Never a dull moment by the water
Let me wade into her arms When I am near the water I fear no harm And I will lay down by the water so I can hear her song She sooths me right when all is wrong And I will stay by the water That’s where my soul longs She purifi es and gives me life and makes me strong These are song lyrics written by Donna Kay during a 2004 winter sabbatical, the quiet solitude Ministikwan Lake offers this time of year allows her creative side to shine. This past weekend a video production crew from Calgary arrived at Ministikwan Lake to turn the song “By the Water” into a music video. All the locations used to create the video are either on the lake or in the surrounding hillsides. The Saturday shoot was taken in what we call the birch forest, an area where white birch trees grow with very little under brush; the tress are a good distance apart similar to a grove or orchard. We loaded all gear, crew and cast on to 10 quads and headed for the birch, while the crew was getting organized we set up the Kraft service camp, lit a fire, setup chairs and organized the behind the trees make-up and dressing room. The cast consisted of four carriers and Donna, while the carriers were testing out their loin cloths I went back for Donna. As we approached the camp on the return trip the sight was like something out of a movie; here were four natives dressed in loin cloths bare skinned, wearing moccasins milling around the camp fire as if time had stood still. This was verified later that night when Stan, the still photographer, developed a few prints to share. The whole shoot on Saturday consisted of the carriers actually having to carry Donna on a wooden carrier through the birch forest where filming was done from multiple angles both on the ground and from elevated positions. The carrier was manufactured from small diameter birch poles with the chair and cross members being lashed together keeping everything steady, this was fashioned by Jim and Dwayne summer residents at the lake. Sunday’s shoot involved the cast along with extras here. Native women and children were sitting in the tall grass of a meadow alongside a camp fi re, the women were sending Donna off on her journey and the carriers took her into the forest heading towards the lake. The final scene is the send off into the lake. The carriers bring Donna to the lake where she is met by two elders. They help her into the canoe, sending her off into the lake on the next journey as the set behind the trees. The canoe we used for this scene is a hand made birch bark canoe made with birch bark taken from Big Bear Island on Ministikwan Lake and built as a school project at Island Lake First Nation. The canoe is normally displayed as a museum piece in the foyer of the school. We were very privileged to have its use which truly added to the authenticity of the Cree people being depicted. The cast was entirely from Ministikwan Lake with the exception of Joseph Naytowhow who along with Eagle Chief, Joey Chief and Little Boy Chief made up the four carriers while Eliza Crookedneck and Ilene Stick played the elders and Mary and Marline Crookedneck along with their children made up the extras. The crew also worked tirelessly to complete the shoot over the weekend, fortunately for them the weather turned out to be warm with calm water and fabulous sunsets. Hopefully the beauty of the landscape has been caught by the camera along with the creative endeavours of the producer. We all look forward to the completed works, in the mean time the lake and all the landscape is here for all to enjoy. Never a dull moment at Ministikwan lake. |
