Ciiporoke: A Teejop Experience

 

Last Thursday, when I got off the bus after darkness had fallen, I heard coyotes howling in the distance. I often hear them near our house, but I had never heard them in a more industrial area like around the North Transfer Point. The next morning I woke up from a disturbing dream about being attacked by a pitbull, and then at lunch as I was walking and praying the Rosary, I thought I heard coyotes in the distance. I thought of my dream and wondered if it was warning me that I might get attacked by coyotes, but then I realized I was actually hearing tundra swans in the distance. But wasn't it too early for them? Then at my afternoon break, as I went for a walk and prayed the Divine Mercy Chaplet, a flock of tundra swans flew overhead, so I knew they were back for sure.

Yesterday as I was walking on Lakeshore Path on campus, I saw the loon again, and it seemed to be following me. Then I saw some buffleheads and some mallards, and in the distance near Picnic Point I spied some tundra swans. Today I decided to take the free campus bus to further down the Lakeshore Path than I could walk on my lunch break and then walk back. This was partly to see the ciiporake behind Dejope Hall, and partly to get closer to the tundra swans. I did see the ciiporake, which will only be up until the end of Native November - here are photos.

This sign explains the ciiporake. It's pronounced "chee-POE-doe-kay." It's a Teejop experience!

Here's a side view. It looks like a sub sandwich in a wrapper.

And here's the inside! It smelled like hay.

I didn't have a lot of time for this Teejop experience, because I had to hustle back to work. Sadly, for some reason there were no tundra swans by Picnic Point; it would have been nice to get a closer view of them. I did see the buffleheads, two common mergansers, the mallards, a bunch of coots, and the loon following me back along the path. Why do waterfowl follow me? Today I was one of the few people on the path, so maybe they were just intrigued that I was there, but I have seen them seeming to follow me other times when there are a lot of other people around, and I wonder if they have noticed me noticing them. So many people just walk or bike by and don't pay any attention to the creatures on the lake. I like to think it is part of the Teejop experience to notice the world around you, and all your brothers and sisters who are animals and plants, and all the cool topography. "Teejop" means "four lakes," so paying attention to the lake should definitely be a part of the Teejop experience!

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