Grey Wolf Cafe brewing coffee, culture and community in a small Manitoba town

When Tanya Clarke remembers her late father, George ‘Buddy’ Clarke, he’s sitting with his grandkids, a hot beverage in hand. “He would always come and sit and have his tea and I say tea because he would tell everyone that it was tea but it was actually coffee with sugar,” Clarke said. A residential school survivor, George never had the opportunity to attend ceremony or receive his spirit name in life. “Our names are how we identify and how we transition into the spirit world,” Clarke, a member of Hollow Water First Nation said. “So, once he did pass, we held a ceremony for him, and that’s where we found out his name is Grey Wolf Man.” Today, Clarke is honouring her father’s legacy as the owner of the new Grey Wolf Cafe in Dugald, Man. Tanya Clarke owns the Grey Wolf Cafe in Dugald, Man. Photo: Cierra Bettens/APTN. Since its grand opening in early June, the cafe has been the talk of the town, located just outside Winnipeg. “We had a lineup throughout the door all day long, until we locked the door at four,” Clarke said. The menu serves up locally-roasted coffee, sweet treats baked by Clarke’s mother-in-law, Lorette, and fresh bannock breakfast sandwiches. “We had Dana Constant come in, who’s a Red Seal chef from York Factory First Nation,” Clarke said. “She put the entire kitchen together, she trained all the staff, and we perfected, together, a bannock that would be soft enough for the breakfast sandwiches.” Personal touches are scattered throughout the cafe to make the space feel like home. Four wooden chairs Clarke inherited from her father are arranged around the fireplace, his photo watching patrons from the mantle. “When we decided just under a year ago that we were going to do this, we found Destiny Seymour’s prints and recovered the chairs,” Clarke said, referencing the Winnipeg-based Anishinaabe designer. “And we always had the vision to have them in front of a nice, beautiful fireplace.” A community hub The Grey Wolf Cafe hosted their grand opening in early June. Photo: Cierra Bettens/APTN. Eager to make full use of the space, Clarke is already planning a calendar of events for the summer. In August, Anishinaabe artist Jackie Traverse will host a paint night at the cafe. Clarke hopes to coordinate special programming for National Indigenous Peoples Day and the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. “One of my goals with the cafe was to hold a space where we could talk about the beauty of the culture and the beautiful stories, all the teachings, in a really positive way,” Clarke said. To Clarke, the cafe is more than a stop for locals to get their caffeine fix. It’s a place for community to gather, heal and share stories–including the one that defines Grey Wolf. “My grandmother went to residential school, my dad went to residential school. I didn’t grow up in community, didn’t speak the language,” Clarke said. “My kids don’t speak the language, but my grandson was the first one to start dancing powwow and learning our language.” “So in my short life span, you see really wonderful things happening.” Continue Reading