “Indian” rather than other terms as Native or Indigenous?
Salas: That’s a complex answer but I will keep it simple. We wanted people around the world who were not First Nations to watch RUMBLE and we thought the word “ Indians” would grab their attention.
Johnson: Great question! The documentary was filmed mostly in the United States, where the term “Indian” is not considered offensive the way it is currently in Canada. Historically Canada has used the term “Indian” and still does in relation to the existing Indian Act. There are many Indigenous nations within the United States that use the term “Indian” in their own names such as Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma, the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina, the Seneca Nation of Indians in New York, the Alturas Indian Rancheria in California, and many others. And for eleven and ½ years I worked at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC and New York, NY.
So, in that context the title works. Most peoples around the world still refer to Indigenous peoples of the Americas as Indians. Within Canada, of course, the preferred usage in terms of style is Indigenous, First Nations, Métis, or Inuit. And you can’t go wrong with using our specific nations names in our own languages, such as Kanienkehaka, meaning Mohawk. Q: Mark Taylor – In terms of our culture and people being at such a low with the changing times, what inspired you to keep going forward even though racism was so prevalent? What gave you your edge to fight positively and to move forward with your head up?
Salas: Mark, negativity is everywhere BUT so is positive energy if you look for it. I refuse to believe that anything ISN’T possible.
Johnson: When I was a kid, certainly by fourth grade, I was already becoming aware that what I was being taught about history wasn’t the complete story. In the United States, we were often required to face the American flag and state the Pledge of Allegiance to America at the start of class each day. By fifth grade, I stopped doing that.
As I mentioned earlier, having this knowledge of being Indigenous can make you smarter, more able to utilize critical thinking in evaluating what you’re being taught, more sensitive to the forces that seek to define your reality irrespective of the facts, and more cognizant of and righteous when you encounter those who lie, cheat, and manipulate to get their way.
Always be proud, know that there are many smart people in your community who have useful experience from which to learn, and design your life to be fulfilling, responsible, and fun!
Great work! Naotkamegwanning First Nation rocks!
For more information on teaching and education lessons on the film see TeachRock.
As part of my University experience as a professional student and my nursing practice – I strive to advocate and bring awareness to cultural safety, sensitivity and competence within my class work and overall program. Nursing Theory is one of the multiple mandatory courses nursing students are required to obtain within nursing school. In this course we learn about various theorists and theories that have grounded nursing practice throughout history.
Nursing theory is a ubiquitous, diverse yet fundamental component to a nurses practice. As future nurses, the heart of our nursing practice is to ensure our knowledge is well informed from relevant theorists and theory models. Smith and Parker emphasize, “Nursing theories are an important part of this body of knowledge, and regardless of complexity or abstraction, they reflect phenomena central to the discipline, and should be used by nurses to frame their thinking, action and being in the world” (Smith & Parker, 2015)
As part of my Nursing Theory course, our final assignment was to construct a creative medium piece. Guidelines for this assignment outlined an artistic portion and a written portion that had to weave theories and theorists together. Depiction of my artistic rendering portrays Indigenous culture, and how elements within my culture reflect similarities of three major grand theories, and one middle range theory we have studied throughout this course. My written portion of my document provides thorough explanation to support my art through annotated bibliographies that reflect the importance and relevance of Indigenous culture and nursing practice.
Original drawings by Nikkol Medicine: Image D – Jingle Dress Dance (Credit: Nikkol Medicine)
Throughout our nursing theory course, one theory that I have found significant value for is Roy’s adaptation model. This model expresses a fundamental basis around people and their environment as adaptive systems. Roy’s adaptation model is represented in my first art piece that portrays holistic health, and Indigenous connections to the land and animals. Within my culture, the teachings that have been shared with me involve a connection we share with our language, land and animals. My teachers have conveyed the importance of taking care of the land, giving back what you can, never taking too much of something and that nothing is wasteful. My art also depicts the sacred medicine wheel, and within this wheel the colours also hold their own representations of certain teachings, for example the four directions, and four sacred medicines. I feel my artistic rendering shares an important piece to Indigenous culture, and how learning and incorporating these values within your life, along with Roy’s adaptation model can benefit healing for Indigenous peoples.
