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Each season brings its own gifts to Pimachiowin Aki. As the landscape, wildlife, plants and trees go through seasonal changes, life on the land changes, too. Use our calendar to gain seasonal knowledge and trace our traditional land use activities throughout the year.   

In February, Moose avoid travel because the ice on the snow cuts their shins.

Download the calendar

Parts of Canada are well known for fierce winds and dangerously low temperatures during the winter months. We asked the Pimachiowin Aki Guardians for tips on how to stay safe this winter.

1. Report to the Band Office

“Stop in to say hello, so that we know that you are out there,” says Bloodvein First Nation Guardian Melba Green.  

2. Travel with a Buddy

No matter how much experience you have in the outdoors, heavy snow and high winds can reduce visibility, making travel, especially on foot, very difficult. Little Grand Rapids Guardian Dennis Keeper warns, “It’s a good idea to travel with somebody, especially at this time of year.”  

3. Use Nature (and Your Buddy) to Stay Warm

Many years ago, trappers would walk to traplines as far as 100 kilometres away from the community. They knew how to survive the elements during these long outings. They would walk in winter and sleep out in the open, using shrubs and tree branches for mattresses and blankets. They would also build a fire, taking turns to stoke it during the night.

This knowledge has been passed down through generations to the many trappers and hunters in Pimachiowin Aki today who use the survival skills that they learned from their fathers and grandfathers.

Melba says, “Years ago, my dad, cousin and brother got lost coming back from the trapline and spent three days out in the woods. They made shelter, and huddled together, walking during the daylight hours through very deep snow.”

“Use old pine trees for firewood to make a fire,” says Colin Owens, Pauingassi First Nation Guardian. Colin also recommends building a shelter to stay warm if you are lost. Like Elder Leslie, he suggests using the branches from the trees for ground cover and as blankets.

Melba suggests using ferns, willows and young trees, which are flexible, and therefore ideal for building shelter. 

4. Eat Cat Tail Roots

Vegetation is scarce during the winter months, so foraging for food may be difficult. “You can dig up snow looking for berries, but you’re not always successful,” says Melba.

“Unless you know where the wild parsnips are,” Dennis adds. “You can also eat the roots of cat tails,” he says, noting that they are an acquired taste.

Learn more about seasonal trips, past and present, in Pimachiowin Aki: https://pimaki.ca/the-land-that-gives-life/habitation/

For more information about the Pimachiowin Aki Guardians program: https://pimaki.ca/keeping-the-land/guardians-program/

During this time of year, known as freeze-up, people usually stay close to home. But Dennis Keeper, Little Grand Rapids First Nation Guardian, reports that hunters and trappers are travelling greater distances than usual to prepare for the winter ahead.

A devastating fire has made moose and rabbits scarce, he says. “With no vegetation for the animals to eat, we have to go farther to find them. But we don’t have to go far to collect firewood.”   

People in newer homes do not have wood stoves, but they do collect wood for outdoor fires. Those who live in older homes rely on wood for cooking and heating their homes throughout winter. A wood stove is a great asset, especially when the power goes out during a winter storm.  

Pauingassi Guardian Colin Owens is confident that all members of his community will be warm this winter. Six men are hired to cut wood for those who are unable to cut it themselves, he says.

Stocking Up

Preparing for the long winter includes stocking up on meat. Little Grand Rapids was fortunate to harvest  moose this year. They also had a good waterfowl season. “This will help the community,” says Dennis. “We’re just waiting for the ice to be able to go fishing.”

In Bloodvein First Nation, trappers are setting traps for rabbit, lynx, beaver and muskrat on just one side of the island. “They’re going out on the land to put out traps, but they can’t cross the river until it freezes,” Melba says.

Once the land is covered with enough snow, travel will be made easier with snowshoes and snowmobiles.

The fur of beaver, rabbit, lynx, fox and wolf is used to make warm mittens and hats. Rabbit fur is used as an extra layer for keeping your feet warm. Blankets are made out of rabbit fur and moose hide is tanned and made into durable outerwear.

There is a lot of joy to experience right now in Pimachiowin Aki, including these celebrations:

1. Joyful Month – Kissing Month

As people gather for winter celebrations, they greet each other affectionately—with a handshake and a kiss on the cheek—so December is known as the joyful month and January is known as the kissing month. In Pauingassi First Nation, December includes a Christmas dinner for the entire community. There is a similar feast for the Bloodvein First Nation community, with each household receiving a turkey.

2. Winter Solstice

December 21 marks the day with the shortest period of daylight in 24 hours and the longest night of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere), all thanks to the tilt of the earth.  

This date also means that winter is officially here. In Anishinaabe, winter is called Beepoon. The December moon is called makoshkish giizis and is known as the joyful moon. 

The colder, shorter days bring with it a peaceful silence, a kind of muffled quiet as you walk outdoors to gaze at the stars in the night sky. Enjoying a warm fire, being cozy under a blanket, ice-skating, playing hockey on the frozen lake, snowshoeing, tobogganing, and cross-country skiing are just some of the activities to look forward to as we celebrate the joys of winter. 

