Blueberry Festival in Sioux Lookout
Blueberry Festival in Sioux Lookout
Travelling north (on an adventurous drive)
Off the Trans-Canada on King’s Highway 72,
In Northwestern Ontario,
I crossed the bridge at the Frog Rapids Narrows
Of the English River system
And entered the town of Sioux Lookout
On Pelican Lake, “Hub of the North”
And gateway to Lac Seul.
Legend has it, as told by the elders,
That in days past, a mountain lookout
Was established by the Ojibwe for them
To scan the horizon
For oncoming Sioux warriors
Who had unfriendly intentions
And intercept them
Before they could storm the camp.
While I was in Sioux Lookout
During the “Blueberry Festival”
Held in August
To celebrate the Creator’s abundance,
I wandered about the town,
Enjoying the sights and sounds,
And noticed the sadness
In the faces of the Anishinaabe people.
I stopped to admire a native mother
Attired in a skirt with jeans underneath,
And who dressed her pretty little girl the same,
Both of them wearing embroidered jackets,
And I thought how out of place they looked
In today’s world of modern technology—
The younger, with a sparkle of curiosity,
And the older, less spriteful, melancholy.
Gone are the traditions!
Gone is the culture!
Gone is the respect due one to another,
And it’s heartbreaking to know
That the Europeans are responsible
For these deviant behaviours,
And I cannot keep from thinking
About the residential schools.
The town begins the celebration
With a community blueberry bake-off
Followed by the weeklong list
Of sports activities and music festival.
The mornings begin with blueberry pancakes
Topped off with maple syrup and side entrees
Of bacon or sausages, followed by picnics of hot dogs,
Hamburgers, steaks, and blueberry desserts.
The air in the North is refreshing,
Void of that smell of congestion,
And the space is wide open;
Unlike the city, where people are confrontational
From the anxiety associated with daily living,
The traffic, and the pressure!
It was nice to escape city life and enjoy
Sioux Lookout’s Blueberry Festival.
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