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I haven't been around much lately due to working in a remote area in Ontario, My work experience took me to a native reserve named Kashechewan a 1 hour flight north of Timmins. I received a phone call in mid August to hoist modular homes on a rez. I was very interested in the offer due to the remote location & I have never been that far north. I left Niagara area August 14, returned home yesterday. The job was to demolish 30 homes that were inadequate housing due to flooding of the Albany River & build 52 new homes for the natives. Working directly with the native folks was awesome. I've learned a lot about their culture, their habits & of course the fishing & hunting opportunities in such a vast wilderness. The modular homes are fabricated in New Brunswick by a company called Maple Leaf Homes. They are transported to a rez on the east side of James Bay called Wemindji. In Wemindji they are loaded onto a barge which then sails west into James Bay. Another barge from Kashechewan (our job site) sails east to meet the barge from Wemindji. They exchange an empty barge for the one loaded with houses, then they head back to Kashechewan. The houses are then transported to a location near my crane, I hoist them onto their new foundation. There are 52 new houses being constructed at the site. We have 29 homes in place, & 23 left to complete the project. I'm home for a week, scheduled to return this coming week end. I'm happy to report that 93% of the work force are all natives. They have many talents, such as quality carpenters, plumbers, electricians & labourers. Kashechewan houses 2,600 people with a rather large grocery store. A 24 case of water sells for $37.00 (yes thirty seven!!), a 900 g can of Maxwell house is $23.00, dozen eggs $6.00. Luckily I'm in a camp which provides all of our food. Presently the natives are moose hunting. They travel 40 kms down the river to an area which has a rather large moose population. 1 fellow was kind enough to bring into the camp a large tray of moose meat stew with potatoes, onions, & peppers which was very tasty. Fishing is very good with large quantities of pike, whitefish & pickerel near by. They have an indoor arena, church, medical clinic, community centre & their own police force. They also have an elementary school & a secondary school which has 200 students. I'll be flying back to Kash Saturday to complete the project before I return home for Christmas. Hopefully we finish the project before winter hits, as I'm told temps can reach -60 in January!