The hair up there
Where Northerners go for 'just a little off the top'

Fort Simpson (Mar 27/00) - Getting a haircut can be a traumatic experience at any age, but when you live in a small Northern community, you might just have to take what you can get.

Every six weeks or so, Henry White, from Henry's Barber Shop in Hay River, travels to Fort Simpson to cut hair for the community.

This month, Henry decided to see how business was in Fort Providence before he went on to Simpson.

"This is my first trip up here," Henry said between snips. "If it turns out good this time, I'll make it a regular stop."

The travelling barber gig is not a new one for Henry, who has served the Deh Cho and Hay River for five years.

"I used to do this up and down the Labrador coast," said the former Goose Bay resident.

Getting a haircut in Tsiigehtchic is not so easy says Trefor Gates, who works at the Trapper's Super A.

"You have to get it where you can," said Trefor.

"Friends, husbands or wives," he said. "The janitor, John, here cuts my hair.

"He once cut a guy's hair on the steps of the Eskimo Inn in Inuvik -- the guy just sat down and away he went," recalled Trefor.

Before turning to John, the janitor, for his hair care, Trefor let his spouse have her way with his head.

"My wife cut mine when we first moved here," he said. "That was a learning experience -- she said, 'Oops' and then just shaved it all off."

In Lutsel K'e, the guys tend to go to one of two locals for the basic cut.

"If they just want a brush cut, they usually go see this guy named Marcel (Basil) or Joe (Abel)," said Sharon at the band office.

As for the ladies and the more discriminating, Sharon said they head to the big city.

"There is no shop here so a lot of people just get it cut when they are in Yellowknife," she said.