Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Friday, March 30, 2007

FORT SIMPSON - Felix Isiah doesn't understand why people choose to vacation in the South instead of exploring their own land in the North.

"I don't understand why people pay thousands of dollars to go to Florida to Disney World when we have our own Disney World in our backyard," he said.

Isiah recently got a chance to explore part of the Deh Cho during a trip planned by the Dehcho First Nations.

On March 20, eight people left Fort Simpson on snowmobiles to emerge from the bush on March 23 in Fort Providence. Their route took them up the Mackenzie River for approximately 20-kilometres before going overland to Ediezeh, also known as the Horn Plateau.

The trip was organized as a way to give young people the opportunity to look at unique areas in their territory, said Grand Chief Herb Norwegian.

"It was like a Deh Cho sovereignty tour," he said.

The trip brought together harvesters Jonas Antoine and Edward Cholo with Chief Lloyd Chicot from Kakisa, and five youth from Wrigley, Fort Simpson and Kakisa.

"It was a real eye-opener for those young people," said Norwegian.

Because this was the first time a trip of this nature has been organized it was a quick journey, said Norwegian. Future trips are expected to be longer. Being on the trip was a wonderful experience, said Isiah.

"It surpassed all my hopes," he said.

Isiah viewed the trip as a chance to reconnect with a part of his history.

"It was a rediscovery of a history lost," he said.

"For me every corner, every bump, every tree had a history. My ancestors travelled this land extensively."

The trip gave a brief taste of what life was like on the land, said Isiah. Isiah noted, however, that six hours on snowmobile would be the equivalent of around four days of travel using traditional methods.

The trip also built a kind of kinship between the participants.

"We knew that all we had was each other out there," he said.

Travelling overland on snowmobiles wasn't always easy. Each machine was pulling a sleigh full of supplies.

"It was hard going," said Isiah.

The hard work, however, was expected, he said. The travellers had to break trail for part of their journey. During the course of the trip two of the snowmobiles broke down and had to be picked up later.

On the trip, the group spent their first night in a cabin on the north end of the Horn Plateau. The next two nights were spent in the Liidlii Kue First Nation cabins on the south end of the plateau before the final push to Fort Providence.

Eleven snowmobilers from Fort Providence joined the group at Willow Lake for the leg of the trip to their community.