Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Nov 15/99) - As it has for hundreds of years, the winter trapping season is about to begin in the North.

But the switch to regular paying jobs and, in more recent years, depressed fur prices have taken their toll on the Northern tradition of trapping.

A part-time trapper and a former trapper say the benefits of harvesting wildlife cannot be measured in dollars alone.

"In the early days there were no real jobs, jobs where you would get a cheque every week... so everybody, but everybody, made their living from the land," said Fort McPherson's Wally Firth, who learned trapping from his father, who learned it from his father before him.

With the arrival of government and industry, the number of trappers has dropped dramatically. The department of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development estimates that in 1998 there were 933 active trappers, the vast majority of them doing it part-time.

One of those is Fort Simpson's Herb Norwegian. He said trapping, by definition, brings people closer to the land their ancestors relied on for everything they needed.

"People need to be out there, they need to be seen out there taking care of the land, harvesting the wildlife."

Norwegian noted that, though the value of it is not measured in dollars, hunting while out on the land does cut down on grocery bills and provides food far better than store-bought.

He said tending traplines and hunting also brings with it a "spiritual relief" from the stresses of town life.

"There's no question whatsoever about that," agreed Firth. "People that are close to the land know that."

Though he has not trapped since 1958, Firth remembers the life fondly.

"A married man with a small family living on the land, everybody had their responsibilities, their little jobs to do," said Firth. "It was a good life, a very good life."

Norwegian said the bush can even make winter seem warmer.

"It's cold when you're in town and it's -40 C. There's a haze hanging in the air. When you get out onto the land, out into the spruce trees... somehow its a different temperature altogether. You don't notice the cold as much."

Even the physical demands are a benefit. Norwegian said there's no better way to get rid of extra weight.

And though it's hard, the work seems less like labour than town work.

"I guess if it's ingrained in you it's no different than going outside and shovelling the driveway or wiping the snow off your car."