Algonquin Park Blog

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland – On July 17 2009, people from around the world will be gathering for three days at the top of the world to fulfill an ancient prophecy. The Ancient Ones said that One Day, when the World needs it most, the Sacred Fire will come Home to the People on the Top of the World. This is the prophecy handed down over thousands of generations in Kalallit Nunnat. Now the climate is changing and the trees are standing again. The time has come for the Sacred Fires to be kindled with wood from Mother Earth on Greenland, a prophecy that has been fortold for 20 000 years.

Angaangaq, Kalaallit Elder hosting this event said, “This gathering will unite people from around the world and give Elders a unique opportunity to share their teachings and address the spiritual significance of the Melting of the Big Ice.”

At a time when the world governments are planning for the upcoming Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December, this event serves to:

• Raise awareness of the dramatic escalation of the melting icecap in Greenland in recent years and its implications for the world.
• Bring together forward-thinking minds and respected indigenous leaders to examine the impact of the melting of the Big Ice.
• Add the voices, ancient knowledge and teachings of the people who have lived on the ice for thousands of years to recent scientific findings.
• Preserve the ancient teachings and the knowledge of the Elders for coming generations.

The Sacred Fire Ceremony is a three-day cross-cultural gathering of deliberation, ceremony, and celebration addressing the welfare of the world.

Ashes from fires that have been burning for up to 10 000 years, fires from the Americas, fires from Buddhist Temples, Celtic fires, fires from the heart of Africa are being sent to Greenland to be used as the foundation for the Sacred Fire at the top of the world. These ashes contain the prayers of our ancestors, the prayers of the Four Directions, our prayers, the prayers of humankind.

On July 18 the Ancient Voices Council will meet, sharing prophecies and stories about Mother Earth, discussing issues about climate change. The ceremony on July 19 symbolizes the spiritual significance of climate change, expressing the unity of the Sacred Fire coming home and the Melting of the Big Ice. As the trees stand tall again in Greenland, the ice is melting. What does it all mean for people all over the world?

During the three days of ceremony Sacred Fires from around the world will being sparked connecting to each other and to the Sacred Fire at the Top of the World creating a global circle of Fire.

For further information regarding Sacred Fires from Around the World or to follow the event webcast from Greenland: Visit: http://www.fireandiceceremony.ning.com/

Todd Lucier reported on the G20 Summit in London this past April on his blog http://www.climatecafe.org and interviewed Angaangaq about the Fire Ceremony in Greenland.

For more information about the Sacred Fire Ceremony, visit: http://www.icewisdom.com/calendar/greenland/

‘The easiest ice to be melted is the ice on the ground, the hardest ice to be melted is the one in the heart of man.’ The teachings of the ice help us all to recognize our common humanity and gain a new perspective from the melting of the Big Ice.

Imagine walking down the trail or slowly paddling the morning mist and coming across a moose! For many people who join us for Morning Tea with Moose canoe trips such encounters are often the norm.

Moose are generally docile and since canoeing is a quiet, slow activity moose are often not startled at the presence of people, instead continuing to chew away on delicious water lilies.

cc photo: Natalie Lucier

We’ve just added a new retreat that is sure to be REMARKABLE.

Aug 13-16, join us for Best of the Edge.

Slow down, get back to nature and find rejuvenation and inspiration in this first ever retreat that includes a sampling of all current Northern Edge Algonquin Programs.

The itinerary for this weekend is fluid. It moves with the interests of participants and includes time with up to five of the Edge team members who will introduce you to their world.

If you need a technology detox, time away from the computer to slow down and rediscover yourself, join us for this special weekend.

Best of the Edge Retreat Elements:

• slow cooked meals with a focus on local, seasonal, fresh tastes with international flavourings.
• canoe outings
• intro to sea kayaking
• forest walks
• nature interpretation
• campfires
• dream time / shamanic journeying
• reflexology
• yoga

Last week, careless campers stopped by a neighbour’s island cottage and neglected properly putting out the campfire. As a result a number of trees went up in flames, just a few metres from the beautiful cottage.

Upon arriving home from the office and seeing smoke and fire on the island I dashed over to the park permit office to alert folks there to contact the MNR and get a fire suppression team to the site.

Within the hour, a waterbomber and helicopter carrying fire fighters arrived on the scene and proceeded to extinquish the fire. The grainy video taken from our beach, about a mile away shows the helicopter landing on the west side of the island and the airplane dropping two of four loads of water to extinguish the fire and protect the cottage.

Firefighters remained on the island overnight to ensure flare-ups didn’t occur.

A seasonal close call that reminds us all to make sure fires are dead out. Sometimes it may seem like overdoing it, pouring water and stirring fire pits but all it takes is a bit of wind to put a forest at significant risk.

Download Fire Suppression Video

When you meet a moose in Algonquin Park in the autumn, it’s no time to attract moose!

Survivorman tells of his encounter with Algonquin Park moose.

Join us for Morning Tea with Moose in the summer!

