Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Providence (Oct 04/02) - A couple from Ontario have responded to Curtis Head's message in a bottle.

The 14-year-old Fort Providence student threw his bottle into the Mackenzie River last September as part of a class project. The message didn't mysteriously wind up in Ontario, rather Amy and Willy Hollett of Minden, Ont., found it on the banks of the Mackenzie earlier this summer while canoeing from Fort Nelson, B.C. to Inuvik.

The bottle was 100 kilometres downstream from Fort Good Hope when they happened upon it -- meaning it floated close to 1,000 kilometres.

"We were pretty excited to find your message and we thought it was cool that your bottle had travelled so far down the Mackenzie," the Holletts, both 26, wrote to Curtis.

Their letter arrived in Fort Providence two weeks ago.

Because a year had gone by, Curtis was no longer running to the mail box in anticipation of a reply.

"I just forgot about it until someone wrote to me," he said. "I read it and I showed my parents."

Evelyn Head, Curtis's mom, said he was thrilled to receive the letter.

The Holletts noted that they attended the Pehdzeh Ki Spiritual Gathering and the Woodblock Music Festival in Fort Good Hope. They met many people, saw a lot of wildlife and tasted traditional food. They also encouraged Curtis to share their letter with his classmates.

Curtis said he plans to correspond with the Holletts as they have requested.

None of the other Deh Gah School students have received responses to their messages. "I was the only one," Curtis said.

As it turns out, the journey isn't over yet. The Holletts put Curtis' message back in the bottle along with one of their own and tossed it into the Mackenzie River.