I then explained that I had duties in the South and would be gone before the winter set in. That I liked them, and wouldn't mind spending the winter there if I had the independent means to do so, which was not the case. I convinced them that I was a wondering scholar not ready to settle down.

The next day I went over to Eugene's and arrived at an understanding with Yvette. I wouldn't interfere in her relationship with her boyfriend but would let the other women who thought her white boyfriend in Fort McMurray was just a flight of fancy know I found her the most desirable one there. That I could do without lying. It was then that I learned how little the other whites in the community knew about these people. Yvette was currently working on her grade eleven through correspondence courses, and had successfully completed all her grade 10 subjects. This made her the most educated native person in the community.

Later that day I met the Clan Leader I never got to meet the night before. He told me that he had been watching me, and that he had seen that I had the strength of a Bear. He was inviting me to join the Bear Clan.