Perry pinpointed in the atlas a likely location for the town. It's on a lake (as yet unnamed) near a larger community with logging being the primary industry and source of outside employment.

Perry's wife Laurie suggested the name "Mtigwaki", meaning "land of trees". (I'm only just learning to pronounce it: mm-tigwak-eh). This sounded good to me and our imaginary town of Mtigwaki began to take shape. On the dark side of a new pizza box, Perry drew an ideal setting for a small community. He drew the bay, the beaches, the mouth of the Spruce River where a marina and general store provide lines and lures for fishermen, and dried foodstuffs for the community. He drew in the streets while I cut out tiny white rectangles representing churches, houses, the school, teacherage and nursing station.

Skye glued down the "buildings" and suggested the river have a dangerous current on the right side of the bay - a place where children were warned not to swim.

Two cemeteries were drawn, one Protestant and one Catholic. A third was hidden and would be for those who had always followed the religious teachings of the ancestors and were buried in their own space, with their own traditional rituals.

Perry drew the pow-wow grounds, placing the sacred fire in the east. Each of the entrances to the ceremonial circle is integral to all rituals and events - which Perry can explain later.

Having lived in Lynn Lake and seeing quite a few remote villages, I knew there were government buildings and heritage buildings. Those built by the government are located near the centre of town, are set in rows, are modular, wood sided, serviced with electricity and plumbing. Older homes on the reserves have their own unique design, and are often nestled in private bays in wooded lots not usually seen from the road. Some are small and primitive, others large, modern, beautifully landscaped and well serviced.

Perry placed the nursing station next to a church and behind the teachers' residence. This building houses the medical facility, band offices and community centre and will be the hub of many activities.

With our town named and designed, it has become much more imagination accessible. We talk about it as if it really exists. There are approximately 350 inhabitants (not counting the dogs) and is growing in spite of government efforts to relocate the community to an area closer to highways, pipelines and hydro!

Elizabeth lived in an apartment connected to the principal's house. Gary Crane, a native of Mtigwaki returned home after spending many years teaching in Southern Ontario. He moved back home with his wife Vivian who is not of Native descent. They have no children. Gary is not only the principal of the school; he plays a major role on the band council as Deputy Chief. Vivian is the only trained medic in town. She provides nursing care in Mtigwaki and works closely with hospital personnel in Spruce Narrows - which is 60 miles inland. Spruce Narrows provides work, with the logging company "Nortimber" being the principal employer. The high school is also located in "The Narrows". Gary's senior students will have to be billeted in town in order to complete their grade 12 and prepare for college, university and trade school.

Mtigwaki is rich with tradition and historians deem it one of the few remaining original settlements still inhabited, still a place where Native language, traditions, and artwork are encouraged and preserved.