When my grandfather finished telling me this story, I found my grandmother had spread our mat out on the floor and covered it with my favorite foods. There was a pot of venison stew, with manoomin. There was a plate of squash. Next to it was a basket of fry bread. And a big bowl of blueberries mixed in the syrup of the sugar bush.
After we finished our meal, my grandfather planned to walk his trap line. He wouldn’t be back until after dark. He had just finished making a new pair of snowshoes for me so I could go with him.