Batter Fried Walleye by Michael Cardinal
Veterans lower flags at Treaty 4 Gathering while the
Kawacatoose Boys drum group sing a flag song.
The wind flowed peacefully through the flags as the five men started drumming and singing the flag song while the other five men brought down the four flags. What was only a couple of minutes felt like much more as Mrs. Koops and I stood by and watched. As they sang the second song, a victory song, I observed the five men drum and sing while the other five walked in rhythm to the drum around the flag poles. Some of the men stepped with bursts of energy, some only a little, but that didn’t matter because you could see the passion in the way the men danced and the way the men drummed and sang.
As the song came to an end and the five men returned to
stand by each of the flag poles, the five men who drummed and sang began to
walk and shake each of the men’s hands. As they did Mrs. Koops signaled me to
walk with her to shake their hands, so I followed.
The feeling of serenity and peace was in my heart as it all
came to be done; the ten men continued on their day at the treaty four grounds
as we did the same. Little did we know that one of the men who sang and drummed
would come into our lives one more time to give us a treat as if witnessing the
flag raising ceremonies wasn’t a treat enough.
He was standing by our orange shirt day awareness tipi
because he parked his truck a couple meters away behind it. He was wearing
black boots, blue jeans, a nice plaid shirt with a silver bolo tie and a hat
that had the worn-out look to it. I saw him dig in the back seat and he pulled
out a tray full of batter-fried walleye, and he offered all of us a piece of
the golden-brown fish. As he came around giving each of us this treat my
mouth watered while I waited for a piece of the walleye cooked to a golden
brown. When I took the first, little bite all I could think about was savouring
the moment, the flavour, and the great fullness I had in my stomach and
soul.
No comments:
Post a Comment