Sharing Culture and Heritage

In my book, O Canada, Her Story, the first chapter is about Haida Gwaii. Here is a video about how they are passing down their culture to children. Such a lovely people.

Irrefutable DNA evidence: Bigfoot exists

Throughout history, sightings of a large animal people dubbed Bigfoot, Sasquatch or Skunk Ape, have been reported. "Sasquatch" originated in Canada from Indian folklore. For centuries, 14-inch-long footprints with no arch have been located and memorialized in plaster castings and photographs.

The first sighting of Bigfoot occurred in 1811 by a man named David Thompson. In 1924 Albert Ostman claimed that he was held captive by Bigfoots for several days. But these claims have gone unproven.

Until now.

As of this writing, there is irrefutable evidence that Bigfoot is a real species. 

According to the Americans for Bigfoot Preservation, the DNA evidence found from the tissue samples of a toenail found in a Bigfoot impression in the Salamonie Forest in NE Indiana, has come back as being that of an unknown primate.

"It could be the missing link we've been waiting for all these years," said DNA expert, Stewart Steen. "And now we have it."

The problem is finding the creature who lost the toenail. Currently, DNR rangers have been ordered on 12-hour shifts to comb the forest for more evidence along with skilled volunteers.

"We know they're here. We just don't know how they're able to be so elusive. Aside from the caves, we know they build lean-to's. We've had quite a few wood knocks the past few nights, but still no sightings. It's as if they are toying with us." DNR Ranger, Matt Lott shared more information at the press conference near the Pavilion. "It's not just in the primitive camps, either. The upper camps are also experiencing such things as tents and campers being shaken."

Campers are admonished to keep all food locked away for their own safety.

Lott warned campers to use extra caution. "We don't know how dangerous these creatures are. I mean, we've lived with them now for thousands of years and we've yet to have anyone hurt by them. But we've never actively hunted them like this before, either, and they may feel threatened."

Bigfoots range from seven to nine feet tall and could weigh between 600 and 900 pounds. 

Anyone who sights a Bigfoot is asked to report their findings to the Indiana DNR. Any photos may become property of the State of Indiana, so be sure to make your own copies. 

And refer to this post's date when making your report.

Main characters of my next book have roots in history

Now that my book, Sacagawea is finished, I'm focusing on my next novel, River Moon Don't Cry. It is set in the early 1800s on the Mississippi River.

The main characters of my book are pictured above. The heroine, Flora Jean is the large picture on the upper left. Flora Jean is a Melungeon girl, who through unfortunate circumstances, ends up on the gambling steamboat owned by Mr. Jones (top right).  He is in the sex slave trade business in Louisianna. That is, he provides beautiful women for Quadroon Balls -- events where wealthy plantation owners purchase a woman of mixed heritage as lifetime mistresses. (These are pictures of what I think the characters look like. While the people above are real people of course, they are only representations of my characters. I do know that the Flora's picture is actually Marcia Pascal, supposedly a woman who was 1/2 Cherokee.)

According to literary traveler George William Featherstonhaugh,

When one of them [a quadroon] attracts the attention of an admirer, and he is desirous of forming a liaison with her, he makes a bargain with the mother, agrees to pay her a sum of money, perhaps 2000 dollars, or some sum in proportion to her merits, as a fund upon which she may retire when the liaison terminates. She is now called “une placée;” those of her caste who are her intimate friends give her fetes, and the lover prepares “un joli appartement meuble.”

Now, recently the truth of whether or not this was truly practiced by the local women of New Orleans has been challenged. But if I understand history correctly, they did take place for women outside of New Orleans brought there for that purpose, and this is the future that Mr. Jones has planned for Flora.

On the middle right  of the picture above is the Pilot of the Steamboat, Sam Duncan. He is running from his secret past in Minnesota. He is in love with Flora.

Flora, however, is falling in love with her captor, Mr. Jones (upper right), who has no warm feelings for her past preparing her for the money he will gain by her beauty and trained refinement. However, he does develop a narcissistic attraction to her.Young Flora falls prey to his overtures.

You'll have to read the book to learn how this all plays out.

The bottom right is Pepper Jack, who is in love with the girl in the picture at the middle bottom. Her name is Penny. They are slaves of Mr. Jones. So is Miss Pearl, far left, who is Penny's mother. Miss Pearl has a deep affection for Flora and advocates for her. In fact, all the staff have a deep affection for Flora including a little boy slave named George Washington.

The book includes such occurrences as river pirates, gambling and all kinds of delicious scandal. Stay tuned for the release date!

Dog meat or "When research turns up unseemly stuff"

When I do research for a book, the romance that surrounds my subject sometimes fades away when certain hard facts come into focus.

