Students studying full-time in the adult education program at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre possess a wealth of knowledge and experience relating to the skills, history and sensations of life on the land.

Using a painting of a remote cabin by the late Metis artist Don Cardinal for inspiration, the students shared a few special memories and some fiction about life in the bush for a writing course led by adult educator Shirley Bonnetrouge. The following are a few excerpts from their work.

This painting by the late Metis artist Don Cardinal inspired the students in Shirley Bonnetrouge's adult education writing class at the Tree of Peace to share their thoughts about winter in the North.

Life in the Bush
by Beatrice Ruben

This picture reminds me of when I was young. I used to live with my parents in Mary Lakes. All summer and all winter my parents like to travel with the dog team. For Christmas, we travel to Rae with the dog team and stay with my cousin. In the summertime we travel with the canoe to Rae. When I was grown up I still lived in the bush with my parents.

Me and my sister and my brother and the other older sister all live in Rae. They already have families and moved to Rae. My dad likes to live in the bush. He does everything for us to survive and my mom likes to cook bannock and rice with caribou and fish. She likes to cook and sew for Christmas. She taught us to sew and cook. My parents, they like to live on the land, and they still like to live in the bush.

The Hunters
by Nolleen Lennie

Every year my two uncles would go out to our family's cabin. It's a nice cabin. There are places where we would go and set snares and go hunting. Every year when they get ready to leave I would want to go. But it's a tradition that only the older men would go out and hunt for the families back home. Every time they would come back home they would bring everything like rabbits, muskrats, caribou and moose. We would all go to the arena and everyone would get together and have a big feast. Every year families and elders would have a big feast for the hunters and everyone would have a good time.

Our Little Island
by Diane Zoe

This picture reminds me of our little island. Every winter just a week before Christmas my parents would take us out to our island. We would set up our tent, get a small wood stove set up and get our firewood ready. My dad would get me and my brother to set up a net with him. It was hard in the winter to set a net up, but it was also fun. Plus, we would set out snares for rabbits. My brother and I would check it every morning and just before supper.

In the summer we would go right after school was done for the year. I used to love going in the summer because there was more to do. My dad would set the nets. Me and my sister would help my mom clean fish and make sure our tent was clean. When we didn't have anything to do my parents would take us out for a boat ride or just play cards, or my dad would tell us stories about the old days. I miss the good old days but I am glad we are writing about this picture because it is nice to remember the good times.

My Cabin
by Darcy Tetso

This picture reminds me of a time four years ago when my dad's family and his two brothers, a couple of cousins, my grandmother and I all went to Grizzly Bear Mountain in March. It took us five hours to get there. When we got there we unloaded our stuff and then we went for wood. After that we all cleaned around the cabin. One day had passed and the next morning we saw a caribou herd. We went over there and shot five caribou and cleaned them and then we ate some that night.

My aunt, mom and grandmother made some dry meat and it was good dry meat. That night my uncle told us stories. Then another day passed and we all packed our stuff and took off home. It was a good experience, trip and good memories that this picture helped me to relive again.

The Cabin
by Sharon Menacho

My dad had a cabin. I don't know when he built it. I never saw it but I saw the cabin in the pictures. It took a long time to build it because he had to haul lots of plywood with a Ski-Doo and long hours to get there. He told me he gets tired with the long drive. My dad told me it took almost five hours to get there. The cabin was built near a stream. It is so serene and calm. You have nothing to worry about and it is so peaceful. He would only go to the cabin in the winter time because there is no road where the cabin is and there are too many little lakes or tiny ponds, so you can't go there in the summer time. His brother helped him build the cabin. It almost took one-and-a-half years to build it and in the pictures I saw there is a big sign right on top of the roof near the door and it spelled "The Mad Trapper's Cabin." My dad told me lots of stories about the olden days. I miss listening to him and his stories about the cabin.

My Camping Trip
by Jerry Sabourin

This picture reminds me of when I was small. My dad always took me out to the cabin. I always had fun. My dad would take me hunting. I remember when I shot my first fox and then I went to my grandmother's camp next door. It was about a one-km walk. When I got there I gave her the fox I killed and then she skinned it and fed the meat to the dogs.

Then I went back to my dad's camp. Lunch was ready and after lunch my dad and I went to check out the nets for fish. I spent my whole summer out there. If I can go back in time I would do it again because it was a fun time out at the cabin.

Don Cardinal's Painting
by Andrew Crapeau

I really like the painting and how he draws. Sometimes I used to watch him paint and he does it well and he tells me an idea about the land. Sometimes he goes out to the bush and walks on the land to see the sights. When he goes home he draws pictures of what he sees outside. He was a friendly person and was always happy and talks to us about what he paints or draws. I used to have coffee with him and joke and laugh. I enjoyed this painting because it reminds me of my good friend Don Cardinal.

