SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Grade 2 students at five schools in Yellowknife participated in aboriginal culture camps this week where students prepared a traditional meal of fish chowder and bannock.

"It's hands-on. That's how kids learned long ago - trial and error - and that's exactly what they did today," said Tara Hayne, a Grade 2 teacher at Range Lake North School where the camp was on Monday.

"I find it's valuable because this is something that is Northern; this is something that the Dene have been doing for a long time and they focus on the children as their leaders of the future."

Joyce Desjarlais helped instruct students on how to make bannock.

"I got the kids to mix everything," said Desjarlais. "They liked feeling the texture of the flour and the dough."

Students also shared their stories about bannock with her.

"They told me that 'my mom bakes bannock' or 'my dad makes bread,'" said Desjarlais. "One kid asked if they sell bannock in the store."

Another part of the camp was storytelling with elder Verna Crapeau who talked about how Christmas was celebrated in the past.

"I asked them what do you think Christmas and traditional life was like a long time ago?" said Crapeau. "They all blinked and didn't say anything."

She tried to describe to them what life was like back then.

"Back in the olden days it was barely anything like now with stores and toys, everything was tradition," said Crapeau. "Now everyone just goes shopping at Wal-mart."

She explained to students how back then everything from slippers to your jacket was homemade and Christmas was more about having a big feast.

"One of the special things about Christmas was that you shared your food," said Crapeau. "The best Christmas gift was living your traditional life and sharing everything - the food, knowledge and the storytelling."

Once the food was prepared students invited their parents to partake in the feast.

"It was nice to see all of them work together as a group. They all were respectful - they listened so well and they learned so much," said Hayne. "I think the Dene Kede camps with Yk1 are really important because it's a chance for the kids now to see what the aboriginal lifestyle was once a long time ago and how it should still be a part of every day."

The camps also took place this week at N.J. Macpherson School on Tuesday, J.H. Sissons School on Wednesday, Mildred Hall School on Thursday and Ecole Allain St.Cyr today.

We welcome your opinions. Click here to e-mail a letter to the editor.