The pot holes are back

Spring is finally here. We had some great weather the past few days, very warm. So warm the ice on the roads is melting and there are lots of pot holes now. Smelts are getting plentiful at North River. We caught fifty or more a couple days ago. There was a big crowd over there again today. We went up to Eagle River yesterday. We dropped the baby off with his nan and pop for a few hours and went out to Dove Brook and White Bear River for a ride. For those of you who don't know Captain George Cartwright named Dove Brook when he seen a Morning Dove there. White Bear River was named because of the many polar bears that used to feed on the salmon in the summer. There used to be a lot of polar bears at Eagle River as well. In fact he writes in his journal of a hunting trip he made in on the Eagle River one time where he got one polar bear that was so large they couldn't get it in the boat.
However all good things must come to an end as is with our weather and this story. Forecast is good for tomorrow but after that we are supposed to have rain or snow, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Very warm today. The temperature got up to plus five or higher. I don't know if that is a record or not. Went up the bay for a ride. Den Burden of Port Hope Simpson passed through on his way to Rigolet and Makkovik for dog sled races with his team. Here a couple pics.

Good and Bad Weather

Great weather today and yesterday. Went and got the baby yesterday. He spent a week up to Eagle River with his Nan and Pop. Mom and Dad were sad to see him go. He had a great time up there. He was outdoors a lot walking all over the place and sliding.We had a storm not long ago, a lot of snow came down. This was followed by two really good days (today and yesterday)and tomorrow we will get rain and after that it will get quite cold. The temperature is supposed to get up to plus 2 or 3 and later on in the evening it will drop to minus 22. Very erratic weather. A sign of global warming I guess.

There was a polar bear in the community of Black Tickle/Domino Feb 17/09. He attacked someones dog shaking it in his mouth and followed someone up onto their bridge being promptly hit on the head with a shovel. The resident then grabbed his gun and shot the bear to drive it away. The bear was not killed. Wildlife and DFO officials flew up to see if the bear could be saved or be put down but as of today they have been unable to locate the animal. He was last seen on his way over to nearby Spotted Island.

The following is an excerpt from one of my journals

Aug 23/06

Went out to Cape North and Gready this afternoon to see if we could get any fish. Still never got any. I got 3 rock cods and a sculpin and ***** got a herring. Passed **** Martin and ****** Dyson on the way in just past the Sisters. A few thunder showers on the way out and in. We stopped at Cape North for a while.

beautiful weather today

Temperatures are finally warmed up. We took the baby sliding today in to Little Everest. For those of you who don't know, Little Everest is a gulsh about half mile outside town limits named because of its high steep sides. Temperatures are supposed to warm up up to plus 2 Wednesday, which is too warm. Rain is also forecast for Wednesday.

In Captain George Cartwright's time many or most of the southern Inuit died, at least in the Sandwich Bay area. When English settlers started coming over no European women came with them so the men married Inuit women. This is where the Labrador Metis came from. This trend continued well into the 1800's and probably early 1900's. Today we (Labrador Metis) can trace our Inuit ancestry back hundreds of years to the earliest setlers and our Inuit ancestors inhabited the south coast as late as the early to mid 1900's at least up around Spotted Island and Batteau area where my family is originally from. If you look at some of the people around here (Cartwright) you can easily see their Inuit features. It is intersting to note here that in the 1950's when there was an American radar base at Spotted Island the Americans called the villagers "Eskimo's" even though they weren't Inuit or settlers of purely european descent.