Don Cardinal's Painting II
by Haiga Ashoona

The cabin's roof has lots of snow and the trees have lots of snow, too. The house is surrounded by shovels and snowshoes plus a garbage can. Two men are about to hunt a rabbit. There is lots of snow on the road and that means it's about -40 C. It is a cloudy, not sunny, day and it seems like it's in the afternoon. The men caught two rabbits before they came back for supper. The snow around their windows, their jackets and winter pants show that it looks very cold. They have chopped wood outside their little shack to keep warm and to cook their rabbits. This picture paints a nice winter cabin scene.

Don Cardinal's Writing
by Eric Crapeau

This picture reminds me of a time about 10 years ago. It almost looks like the cabin that I stayed in when I went hunting with my cousin Jonathan. His dad and my stepdad, Noel, came with us, too. We were camping on Gordon Lake, past Dome Lake, and we stayed the night. We were hungry so we boiled caribou ribs in the pot with potatoes.

It was really tasty so I ate and ate until I couldn't eat no more. I got ready to hit the sack because we were off in the morning. In the morning we had to chop wood first before we left. Once we were done I filled up the tanks with gas and we took off to the land where the caribou was at. So we were driving about half an hour 'til we seen the caribou. I jumped off my Ski-Doo to the sled to grab my 30-30 and load it up and got ready. I jumped on the Ski-Doo and drove up closer to get a clean shot. I got ready but my cousin Jonathan shot first and I shot next and got about three caribou that day. Me and Jonathan hauled it over with the Ski-Doo so Noel and my uncle can get ready to skin the caribou. I got my blade ready to skin a caribou but I didn't know how to skin a caribou. So first I watched and learned how to skin one. I went to my caribou and tried it out but it didn't turn out right and it got kind of messy and it stank like mutt butt, so I let Noel skin it for me, so he did.

Me and Jonathan were bored waiting for them so Jonathan and I were doing some target shooting, which was pretty good because Jonathan was missing a lot and he got mad and gave up. It was getting dark out so we packed up the meat on the sled.

Once that was done we gassed up the Ski-Doos. We headed back in the blizzard and it was cold and I was getting hungry for some fresh ribs. But we had to unpack all the meat first because the ribs were in the bottom of the sled. So, I dug and dug and finally found it under the hind quarters. I made some ribs and Noel and my uncle were making dry meat. I got tired after I ate, so I washed up and got ready for bed and I went to bed.

Early in the morning I had to go outside to cut wood because there was no wood for the fire. I made fire because it was freezing in there. Later that day we were heading back to Dettah. So, that is what I see when I look at this picture – a good memory of hunting with my family.

Living on the Land
by Jaida John

A long time ago there were two brothers that lived in the cabin far out on the land. This cabin once belonged to their parents and their parents had passed away so they lived alone. Every once in a while they would walk into town for shells and some other little stuff. One morning the two brothers, Sam and Jack, woke up and wanted to go trapping. So they started to load up their toboggan with some stuff they would need. Jack told Sam: "I think I will take the gun just in case we run into wildlife and then we could bring it back to town and have a feast for everybody."

Sam said: "OK."

So they left, and just as they were leaving Jack said: "Why don't we just trap for the whole town and have a feast for everybody?"

Sam said: "Well, what about us?"

Jack said: "We could put extra traps in for us and check them when we go back."

So Sam and Jack trapped a lot of traditional food and went on with the feast and had a good time.

Jack told Sam: "Wasn't that great? Wasn't it worth it?" Sam said: "Yes. I think we should do that again."

So every year on that same day, Sam and Jack would trap and hunt for the town and have a big feast and everyone was happy.

The Log Cabin
by Linda Chocolate

The first thing I see is a beautiful picture and it just reminds me of my grandfather's log cabin in the bush. Just by looking at it. I can just imagine those two people in the picture are my grandparents. The one with the gun and the backpack is my grandfather in the picture and the other is my grandma. She went the other way because maybe she is going to get something in the back of the cabin. I also see snow shoes, shelves, a bucket and I see a barrel of gasoline far from the cabin. And their wood is already cut and there are two trees close by and it looks so beautiful. Just look at the sky and the cabin in the middle of nowhere. Just imagine sitting in the cabin, warm, drinking tea and eating dry meat, bannock and also eating caribou meat. This picture brings back a beautiful memory.

The Hermit
by James Evans

This guy was living in the city for way too long. The life this guy was living in the city was the life of being unemployed and partying and drugs and alcohol. He was living the party life for way too long. His family had a cabin far away from the city and the guy decided to take a break for once and he quit his job. He saved up his money, he packed up his things and he drove out to his family's old cabin.

When he first arrived at his family's old cabin he got out of his vehicle and then he unloaded all of his things and he went to the door of the cabin.

He had the key for the cabin door and when he tried to open the door he had trouble opening the cabin door. He finally got the cabin door open.

It was really dusty inside of the old cabin. Once he was inside, he started a fire in the wood stove and it began to warm up inside the cabin. Then he started to boil some tea on the wood stove and he felt right at home. He sat back and relaxed and then he started to write a journal about his life. After he finished writing inside his journal, he took a walk outside. The weather outside was nice and calm and quiet. He began to like living in his family's cabin and he decided to live in his family's cabin for a couple of years and he wanted to be a hermit.