We are back from a trip to Saskatchewan feeling energized and inspired. I have begun working on an artist book project based on my memories of my hometown, Cactus Lake. Here is a sample of some of the images and text I've been working with.
The Arrowheads of South Cactus Lake
Dad would know instinctively when the
conditions were right for hunting arrowheads in the spring. It had to
be dry and windy for a few days for the light sandy soil to reveal
the implements. We'd head out to Fischer's field to our favourite
hunting spot and search for pieces of flint, scrapers and arrowheads.
One day I found an arrowhead made out of metal worked from a barrel
hoop. I used to daydream about the people that lived on our land
before us and felt a sense of loss and the tragedy that they had been
driven from this place. I loved my collection of implements and kept
it in a birch bark box decorated with porcupine quill roses.
One day I got tired of waiting for dad
to take me out hunting. I hopped on my bike and used my own instincts
to find a field that looked right. Sure enough, I did find a
beautiful point that day all on my own. I left home soon after to go
away to school and I've always missed those spring hunts with my dad
walking together on wind blown fields in silent meditation. Some
people are beach combers, searching for treasure washed up by the
tide, but we were land combers, witnessing the slow erosion of the
sandy soil of the Palliser triangle.
I feel these tools should be housed and
taken care of in a location close to the site where they were found.
They contain a profound sense of place, of Cactus Lake. They don't
really belong to me, they belong to the land. I am almost ready to
let them go.
