Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Apr 07/00) - The high jump, long jump and pole vault are all well known events in track and have a place in the Olympic games.

"And Dene people used to do them," Gerald Antoine said in respect to the advent of the sports.

Antoine compiled a list of Dene games; some easily recognizable while others were a little more obscure, during a Dene games workshop held last week.

Among them were the paddle and arrow, the willow hoop, the rope swing, hand games, axe throw, tea dance and snowshoe race.

The games have a connection to living off the land, are inexpensive, require only natural tools and many of them have a story to go along with them. For example, there's the beaver shin-bone break, an event that requires sheer strength. Antoine said he heard of two boys who were struggling to snap the bone with two hands. It's said their sister came along and broke it with just one, he recounted.

Other Dene games Antoine has researched are the moose-hide toss and the stick pull. The moose-hide toss requires a moose hide to be stretched within four trees and secured to them with babiche. Using the trampoline like effect, the competitors try to spring the highest, he explained.

The stick pull sees competitors stand side-by-side with their arms straight. Each takes a tapered end of a greased stick and pulls. The person who can maintain his or her grip is the winner, he noted.

Antoine, who was born in the Rabbitskin area, began looking into the background of Dene games and Dene culture in general while attending Pearson College near Victoria, B.C.

"There were 50 different countries that were represented by students. They started to inquire and ask questions about myself," he said. "Because of how I grew up I didn't get exposed to the Dene games, but I heard about them. So I started to inquire about them."

He said one of the reasons the Beavertail Jamboree -- Fort Simpson's spring carnival -- was initiated was to highlight traditional events.

Antoine was on the third-place team in a hand games tournament during the Moccasin spring carnival in Wrigley over the weekend. People from Fort Simpson and Tulita participated in that event.

"It's slowly coming back," Antoine said, adding that he hopes to hold a series of Dene games on National Aboriginal Day in June.