Original drawings by Nikkol Medicine : Image C – Traditional Healing (Credit: Nikkol Medicine)
Another theorist this course has introduced is Jean Watson, and the theory of caring she has refined. The history of this theory was based upon Watsons personal views as a nurse and blended throughout her succeeding academic studies. One of the concepts Watson’s theory introduces is the 10 carative factors, which was established to provide nurses with practice foundations. In other words, carative factors is the philosophy and theory of human caring and used instead of “curative” to distinguish between nursing and medicine. These factors I feel weave into the gifts of the seven grandfathers, and my artistic rendering of the seven grandfathers display the connections to this theory. Within my culture, we acknowledge these seven grandfather teachings with an animal that reflects each gift. Within my culture, I have learned that each of these teachings should weave together and be part of living a good life, “Bimaadiziwin”.
Original Drawing by Nikkol Medicine: Image B – Seven Grandfather Teachings (Credit: Nikkol Medicine)
The final grand theorist that is relevant to my artistic rendering includes views of Madeleine Leiningers culture care theory. Within her theory, she focuses on the essential scope of practice that believes in transcultural nursing, and ensures nursing practice provides therapeutic meaningful healing (Smith and Parker, 2015). My artistic rendering of traditional healing focuses on the inclusion of my knowledge around the four sacred medicines, which include tobacco, sweet grass, sage and cedar. These medicines are used in many ceremonies for different reasons to provide a connection to one’s spirit, and spiritual healing.
The middle-range theory used to reflect my artistic renderings, and traditional healing is through the use of Patricia Liehr and Mary Jane Smith’s Story Theory. The use of this theory is recognized to be important within nursing practice, as often times health care decisions that are made for patients are based upon the receiving and telling of stories. The last piece of my artistic rendering represents a traditional dance, known as the jingle dress dance, and this dance is relevant to weave into story theory. The origins of this dance stem from a story that took place within my community of Naotkamegwanning First Nations. The story of the jingle dress dates back to the early 1900’s and it involves a young girl from my community, who became suddenly ill. Today, my community of Naotkamegwanning First Nations, is known as home of the jingle dress, and the teachings of this dress represent it as a healing dance that is still cherished today.
In closing, I feel each artistic rendering represents a story and relationship within its own reflection, that overall revolves around holistic health, healing and wellbeing.
Nikkol Medicine is a Naotkamegwanning First Nation community member currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Science of Nursing program at Nipissing University in North Bay, ON.
Okima poses for her sister over winter in her new jingle dress (Photo Credit: Ozaawaa Paypompee)
By: Okima Paypompee
When I was nine years old, I decided to learn how to dance pow-wow. I saw a lot of people around me dance and it made me feel happy inside, but I was so shy. I asked my mom if could ever do that too and she said it was up to me and my own decision.
About a year later, determined to have my own, at a pow wow, I asked a man if I could purchase this beautiful blue and pink fancy shawl dress. He told me it was $200 but I did not have that amount. Although, after some discussion with his wife and my dad, he agreed to trade with my dad his painting of a wolf and the moon.
I was so excited. I began teaching myself, whether through youtube videos or focusing live when women and girls danced. Fancy Shawl dancing, a highlight in pow wow competitions, is considered a reflection of a butterfly as the girl or women moves her ‘wingspan’ and feet lightly. It takes so much foot and arm coordination. Ever since I started dancing, I fell in love with it.
For years, I travelled with my family to pow wows, competing, receiving from fourth place to second place. Delighted for that moment, I felt my years of practice was paying off when I received that second place win in the 2016 Grassy Narrows pow wow.
But, I didn’t want to just stop there. I wanted to keep learning. I wanted to dance jingle dress as well. I loved the colours, the presentation, and the sounds of the cones jingling together. When I danced fancy shawl, I was still so shy, worried what others think. But I didn’t want to be shy anymore.
On my own, I began practicing the dance, preparing myself for the jingle dress dance. I began asking around of where I could purchase or have a jingle dress made for me but the costs were too high for me.
Then, on the first day of Shawendaason’s first annual cultural camp in October, Rolanda Wilson happened to announce she was selling a jingle dress she made herself. I went over to ask her and I was delighted to be able to purchase this beautiful blue, orange, yellow, green and pink dress with copper jingles.
I was so excited, so proud to be able to purchase it with my own money I saved. Rolanda suggested I dance with it at the end of the camp’s pow wow at the Naotkamegwanning roundhouse. Learning about Naotkamegwanning’s origin to the jingle dress, discussed at the camp made me even more excited to have this dress of my own. After the grand entry, I felt the feelings of shyness leave me, dancing counterclockwise beside the people I knew.
