Duck Lake, Saskatchewan
October 1994
The Museum is closed.
But murals of Metis and Cree
Heroes, saints, visions
On wild west store fronts,
Clapboard siding store sides
Stucco fast food side/fronts
Steepled church sides.
Are there, unphotographable,
Cold prairie sun behind them.
Vaguely disappointed,
Tourists looking for the Metis,
Our roots, some truth about
Who we are,
Turning back to the highway
Driving across into a
Freshly painted mural
Free standing beside
The Pause Cafe
A buffalo jump
Drivers above
Skinners, butchers below
Between it rains Buffalo
"Greek Menu" the sign says.
Inside Bannock and,
Alone, in English, " Greek Salad."
No Greek, no French, no Midchif.
I order Bannock burger with gravy.
We sit in the middle.
North and west, corner table
Two couples, looking local
looking farm, looking white.
North and east, high school boys
University of Michigan
One-size-fits-all, baseball caps
Jeans and sweats, looking local
Looking cool, looking white
South and driven further west
By the peculiar geography of the
Pause Cafe,
Cornered as well,
A family,
Maybe uncle, nieces, nephew,
Maybe brother, sisters, brother,
Maybe some cluster of wife, in-laws.
The man, eagle backed jean Jacket
Yellow and red striped seams
Braid, shades
The boy, high school,
One-size-fits-all baseball cap.
The women, jeans and sweats.
Looking local, looking reservation,
Looking Cree.
South and east
Cornered behind the counter,
Two waitresses, dark brown eyes,
Deep auburn-brunette and raven tresses,
Small features, high cheek bones,
Laughing, looking local,
Looking Mom mid '40's,
Looking Metis.
In the middle, me taking notes,
Maribeth, embarrassed by
My insensitivity, my observing them,
My assumptions, my whispered reading
Of these scratchings.
Looking around, looking foreign,
Looking lost Metis.
I look across
at a buffalo skull painting,
Daliesque, superimposed on
Ghost riders in the sky.
Then behind, seeing another skull
Different ghosts, different colors
Superimposed on the skull in the sky
Then looking left and right
West and east, horse heads
Surrounded left and west
With buffalo sketches.
Right and east one, alone.
Looking at all,
I pause in the Middle,
Métis, Mixed
Made by Europeans and Natives,
Canoes and fur
Horses and Buffalo