We’ve added two new calendars to the blog…. See the Canoe Trips Calendar and Retreats Calendar

They are in the sidebar menu for your convenience.  In the near future we’ll be adding trip dates and details to each listing.

With the relaunch of Globe and Mail.com, came a neat surprise when we found our photo adorning the bottom left corner! Featured in the print edition of the Wednesday, May 20th edition of the Globe and Mail we were delighted to be featured among some terrific global destinations that are bringing a sense of romance and style to experiences in nature.

Want to go Glamping? Join us at the Edge and pamper yourself with food and experiences, or head into the park with Alexis and his team of talented guides for a rich encounter with nature.

Camping + Glamour = Glamping

So amazing and inspiring to see the emergence of spring, to feel the pulse of the earth increase it’s rhythm through growth, longer days and the return of bird song. To watch this process occur here, the Northern Edge Algonquin has evoked a well of ideas and new creation that must move forward.

Within our retreat based yoga practice there is a place within that we can access stillness, sink in and listen. What does the body speak of? What is your body story and how might we honor the old story and create a new one. As the old layers fall away we are left with a blank canvas in which to experiment with movement and stillness. I believe we have only possibilities and I hope you can join me this summer for our Yoga Intensive from August 27-30, to dive in deeper to your authentic self, to uncover or increase your life purpose and share in the splendor of nature, it’s rhythm and our innate connection to it! As always we invite you to join us for our Quest for Balance: Yoga and Sea Kayaking Retreat. New this year, we’re offering folks the opportunity to get the great Edge Experience while staying on a raised wooden platform under a large protective tarp, in your own tent. Consider our other comfy accomodations as well (above).

Latino Feel with “Gregor’s Food Trail & Tales”

The Edge kitchen is run very much like any home kitchen where care and attention are found at the top of the ingredients list. Of course this is the case in terms of making things from scratch, but what I want to highlight here is the way leftovers fit into the culinary equation.

In particular, this is a story of how some leftovers figured fairly prominently in the last meal of an Edge program. This is also a story of why when guests ask me for a recipe, I can’t really share any details … although I truly wish I could.

To read more about Greg’s tasty meal from or last Basic Shamanism program click here.

Rattle Making in 11 Shorts Steps

You will need the following basic materials to complete this project, but obviously if you wish to decorate your Rattle you will need various additional materials to do so. We will look at decoration at the end of this article.

1. Rawhide, large enough for 2 sides
2. Cord
3. Fine sand
4. Stick of approx.’ 11″ length and 1″ dia’.
5. Araldite glue. (optional)
6. Strong thread
7. Pebbles to put inside the Rattle

1. Soak your hide it in cold water until it becomes floppy, then lay it out flat somewhere to dry sufficient to be able to draw on it with a pencil. Put these shapes back into the water to soak.
2. Take your handle and shape it. Use a craft knife for this, and sand it down if you want a fully smooth finish.
3. You could varnish or wax it at this point.
4. Take your two rawhide shapes from the water and sew them together, edge to edge. Don’t sew up the neck- the narrow end, as that is where the handle will go, and in through which you will stuff the sand shortly to shape the head. Use a good strong thread for this- either waxed cobblers thread, or strong button thread.
5. Once you have the head sewn together, it has become a bag with a narrow opening like a balloon. Pour sand into the head, and stuff the sand into the head, force it to ‘inflate’. As you do so it will form into the shape that you need. Then stand it neck up, somewhere warm to dry out.
6. Once it is sufficiently hard and dry pour the sand out.
7. Put pebbles into the head, insert your thumb into the hole to keep the pebbles in, and experiment with shaking the Rattle to hear what sound it makes. Pour these pebbles out and keep them to one side ready for use.
8. Stand the head in a cup of water, so that only the neck is in the water as you want to make the neck flexible, but not soak the rest of the head and deform its shape. Once the neck is sufficiently flexible to be pliable, put your saved pebbles back in, then put the head-neck over the handle.
9. Once the neck of the rattle head dries apply araldite to the joint.
10. Once the head is on the handle, and while it’s still wet, bind the cord around the neck as tightly as you can.
11. Put your Rattle somewhere to dry for a couple of days

A Story of “Why He Has no Recipes to Share This Time”…

The Edge Kitchen is run very much like any home kitchen where care and attention are found at the top of the ingredients list. Of course this is the case in terms of making things from scratch, but what I want to highlight here is the way leftovers fit into the culinary equation.

In particular, this is a story of how some leftovers figured fairly prominently in the last meal of an Edge program. This is also a story of why when guests ask me for a recipe, I can’t always share any details … although I truly wish I could.

While a particular theme (say, East European) or seasonal ingredient (say, our backyard maple syrup) underlies the idea of a meal, what I actually cook is based on a combination of what’s fresh in the fridge/pantry, our guests dietary concerns and what’s leftover from previous meals served over the weekend. Todd credits me with being fairly astute at “longitudinal meal planning,” however, for most of my time cooking at the Edge this process plays out like “Oh boy … what am I going to do with all these extra peppers?”

