A long time ago when I was surfing the web and finding people to communicate with I encountered an awesome lady in western Canada. As I got to know her and her family I realized how special these people were because they lived for family and had a closeness I had never experienced before.
Gloria Fred is a member of the Tseshaht First Nation people and a friend I am blessed to have. You can read about the Tseshaht people here. And you can see one of their bulletins with Gloria's name at the bottom of page 3 here. She is sharing about patient travel and on page 7 about retinal scanning regarding diabetes. She lives in Port Alberni, B.C.
One of the interesting things I learned about Gloria and her people is their love for Salmon. They live near a river that flows out into the ocean and when the salmon are running they work night and day catching as many as they can that will be smoked, canned, frozen and made ready to last them until the next run. They also eat all of the fish including the scales. She says that is why they have such thick black hair.
Also a long time ago there was a time when you could actually speak to people all over the world by simply dialing their telephone number and could talk to them by using a microphone. I also had a headset to make it more user friendly. It was fun talking to Gloria like she was so close. I miss those days.
I mentioned above that she lives in Port Alberni, BC. That made me want to move to Port Angeles, WA for a number of reasons. You can go here to read about the area and it even references the book/movie Twilight as that was where the movie was made. It has the benefit of the coast and the mountains that keep the climate very comfortable and it is just a ride across the bay to where Gloria could be visited. The weather is talked about here.
Sadly Gloria's husband died a few years ago but she does have a large family and they are very close and supportive of each other. I hope you will check out the links and get a glimpse of a tribe that may not be known by many people outside of Canada. Not really sure how far it would be from my friend Belle who also lives in western Canada. I am sure she will let me know.
That was a really interesting post Odie. I like learning all about other cultures, this one I definitely have not heard of til now. Thanks
ReplyDeleteI feel invigorated just reading about life in the Pacific Northwest and looking at pictures. I used to love hiking and exploring in North Central and Northeast Pennsylvania (the Poconos) where water cascaded down mountainsides and everywhere you looked there was natural beauty, greenery and wildlife to behold. I love salmon and wouldn't mind eating it several times a week!
ReplyDeleteI just love how the web has made us all so much closer, no matter where we are in the world.
ReplyDeleteI live 300 miles from Port Alberni. Hubby says we drove through it on the way to spend a week in Tofino.
ReplyDeleteI love Vancouver Island. A gorgeous place. It was interesting reading the Tseshaht website. I see they were looking for families who need fish.
I love fish myself, but don't eat it often as I worry about pollution of the oceans.
Good post and good people
ReplyDeletewhat interesting reading! i love to read about native tribes and how they live not only today, but how they lived in the past as well. i've been fascinated with reading about them for as long as i can remember.
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