Cara Loverock
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 30, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - A dying trade was brought to life for an audience of Yellowknifers on Sunday.

The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre hosted Trapping 101, a basic overview of the age old skill.

Danny Beaulieu a renewable resources officer with Environment and Natural Resources in the North Slave region, lead the seminar for roughly 20 people.

"I think it's a dying industry," said Beaulieu.

"You can make a good living at (trapping), if you work hard at it."

Originally from Fort Resolution, Beaulieu said he was raised as a trapper and a hunter and takes high school kids out trapping to teach them the tradition.

He said he learned a lot from elders about the trade as a youth and wants to see the skill continue in the North.

"That's what made the North, no doubt about it, the trapping and fur industry," said Beaulieu.

The pine marten was the animal of focus for this class, as Beaulieu demonstrated how to set up a trap.

A metal frame trap was placed inside a wooden box and nailed to a large wooden stick, substituted for a tree. Using a large mitten, Beaulieu demonstrated how the unlucky marten who goes searching in the wooden box will be snapped at the neck with the hidden trap. The mitten hung lifeless.

Beaulieu said by not touching the ground, the animal's fur stays in a better condition, as mice will not be able to chew on it. Beaulieu took out a dead marten for a demonstration of how to take the skin off the animal.

With great precision, the leg is cut open and slowly the entire carcass is carefully separated from the fur.

The class was not for the faint of heart, as a flimsy pile of guts and bone still in the shape of a marten were left on the table. Those in attendance crowded around fascinated as the fur was then placed inside out on a long board.

Stretched out, Beaulieu used a small instrument made from bone to separate fat from the fur.

He used pins to hold the skin in place so it could dry.

The class ended with a fashion show of different animal skins as participants in the seminar showed off the many different animals that make great coats.

Beaulieu remarked that in the 1980s the anti-fur movement really hurt the industry.

"But, we didn't give up. We decided to work with them," said Beaulieu.

Fur is making a comeback in a big way, nowadays a lot of celebrities are wearing fur again, said Beaulieu.

"That's a good thing," he said.