Fort Liard (July 30/04) - Acho Dene Koe Native Crafts has shelves full of traditional items that symbolize skills being passed down from one generation to another.

That's now true of the staff as well. Eva Hope, the store's general manager, is handing over the reins to her daughter, Valerie.

Eva, who started work at the craft shop in 1976, will continue to work part-time with the business over the next year. Then she plans to hold periodic workshops to impart to others the traditional patterns, designs and sewing techniques she has gleaned from elders over her lifetime.

"I've got all those skills now that I want to pass on to young people," she said.

Valerie's first shift at the craft shop was on June 5. Under her mother's tutelage, she's been managing the finances, learning what to look for when buying crafts from local artisans and putting materials together for orders. There are a few dozen craft-makers in the community of 550, and having been raised in Fort Liard, Valerie has the advantage of already knowing most of them.

Over the years, she said her mom would show her "little odds and ends," and Valerie would occasionally open the craft shop to tourists when Eva wasn't available.

Eva expressed confidence in Valerie's abilities to handle the position.

"She's really good with bookkeeping and that's the most important thing," she said of her daughter, who was office manager at the Liard Valley General Store for the past several years.

Over the past few weeks, Valerie has also been acquiring insight from long-time employee Lucy Lomen. In addition, her sister Crystal, who recently returned to Fort Liard, has helped to set up a new product scanning system.

A few people have already joked with Valerie that she will have to stay on as general manager for as long as her mom did.

"I was like, 'Okay, we'll see about that,'" she said, laughing.