Courtnee prepares muktuk to share at orientation from a beluga whale she caught in the spring.

Hello, my name is Courtnee Keevik I’m from Tuktoyaktuk, NT which has a population of 1000 people so its very much different for me to be living in such a big reserve here on Six Nations, ON. When I first left home I was not excited at all, I had so many different feelings inside of me of worry, loneliness, and scared. But now that I’m here I’m loving it so much and trying to make the best of it because this is a once in a lifetime experience! I’ve only been in this program for 3 weeks and I’ve learned so much about myself. I feel more independent as a person and almost like I can do anything haha. Additionally, let me tell you a few things about what I do on a daily basis which is work. My work placement consists of working with kids ages 5-13 from 8:30am til 4pm. Basically what I do is supervise them and play sports with them all day, we also travel a lot and go to parks and awesome places like Canada’s Wonderland. I enjoy being with these kids all day, they definitely brighten up my day and make me feel like a better person. My host family has 3 members in this household including my host mother (Brooke Powless), my host father (Bud Powless) and host brother (Steven Powless) and 2 other daughters Skyler and Kelsey Powless who don’t live in the residence. They’re so generous all the time and make me feel so at home and I think that’s why I haven’t gotten homesick at all yet. I enjoy spending my days with them and am even excited to get off work to see them! Such an awesome and amazing family! There are so many things that are different here in the South than in the North. I’ve experienced so many new things already pretty much everyday and will keep doing so until my 5 weeks is up! Everyday Brooke takes us to do something we’ve never done before and I love her for that. But, the houses here are very spread out unlike back home where they’re all so close together. Also, the stores are huge compared to out tiny Northern and Stanton stores. Ive also seen animals that I’ve never see in my life before so thats pretty cool! I’ve seen bison, cows, donkeys, racoons, killer whales and pigs. All these animals you don’t see up North so it was awesome! Also, the culture here really isn’t any different we all have the same beliefs and we all do the same things like dances and stuff. But we speak different languages but I think thats an awesome thing to learn about. So far I’ve seen/done shopping, radio bingo, glow in the dark golfing, mini putting, bowling, sprint car racing, tubing, paddle boarding, went to marine land and mowed a lawn for the first time. More things to come as this trip isn’t over yet!