So, I'm happy to report that my wasp's stings feel better this morning. That being said today I woke up at 4:30 because we were supposed to wake up at 5am in order to be ready to leave at 6:40. But to my surprise, I was the only one up at 5am. To my surprise everybody ended up waking up at 6:30am, I guess I did not get the memo of the schedule change. We started off of day by traveling to the Camas wellness center located on the Kalispel Tribe reservation. That wellness center was really nice, it had a clinic and dental facilities, gym, pools, game room, basketball courts, and much more. There we met our tour guide for the day Ray Antz the director of wildlife and terrestrial resources for the Kalispel tribe. He then took us to the Kalispel tribal fish hatchery. There we met Jason fish program manager at the hatchery. I was surprised at the operation that they are running because it really doesn't seem like much from the outside, it just looks like a barn with sheds. Inside they had four large water tanks with different types of fishes from, cutthroat trout, volt trout, and triplet rainbow trouts. They catch fish and release it into the Spokane River. They also killed around 90% of northern pike which has been a problem for some time because they eat smaller fishes. It is pretty amazing how they managed to pull that off, they managed to pinpoint where they would spawn and heavy net them.
After that, we met an archeologist for the Kalispel tribe who took us to visit some old caverns that were once underwater and used by ancient natives as refuge once the sea level dropped. We had to do a brief hike to get to the caverns and when we got there it was like going back in time. The archeologist explained how the big main cavern was used by the religion as a monastery for a while. He stated that it also had some sort of divine presence. The caverns were really interesting to me because I could see formations of rocks that were once underwater. To think that once the river level was that high is just astonishing. I also liked it when the archeologist told a story of how a boulder collapse on a native lady that was trying to seek refuge. It killed the lady and their family members could not lift the boulder off of her so they made it her grave. Till this day it is still there marked with sacred symbols to symbolize her passing. Another interesting part was when the archeologist took us across the river in order for him to show us some native grasses. But when we were there he told a really cool story about how the mosquitoes spawned there. He said that there was a vengeful shaman who demanded blood every week to drink from villagers. If you would not give him blood in form of payment then he would kill you. So each villager would bring out their bucket of fresh blood and so the shaman was called mosquito. But one day when the mosquito was done drinking his blood he had a big tummy hanging down almost to his knees. So the villagers decided to let his canoe free and told mosquito to go get it so as he dived in the water the villagers stopped a pine tree and needles felt into the water and as his stomach touched the spikes in the water it sliced open his stomach releasing mosquitoes everywhere.
After that we had lunch at 12pm at a powwow ground, I have never seen such a structure in a building like that. It was really cool looking almost like a sort of arena but for a dancing pow wow. Then next to the powwow grounds there was a herd of buffaloes that belong to the Kalispel tribe. There was a total of 140 buffaloes. It was funny because everyone was amazed but I know a rancher that owns buffalo in the Yakima Valley, so to me, that was not that exciting. Then we continued our tour to visit the Indian Creek, Community Forest. This location is being remodeled for hosting youth camps of all ages. It is really cool how the Native Americans are opening these types of camps for students to learn more about their cultures and native lands. After the youth camp, we visited an upcoming language school to learn salesh. I thought that was very funny and enjoyable. I learn to say suwawesh meaning fish in their language.
In the evening we returned to camas wellness center to spend some free time there. I ended up playing in the game room. I played air hockey with Caleb for a while. After that, I tried to play ping pong but miserably failed at it. But then I discovered a new love for a new hobby, playing at the pool table. It was my first time playing pool with Pedro, Pablo, Amelia, and Mr. Clinton. After that, at 6pm warren made dinner for us at the powwow grounds. They gave out fried bread and it is similar to a Mexican dish known as a sope. On top, I put on beans, meat, cheese, lettuce, and hot sauce. I have to say that has been the best food that I have had on this trip. Again I just cannot thank Warren Sailor enough for what he is doing for us.
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