Moose Factory Journal

It WAS only a 24 hour bug. Evidently it’s making the rounds. I was not the first; nor will I have been the last. Sometimes the bugs tell us what we need to hear; this was the first full day of rest that I’ve taken on The Island since I got here.

Today I atone for my running around the last several days. I have the 24 hour bug. (I HOPE it’s only a 24 hr bug….)

Yesterday, Monday, 27 September, we buried Raymond.

The Bishop came just for the funeral, spent the night here at my place and left on this morning’s plane.

There were over 600 of us yesterday saying our last good byes. Old friends from the Hudson’s Bay Company had flown in for the funeral.  And, of course, the family convened here at Moose Factory for the weekend. Marion’s family comes from Wemindji (formerly Paint Hills).  Raymond’s family comes from southern Ontario. And the families are spread out all over the place.  It took a few days for everyone to get here.  And, even at that, there were some who couldn’t do it.

Tuesday afternoon I had another funeral — in Moosonee.

On Wednesday, yesterday, during the day, Raymond was doing fine.  However, late last night, shortly before midnight, he was feeling badly and had trouble breathing.

Marion called the ambulance, and Raymond was brought to the Hospital. This time, he didn’t make it.

The Reverend Deacon Raymond Maybee died shortly before 2 AM on Thursday, 23 September, at Weeneebayko General Hospital, Moose Factory, Ontario.

The family has now gone back to Marion’s house from the Hospital. Parishioners are beginning to show up there as well.

I’m now back from my travels…. On September 9 I headed south on the train. I spent Friday morning getting a new eMAC up and running in Cochrane. Then, off to Temagami where I picked up the new (and very beautiful) canoe. I lingered around Temagami until Monday.   Then I headed to the annual Clergy Conference in Haileybury on Lake Temiscamingue. By Friday evening, 17 September 2004, I was back on Moose Factory Island.

Last week we had another two funerals. There were two large, extended families grieving.  In addition to that the annual Big Stone  Memorial Service was held — again on Big Stone Island.

Five years ago eight souls perished in The Bay — somewhere around Big Stone Island.  It was weeks later that the last body was recovered. The community was devastated. And the memory continues.

About fifty folks gathered on The Island.  Most were from the families affected. There were some others — like myself — who had no blood relationship. Chief Hardisty was there. Raymond is doing better, and he was there as well.  Most of the people went out to The Island on Thursday for a week. The Service was on Sunday. I flew out on a chopper. Around 3 in the afternoon we had a short Service. And then the Feast! And what a feast it was. But I couldn’t linger for long. I had to take the first chopper returning to Moose Factory.

And in the middle of all of that The Beast arrived.

Apple had shipped The Beast on August 21. It showed up on my doorstep on Thursday, September 2. For some reason Apple changed freight companies. This one — whose name I never got — pulled the UPS maneuver and simply sent the stuff by train to Moosonee and to the ONR (Ontario Northland Railway) warehouse. I would have known none of this — except that one of the employees in the warehouse was kind enough to give me a call.

Now I had to figure out how to get the stuff over to Moose Factory. The fastest (and cheapest) delivery service is with the taxis. I simply called one of the taxis. A guy picked the stuff up in Moosonee and transported it to The River. There the loot was loaded into a canoe and hauled to Moose Factory. Finally another taxi (four wheeler, this time) picked the parcels up and brought them directly to me.  The whole project cost me $25.  I never signed for the merchandise. And it never dropped into The River. If it had mysteriously gone missing, I don’t know who would have been responsible. When I told the fellow driving the cab what the stuff was worth, he couldn’t believe it. Anyway, I am claiming that my G-5 is the only one in North America delivered by canoe.

By now I have all the data transferred from the old machine (eMAC) to the new machine (G-5). Tomorrow I head south for the Clergy Conference for a week. Possibly I can start doing some map work in October.