Part of my Anishinaabe education while working in Pikangikum involves learning to procure food on the land — trapping, hunting, and fishing. On a mild winter day I’m invited by elders Oliver Hill and norman Quill to set a fish net under the ice. The chosen location is a bay on Pikangikum Lake, a short 15 minute snowmobile ride from the community. We set up just off the winter road, a busy communication route between northern communities north of Red Lake.