The final meal of the last Basic Shamanism program is a prime example. When planning Sunday’s lunch a few days before the program began I was hoping to balance the globally far-flung flavors of Latino cooking with –for the most part– provincially produced goods. By the time I started cooking on Sunday morning, the dishes I had planned based on this general Latino theme were further influenced by an extra roasted chicken, two left-over accompaniments, and a bunch of Ontario green house peppers that where twice as large as expected.

For the broth with sweet peas: I love to stuff local free-range chickens with coarsely chopped garlic, onions and leek tops (and of course fresh parsley, rosemary and sage if you where able to keep them in doors over the Winter like we were). I then rub the outside of the birds with a combo of coarse sea salt, black pepper, paprika and “salt-free spike” and put them in a hot oven (breast up) to crisp the skin, flipping them to crisp the back, and then roasting them covered so the “stuffing” steams the meat off the bones. Given the place of the roasted chicken on the weekend menu, it was not a long step to take when making soup for Sunday’s lunch. After the roasted chicken was carved and served for Saturday’s dinner I just put the carcasses (and “stuffing”) in a pot, added a few more onions, carrots, covered with water and simmered for a few hours. I discarded all the solids and added organic sweet peas (frozen) and we had simple soup to hopefully balance the stronger flavors of the quesadilla.

For the Quesadilla filling: Like almost all my entrees, caramelized onions form the backbone around which I add combinations of herbs and spices to build flavor. For this dish, I sautéed diced cooking onions in olive oil and sea salt until they developed a dark brown color, I then added diced leeks and garlic. Once they softened, I moved everything to the outside of the pan, added a small pat of butter and toasted cumin, paprika, dried cilantro, oregano and chili powder until a little smoke appeared. I then added the left over roasted chicken, and deglazed the pan with a can of diced tomatoes and some of the stock I was preparing for the soup. I just let everything simmer until the liquid evaporated (about an hour).

For the toppings: Matt did the food shop for the program based on a list I prepared … how was I to know that the peppers were going to be twice the size as I expected. Given that these peppers where grown in Ontario greenhouses, (and I’m in the midst of preparing our gardens) I just could not resist making a fresh salsa loaded with peppers in anticipation of what we will grow at the Edge and what is going to be available at the local market later in the summer. For the salsa, I diced fresh (greenhouse) tomatoes, mixed them with a little sea salt and put them in a colander to drain. In a large bowl, I mixed olive oil (3 parts), apple cider vinegar (1 part), a shot of maple syrup, diced garlic, dried cilantro and oregano. To this I added diced red and yellow peppers and a small red onion (finely chopped). Once the tomatoes were drained, I added them to the pepper mix (the reserved liquid went into the chicken mixture). I let this all marinate for about an hour. About twenty minutes before serving, I pressed 2 fresh lemons into the mix and added a large handful of finely diced chives (from the garden) and flat-leaf parsley (we were able to keep in containers over the winter). The final quesadilla topping was a combination of a fresh chive-garlic sour cream served on Friday night (to accompany the baked potatoes which we had with maple sap braised pork roasts) and a cucumber-yogurt-scallion salad served at the previous days lunch. Both accompaniments were blended until smooth and creamy in a food processor (it was a sunny day … high solar power).

Putting it all together…

Building the Quesadillas was just a matter of baking organic Canadian corn tortillas on a cookie sheet until just crisp, covering the tortilla with the chicken mixture, topping that with some 2 year old cheddar (made a few hours north of the Edge) and broiling until the cheese melted.  Guests where then invited to top the quesadilla with the sweet pepper salsa and the creamy cucumber-chive dressing.  It seemed to go over fairly well.

The lunch bell rang at 12:30, I decided what I was going to make about 3 hours before that, and in between I was just in the moment… I wish I could share more about how much? and for how long? I just never paused to measure, my cooking is about those 3 hours, and the 3 hours before the previous meal, and digging gardens, and dealing with generators … and that’s why I don’t have any “recipes.”

Cheers, Gregor

We’re gearing up for Awakening the Dreamer Symposium (in association with the Pachamama alliance) May 9th here at the Blue Canoe Healing Art Centre in South River beginning at 10 Am.
Awakening the Dreamer is an opportunity for everyone to understand what is happening and to consider how we can all play a part in addressing these problems and creating a world that works sustainable for us and for future generations.  If you are interested in joining us for this event, there are still a few spaces available.

Also, just added to the Northern Edge calendar.  We’re excited to announce our newest experience, At home in the Wild, at home in your Body.  Our very talented Wendy Martin yoga goddess along with another one of our very knowledgeable guides Chris Gilmore will be leading this canoe trip into Algonquin Park which takes place July 1-5th.  Experience Yoga each day and night paddles underneath a blanket of stars.  Master the art of compassing while learning all aspects of nature in Algonquin Park.  Consider our Railquest package. Leaving from Union Station arrive in style on the Northland train to Algonquin Park.

For more information about our newest experience visit: At Home in the Wild, at Home in your Body.  July 1-5th, 09

Visit our Flickr site for some of our recent images of the Northern Edge Algonquin!