Being a jingle dress dancer means a lot to me because I love showing the skills I have learned. From now on, I want to show others how proud I am.
Like with learning fancy shawl and now jingle dress, I want to show my family and friends that I can learn on my own.
Ice fishing is one of many ways to enjoy the great outdoors during the winter months. Let’s face it, winter is and will always be part of our life for five months out of the year. In years past, we’ve enjoyed mild winters and have also had to contend with this thing they call the Polar Vortex – Yigh!
One of many ways I like to enjoy the outdoors is to go ice fishing on the many lakes that are within our area. There are so many ways to do this and still enjoy it to the fullest. Whether it is renting an ice shack for the day or using a portable ice hut, we can still enjoy the outdoors with the comforts of heat, especially during those cold days on the lake.
There are so many products on the market today that can make the day that much more enjoyable. Sometimes it can be overwhelming on shopping for such items, especially with all that they have on the market. For the beginner ice fishermen, there are certain tools and supplies that you will need to get started. Here are some of the essentials that you will most likely need:
Ice Fishing Rod/Reel Combo – A spinning outfit is probably the way to go, a medium 26 – 28” rod spooled with 8lb. test fishing line. This set up is ideal because it is versatile in a sense that you can catch the smallest Crappie to catching Walleyes and the fair sized Lake Trout that are abundant on the beautiful Lake of the Woods.
Manual Auger – I started out with a Bologna powered Auger, which is fine nowadays. They make them so well and so sharp without having to dish out loads of money for a gas powered or even electric powered auger. A manual auger is an inexpensive item that is essential to this sport. A 6” to 8“ auger is ideal because it is a practical size for pulling pan sized fish to trophy sized fish through the hole. You can find these at the local sporting goods store anywhere from $40 – $100.
Tackle – There are so many options out there that it becomes overwhelming in making the right purchase. I will break it down based on the three main sought after fish that can be caught on this lake:
Walleye – ¼ oz. Jig with any type of colour choice tipped with a live minnow; good for shallow or deep water fishing. A bright coloured Jigging Spoon ¼ oz. to 3/8 oz. tipped with a Minnow Head based on preference and water depth. You will mostly find these fish in 20 to 40 feet of water. Straight to the bottom is the way to go.
Crappie – 1/16 oz. Coloured Jig tipped with a live minnow or a micro tungsten coloured jig tipped with a live or plastic 2” mimic minnow. You can also use smaller jigging spoons as well. These fish can be found in back bays finding the deepest bowl of the bay in 10 – 30 feet of water.
Trout – A silver or gold coloured Spoon sized ¼ oz to 3/8 oz. is ideal, these fish are found in deeper water so it is a must to fish heavier type tackle. A white or pearl coloured plastic tube bait with a ¼ oz. to ½ oz. jig is an absolute must in trying to catch a Lake Trout, these fish are often fooled by this particular hook because of its erratic movement in the water column. These fish can be found in 20 to 100 feet of water, they suspend so they can be caught throughout all depths of the water column.
Ice Hut – This is optional, of course! If you plan on enjoying the heat of a portable heater or bringing kids to this adventure, then it is always good to have a portable ice hut. Whether it is a place to warm up or fish stationary, the luxury of heat on those particular days makes the day much more enjoyable for you, the wife and the kids. Try to go as big as your budget can go. A 3-4 person ice hut is size enough for your gear and visitors.
Be Safe – Always let others know where you’ll be fishing and what time you’ll be back. There are areas out there that are unsafe for fishing. Tag along with someone who knows the lake and you’ll find out right quick the knowledge to understand the importance of being safe on the ice. Don’t hesitate to ask questions about the lake, they have apps that you can purchase on the smartphone – Navionics and Lakemaster are the ones primarily used in our area that will show the contours and depths of our lake and where you can locate some of the target species.
February 18, 2019 is Family Day, the community will often host a family Fish Derby during this day; they usually have awesome prizes and categories to the winners so be on the lookout for posters as this is a family affair. Try your luck and I’ll guarantee you will have fun doing so. Good luck, be safe and good fishing.
Calvin Joseph is currently the guidance counsellor at Baibombeh Anishinaabe School.
Naotkamegwanning News 