TETLIT’ZHEH/FORT MCPHERSON
Fort McPherson resident Diane Koe was inspired to show some Tetlit Gwich'in hospitality during a recent closure of the Dempster Highway near the community last week.
While relaxing after a good lunch March 22, she thought of the truck drivers and travellers stranded by the shutdown, which lasted about five days.
"I just felt bad for them because I know how it is to be waiting for the road to open," said Koe, adding Fort McPherson doesn't have a restaurant.
"Sometimes it can be frustrating and you lose your patience. I put myself in their shoes."
Koe decided to whip up her "secret recipe" of chopped chicken breast celery, onions and mushrooms on top of pasta and tossed in soya sauce.
When they learned what she was doing, her daughters gave a helping hand and her sister contributed ingredients.
Another resident, Eleanor Mitchell-Firth saw a Facebook post from Koe saying she was cooking a hot meal for the truckers and wondered if anyone knew how many were stranded.
Moved, Mitchell-Firth offered to bake bannock for the lunch.
"I just thought it would be nice to make something traditional and pitch in," she said.
When everything was ready, Koe brought the food to the truckers on the highway and at the gas bar. She also shared with a man travelling to Whitehorse who had been waiting six hours for the road to open.
"They were just floored. They didn't expect it. They thought it was so kind of me to do that. I got a few hugs. A few wanted to give me money but I told them that wasn't my intention. I'm not here for money," she recounted.
"I made 17 plates and came home with nothing."
The road opened about an hour later, she added.
Koe has received phone calls and many Facebook messages from people praising her good deed, but she said she didn't do it to get attention or recognition.
"I was taught by my parents to be kind to others," she said, adding you never know what hardships a person is facing.
"Kindness comes from the heart and you're doing God's work. It's just the way I see it and I just wanted to share that with others ... Tetlit Gwich'in are well known for our hospitality. We are very kind people. Anybody coming to our community, they're not just shoved aside. They are taken care of."
Mitchell-Firth said she hopes the act of kindness shown by her and Koe will have a ripple effect.
"Everybody sells everything (these days). There are no free hands anymore, like the way the people used to help each other a long time ago. It doesn't happen very much anymore," she said. "Give from the heart and don't expect anything back."
