by Alison Blackduck
Northern News Services

NNSL (June 13/97) - At a conference on the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples final report hosted last winter by McGill University, Northerners dominated the scene.

Since it was the first conference I covered as a "real" journalist, I was ecstatic.

It was also exciting because many familiar faces from North of 60 were milling about.

For starters, the commission was co-chaired by Northerner Georges Erasmus.

Also in attendance were Paktuutit president Martha Flaherty (my ears almost cried when they heard Inuktitut again!) and well-known former NWT resident, Claire Barnabe.

Barnabe was a woman I knew only by name and reputation, but what the heck! She was a fellow Northerner, so I walked up and introduced myself.

She warmly clasped my hand, checked out my press pass and remarked, "I know your family."

Immediately, we were chatting and laughing away like long-lost friends, which, in a way, we were.

"Being a Northerner is like being a Hell's Angel: you never get out," Barnabe, mused aloud last week.

She recently returned North to help MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew get re-elected.

Before heading back to her home in Ottawa, Barnabe dropped by the Yellowknifer office to talk about the "unofficial" Northerners' Network.

"Every time I'm down south," she said, "I'm running into someone from the North. We've got to keep in touch, but not officially -- people get frustrated by membership cards and mailing lists."

There's even a clubhouse -- of sorts.

"Since I'm getting' older, I know more retirees. So when we meet up there's always talk about mutual friends who've passed on," Barnabe lamented. "So we get together at the beer parlor and share some laughs and some memories."

So it's official. There is no official Northerners' Network.

But when you're southerly and you see a familiar face and feel a twinge of homesickness, don't be a stranger.

Chances are they're a fellow Northerner homesick for the same thing you are.