~!.!~'sWhtatttt.7/~/7/fp "I tasted all three kinds of -- I meat here, the moose, elk OHSWEKEN - Six Na- and deer, and I have some tions elders were treated to moose meat gravy, and some a bit of old-fashioned nice buns, and some lemon generosity Saturday night at and apple pie," said 74-year- the annual wild game din- old Bob Jamieson, one of ner. about 500 elders and com- A number of hunters from munity members who en- the community donated joyed the free meal moose, bear, deer and elk . meat from their hunting Mr. Jamieson lamented trips earlier this fall to fill changes that have taken the plates of the guests. place as people move away Jerry Jonathan (left) and Greg Sandv were busy cutting and repartng the meat for the supper. from the native tra 1tion o sharing. "I was brought up all the old-fashioned way," said the translator for the Iroquois Confederacy. "Maybe this might change the lives of people" and encourage them to return to more tradi- tional ways. . "I'm just hoping that this can be kept up. I guess it can as long as those fellows know how to cook." Jim Styres, co-ordinator of the dinner, said the evening is an important one for him "for the simple reason that it's our heritage. This is what the old Indians used to do. Mr. Styres, who per- formed cooking demonstra- tions at this summer's Inter- national Plowing Match, prepared bear meat for the dinner, but said the recipe was "an old Indian secret" In addition t.o the people served in the Ohsweken community centre, over 100 dinners were taken to hand- icapped people and older people in the community who could not leave their homes. Volunteers also took vans to pick up people who needed a lift. Mr. Styres said the dinner would never have succeeded without the help of the dozens of volunteers, the donations &om hunters and non-natives in tbe area, and the $1,200 onate by the band councillors. Chief Coun. William Mon- tour was part of a hunting team which brought two moose back t.o Ohsweken in October. "We brought back a lot of wild meat to the community, and the idea is that we try to share some of it" The hunters each pre- pared the meat at home and then took it to the commu- nity hall Chief Coun. Montour said his speciality was Chinese moose balls and a wild rice casserole, which were "pretty good" Garfield Jonathan was part of a hunting team that killed four moose. Even though he is antici- pating a long winter, which may be difficult because of the recession, he was delighted to share meat with the elders. "I just love the elder people, I think most or my learning has come from them. You can read books or go to school to learn th~," but the most important les- sons come from the elders, he said Wendell Mt Pleasant, 85. donated $100 to the oldest person at the dinner, 101- year-old Canie Green. "I really enjoy this," he said