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DEH CHO
She leaned against the gym wall, tears tumbling down her cheeks as her eyes skimmed a letter written for her 20 years ago.

Jane Arychuk, the former principal of Deh Gah School, Deh Gah School holds up a photograph of Elizabeth Ward, the Grey Nun who organized the first school in Fort Providence. The picture was found at the top of the Rubbermaid tub. - Miranda Scotland/NNSL photo

In it, Ashley Arychuk's mother, Jane, wrote about the family's recent moose hunt, the black skirt her daughter always wore and her hopes for her child. She wanted her to feel supported and for her to follow her dreams, Arychuk recounted.

"(My mother) definitely made that happen," she said, tearing up once more.

Arychuk was just four years old when her mother put the note in the Deh Gah School time capsule during a ceremony where the institution's name changed from Elizabeth Ward School to its current title.

On Saturday, the community gathered in the school gym to see what else had been added to the capsule all those years ago. After the chains around the blue Rubbermaid tub were removed, Ashley's mother, the school's former principal revealed the contents.

'It was so emotional for me'

Inside, there were dozens of letters, a Johnny Landry record, a handmade dog harness, a copy of an old News/North paper, drawings by the younger grades, a hamlet newsletter, a Billy Ray Cyrus cassette and a package to be opened by the oldest girl in the school, among other items.

Once everything was laid out, visitors were invited to come up and claim anything addressed to them. Karalyn Bonnetrouge-Menicoche, who travelled from Yellowknife for the event, received a letter from her father and another she had written to herself in Grade 2.

"I remember when our teacher got us to write this," Bonnetrouge-Menicoche said, holding the white piece of paper titled 'Here is a letter I wrote to myself.'

Bonnetrouge-Menicoche's younger self said she wanted to be a nurse and have two children. Presently she is a customer service representative for the City of Yellowknife and does not yet have children.

Meanwhile, Nancy Bonnetrouge took home a letter from her husband and a small Nike shoe box her sister, Priscilla, put in for the family. Bonnetrouge, who was 33 years old at the time the capsule was created, said she isn't sure what is in the package and plans to wait until the family is together to open it.

Aside from receiving items from the capsule, Bonnetrouge also contributed to it.

She said she remembers sitting at home writing letters to her four children and her husband.

"It was so emotional for me," she said. "I didn't know if I was going to be a grandma at that time."

For the older Arychuk, seeing her daughter read the letter she wrote was very moving.

"I never realized how important it would be to send a note to the future," Jane said, adding she doesn't remember much of what she wrote. "I look forward to reading it."

The reason the school waited only 20 years to open the capsule, Jane added, was because they still wanted the items to mean something to someone.

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