Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Friday, January 4, 2008

YELLOWKNIFE - A snowmobiler who spent three days over Christmas alone on the land without food or shelter is now sharing his story.

"I've been non-stop meeting with family and friends, visiting and telling them the story," said Henry Catholique on Monday.

Now safe and sound with his family, he is sharing his tale of survival with the community of Lutsel K'e.

He said the younger generation has been particularly interested in how he survived alone on the land when his snowmobile broke down.

The 34-year-old man, who endured temperatures dipping as low as -35 C, went missing after he left Yellowknife on Friday, Dec. 21 by snowmobile, headed for Lutsel K'e on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake.

Catholique's ride broke down that evening, leaving him to build a shelter for himself and wait for help.

"I stayed in a quinzhee (a snow shelter) until Sunday morning, but I knew I couldn't stay in one place for too long," he said.

So after that, he said he started walking, building himself more quinzhees to rest when he was tired, drinking slushy snow, and chewing spruce gum to keep himself from getting too hungry.

"I also tried digging up some snow to look for berries and twigs," he said, but added with a laugh that the spruce gum tasted the best.

Catholique was found by a Dettah-based search party on Dec. 26.

It was getting dark and he was thinking about building himself another shelter. He laid down to rest and stretch his legs.

"I turned my head sideways and I saw a light," he said, "I noticed it was getting closer and closer and I thought, 'Right on, no more walking.'"

Catholique said his rescuers, James Sangris and Rachel Crapeau, took him back to a camp at Drybones Bay, where he was able to warm up and dry off his clothes.

Then he was taken to hospital in Yellowknife to be checked out.

He said he did not suffer any serious injuries, only a sore foot and very minor frostbite on his nose, and he was able to return to Lutsel K'e on Dec. 28.

Family and friends held a potluck that evening in honour of his return, and he said he has been glad to share his story as a lesson to the community's youth.

"I told them to never give up and always be positive," he said, "and to get to know their land."

He credited his survival to that positive attitude, as well as skills from past generations.

"I grew up on the land with my grandparents and parents," he said.