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Practising traditions

Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, June 12, 2008

ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - Taeresha Berreault knows a thing or two about smoking moosehide.

"You don't need real high flames because it burns up real easy," said Berreault.

NNSL Photo/Graphic

Tina Duntra, left, Monica Berreault and Camillea Bertrand watch as Karen Kotchea demonstrates how to clean a fish during the traditional camp. - photos courtesy of Corrine Sassie

"You just need smoke and low flames."

Berreault gained this knowledge during a recent spring traditional camp at Echo Dene school in Fort Liard.

All of the students at the school participated in the camp from June 3 to 5.

In addition to learning about preparing moosehide, Berreault, 9, said she enjoyed eating muskrat tail for the first time.

"It tastes good," she said.

For Berreault participating in a traditional camp was important.

"You can learn stuff and go to your cabin and help your grandparents and family," she said.

Holding the camp is very important, said Corrine Sassie, the aboriginal language instructor at the school who organized the event.

This is the fourth year the camp has been held at the school.

Each year a tent is set up in the schoolyard and events are held within and around it.

Not all of the students are able to go camping regularly and learn on the land so the camp is a way to let them know how their people lived in the past, said Sassie.

"This way we can keep our culture strong," she said.

During the camp the students watched and participated in a variety of traditional activities.

Younger students from kindergarten to Grade 6 primarily observed events including basket making, moosehide tanning and dry meat making.

The older students in Grades 7 to 12 got to try their hand at those events and others including skinning rabbits and muskrats, cleaning and making dry fish and bannock making.

When the camp finished on Friday the older students were also in charge of taking down the campsite.

"It's their camp so they have to do their part," said Sassie.

After they were finished there wasn't a trace of the campsite left, she said.

All of the students seemed to enjoy participating in the camp, Sassie said.

"They always look forward to it every spring," she said.

As soon as the snow starts to melt, Sassie said, the younger students start asking her how soon the camp is coming.

A number of people helped Sassie run the camp. Warren Cumberland and Karen Kotchea arrived in the morning to start the campfire at 8:30 a.m. and stayed to look after the camp until after lunchtime.

Community members were invited to come over during lunch and share the traditional food.

"People really enjoyed it in town," Sassie said.

Diane Gonet helped with the cooking. Agnes Berreault made birchbark baskets and little canoes with the students and elder Mary Behile did the moosehide tanning.

For senior high student Michael Needlay cleaning fish was the best part of the camp.

Needlay, 13, said he also enjoyed learning how to skin a rabbit. Going to the camp was both fun and informative, he said.

"It teaches us how to live culturally," said Needlay.

"It keeps the tradition going."