3. Magu zhi giizhigan & O gen du giizhigan

Younger generations of Anishinaabeg follow the 12-month calendar, but Elders in Pimachiowin Aki used the seasons to measure the days. We followed the 13 moons, which meant 13 months of 28 days, explains Bloodvein First Nation Guardian, Melba Green. “They didn’t really have holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving,” she says. Today, many people in Pimachiowin Aki celebrate Christmas, known as Magu zhi giizhigan, and the New Year, known as O gen du giizhigan.

Anishinaabeg were placed on the land by the Creator and have a sacred responsibility to care for it, guided by the principles of Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan (Keeping the Land). Keeping the Land includes making sure that the traditional knowledge that has been passed down for generations is never lost. 

Pimachiowin Aki Guardian Colin Owens lives by these words and is working to share his knowledge with youth in his community of Pauingassi. He is an experienced trapper and fisher who is on the land year-round. 

Fishing is an important skill to have. Children in Pimachiowin Aki are fishing with a rod from about the time they can walk. Summer for youth in communities across Pimachiowin Aki may be a vacation from school, but that doesn’t mean it’s a break from learning. Last month, Colin took students from the Pauingassi school out on the water to show them how to fish using nets—his favourite way to catch whitefish as soon as they start swimming, in June. Whitefish, filled with nutrients and medicine, are important to the community, Colin says. 

This fall, Colin will be busy monitoring hunting activities “to make sure the hunters are not being wasteful,” he says. He will also spend more time with the students, teaching them how to harvest ducks and smoke fish.  

An important teaching that Anishinaabeg pass down to the next generation is showing respect for animals that have given up their lives. This is done by ensuring that no part of a harvested animal is wasted and by gibimi-giiwewatoon (giving something back to the land) after harvesting. For example, hanging duck wings in trees to respect the spirit of the harvested animal.

Guardians are stewards who keep Indigenous knowledge alive. They travel across Pimachiowin Aki, acting as the eyes and ears of the land and waters as they monitor the health of ecosystems and cultural sites. Guardians share their knowledge and concerns with authorities, community members and visitors.

Pimachiowin Aki’s Guardians program is similar to the highly successful Indigenous Guardian programs that operate across Canada. There are Guardians in the four First Nation communities of Pimachiowin Aki. Colin Owens has been the Guardian in Pauingassi First Nation since 2017, and was the Resource Assistant to the First Nation’s Lands Coordinator for many years before then.

Learn more about Pimachiowin Aki Guardians

A moose can provide six months of food for a family, but moose hunting is more than just practical. It’s a family tradition, passed down through generations. 

Norman Pascal of Pauingassi First Nation learned how to hunt from his grandfather, Bushie Pascal, when he was “old enough to know how to handle a gun,” at the age of 14. Today, he hunts duck, geese, moose, beaver and muskrat. He learned from past generations to only take what you need. “Just because you see five moose, you don’t shoot five moose,” he says. 

When someone kills a moose, they think about the whole community. If a family doesn’t have the capacity to hunt, hunters will share the meat with them. “We share the meat with whoever asks for it,” says Norman. 

Hunters will also hunt for the Elders in the community. Pimachiowin Aki Guardian Dennis Keepers says that there are eight people who look after the Elders in his community of Little Grand Rapids. They will harvest beaver and duck, and fish and hunt moose for them. Dennis says he “has lots of family in the area,” but the Elders he hunts for are not related to him. The Elders give him gas or other hunting supplies as payment. 

Moose hunting is so important to the Anishinaabeg of Pimachiowin Aki that many children enjoy official breaks from school in order to join their families on fall moose hunts. 

Dennis, who also learned how to hunt from his grandfather, plans to pass on his knowledge to his son when his son turns 10 years old. “I will take him and his friends out to learn how to survive out in the wild,” he says. 

In October, when moose are mating, you can hear the bellow of the males along the lakeshores.  Hunters use horns made of birch to call them. They typically lure the males by imitating the sound of a female moose (cow), or by imitating the sound of a male moose (bull).

Anishinaabeg are careful not to be wasteful. They honour the Creator’s gifts through the continued harvest of plants and animals in a manner that ensures continuity of all life on the land. The Guardians in each community of Pimachiowin Aki are constantly monitoring their areas, building relationships with hunters, and watching out for poachers and trophy hunters. 

In our ancestors’ time, a person who wasted an animal would be punished, explains Bloodvein First Nation Guardian Melba Green. “You take only what you need and don’t waste it,” she says. Today, community members report back to the Guardians, sharing what they observe when they go out onto the land. Any illegal activities or other areas of concern, including wastage, are passed along from Guardians to the relevant authorities. 

Anishinaabeg are respectful of all living things. Once a moose hunter skins the meat and hide, to share the good news of their successful hunt, they display the head in front of their home. It is a show of pride, but also a show of respect for the moose, which has given up its life to feed the people of Pimachiowin Aki. In an act of respect, the moose beard is hung in the trees. This tradition is to give back to the land, Norman points out.

Sadly, not all traditions are being kept alive. “The older generations used to make leather from the moose hide but there’s nobody doing this anymore,” says Norman.

Dennis stresses the importance of talking to the Elders, to learn from them. “All the knowledge they have, once they’re gone, it’s gone.” Knowing this makes Dennis’ job as a Guardian all the more important. A huge priority is to bring youth and Elders together on the land, he adds.

Photo: Hidehiro Otake