L’ANSE — The Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College (KBOCC), Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission and Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC) Natural Resources Department collaborated together to host the fourth Waawaashkeshi (Deer) Camp on Nov. 9 to teach new hunters of all ages how to gut, skin and process harvested deer.

The camp went into detail on how to butcher deer in order to self sustain oneself with meat cutting skills. Two deer were shot the morning of the camp by KBIC members and they were processed before the crowd of over 80 participants this year. The camp was put on to teach new hunters the skills of harvesting deer since there has been a decline in Michigan hunters over the past several years. KBIC wishes to provide the resource to educate potentially new deer hunters since there are many parents who are unable to find the time to pass on the tradition.

Kyle Seppanen of the KBIC Natural Resources Department said that the camp reassures young hunters that processing a deer is something that anyone can do.

“That’s the most intimidating part, is cutting a deer,” he said. “A lot of people can’t bring their deer to get processed because processing is expensive. It’s $100 plus to get it processed by someone. So if we can show these people how to do it, they can do this stuff themselves, and do not have to pay too much money to sustain themselves.”

Along with teaching the skills of harvesting deer, KBIC Natural Resources Wildlife Biologist Blake Chosa said that the camp is also a way to keep indigenous hunting traditions alive and teach new hunters to honor the animal’s spirit.

“It’s a spiritual, emotional and knowledgeable experience with the animal because in the creation story waawaashkeshi was there for us as a food source that kept our people alive,” Chosa said. “And we honor that animal. We appreciate it for what it’s done for us, what waawaashkeshi gives us as a people- it lets us survive and teach our next generation the same traditions that we learned.”

The camp also went into some methods of cooking that participants could try at home with the venison they took with them. Chosa shared one of his favorite recipes for venison that he encourages successful deer hunters to try during the current tribal deer season and the upcoming state regular firearm deer season.

“Take the back strap, butterfly it open and then marinate it in soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar overnight,” he said. “Then take it out, pat dry it, put a little bit of seasoning in it (salt and pepper or whatever you like) then spread some cream cheese on it. Then chop up and place down some jalapenos, roll it up, wrap it in bacon, sear it, and then throw it in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. When you try that you won’t want to eat it any other way.”

Chosa and Seppanen are wishing new and returning deer hunters this year the best of luck and stress to be courteous to anyone else who is hunting in the woods.

Chosa said that each hunter should respect one another as a neighbor and remember that many will be sharing the same land while hunting.