Take for instance the fact that the Corps of Discovery ate dog meat to survive.

Gaegogi (dog meat) stew served at a restaurant in Seoul, South Korea; source: Wikipedia

I know it's cultural. As a rule, we don't eat dogs in the United States. I know that some Asian and African countries do.

Lest you judge the Corps of Discovery too harshly, it was a common practice in time of hunger to eat dogs. There are several instances in the annals of history where pioneers and explorers resorted to the practice.

According to Wikipedia, British explorer Ernest Shackleton and his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition killed their sled dogs for food. Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen ate sled dogs during his expedition to the South Pole.

During the Siege of Paris (1870–1871), butchers sold dog meat. Dog meat was sold by some butchers in Paris in 1910.

Paris, 1910

Wikipedia states that in the United States, people used to call sausages "dog." (Hot dogs?) In 1884 there were accusations that sausage makers used dog meat in their recipes. In some cases it proved to be true.


In 1846, a group of 87 American pioneers, known as the Donner Party,   in the Sierra Nevada, ate a pet dog^.

In late 19th century some people thought dog meat was a cure for tuberculosis. And in the early 1900s, people ate dog due to food shortages.

You can learn more about eating dog meat on Wikipedia, but if you are tenderhearted toward dogs, don't go to the page. The pictures there are graphic and that is why I did not link to that page in my book.

One bright spot for me in my research was learning that Captain Clark, whom Sacagawea calls "Man-With-Red-Hair" in my book, refused to eat dog.

There is no written record of whether or not Sacagawea ate dog meat, but in my book, Sacagawea, I chose to write that she didn't. Most sources agree that she spurned eating both horse and dog. 

I have three dogs and I don't think I could ever eat them. But then again, I have never been that hungry. We shouldn't judge people if we have never experienced their path.

Here are pictures of my three adorable dogs. Can you imagine eating them? I can't.

Chevy and Jake

Frankie (pug) with my mother-in-law, Ellen, at Christmas

How about you? Could you eat a dog or a horse?

Multnomah Indians aka Flatheads

The Indians that Sacagawea and the Corps of Discovery met on the other side of the Celilo falls were different from the Indians they had met before.

http://hugefloods.com/ColumbiaGorge.html

One of the tribes was the Multnomah Indians also known as the "Flatheads" for the way they shaped their babies' heads in a cradle board to make their foreheads slope toward the back of their heads.

Source: Unknown (Pinterest)

Captain Clark's Journal via http://sauvieisland.org/visitor-information/history/

The Multnomah AKA Flatheads, were a  tribe of the Chinook Indians who lived in cedar log houses 30 yards long and a dozen yards wide. Each family had its own entrance and fire pit. 

They tied their babies to a flat board, with another piece of wood fixed across the baby’s brow that put pressure on the skull to flatten it from the crown to nose. This feature was respected and seen as a superior beauty feature. 

Their way of dress was different, too. Women wore a fringed skirt of cedar bark and anointed their hair with fish oil.

Hominy or Hulled Corn

When Captains Lewis and Clark met with the starving Shoshone Indians, they gifted them with a quantity of "lyed corn."

Lyed corn is made by soaking corn kernels in a weak lye bath that removes the kernel's hull. Today we sometimes call this "hominy." It is also known as posole or pozole in different cultures. Grits are made by grinding up the hominy. White hominy comes from white corn and yellow hominy is made from yellow corn.

White Hominy

I grew up eating hominy and thought everyone knew what it was. But when I moved up north more than 30 years ago (and still love north of Kansas where I grew up) I learned that many people weren't familiar with it.

I like to eat hominy slathered in butter. And I love grits, too. I have a friend who grew up in the deep south who must eat his grits with salt, pepper and cheese while I prefer mine with brown sugar or honey and butter. It just depends on how you grew up eating them. 

If you've never tried hominy, I highly recommend you try it! It's quite tasty and has an interesting texture unlike anything else I can compare it to. It's also very good in stews and soups.

Blisters

http://www.thebackpacker.com/

I know the picture of an infected blister above is pretty awful. But the blisters and sores the Corp of Discovery were much worse. The fortitude these men displayed just putting one foot in front of another as they stepped on prickly pear cactus and flint rocks is impressive. I, for one, don't have that kind of tolerance to pain.

One night Captain Clark counted as many as 17 thorns that he pulled from his feet.

Seaman, Captain Lewis's dog, also suffered.

Even though they traveled by canoe, they had to walk to keep the canoes light. And often, the water wasn't deep enough and they had to pull the canoes over sandbars and islands. All they wore on their feet were moccasins.

Can you imagine how brave these people were?

And what is even more amazing?

They never complained.