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KAHBUMIUE/COLVILLE LAKE - A group of eight Colville Lake students are raising money to go to Europe this spring, but you won’t find them selling chocolate bars or asking for donations.

The youth are maintaining traplines in their Sahtu community, preparing the furs, and selling them at auction to help raise money for the trip.

Charlie Oudzi, left, Daniel Tutcho, and Brandon Orlias show off their latest catch while out checking their trapline near Colville Lake. The money they raise at auction from selling the furs will help pay for a trip to Europe this spring. - photo courtesy of Sheldon Snow

Teacher Ian Patterson said the traplines are just part of a bigger fundraising program that has students hauling wood and water for community members.

Students of all ages are taking part in the program, even if they are not going on the Europe trip this May.

The trapline program is done with financial and educational support from the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board.

Patterson said they also rely on locals sharing their knowledge with the students.

“We’ll have people from the community come in and demonstrate proper handling technique,” said Patterson.

He said a trapping program for students is a natural fit for Colville Lake since so many people in town make a living from trapping.

They started preparing at the beginning of the trapping season in early November. Before they could set the traps, they had to collect bait. That meant setting nets for fish at Aubrey Creek.

Many of the fish they caught were sold as dog food for the mushers in town with dog teams. The students brought in about 1000 fish, which is enough to keep a dog team going for a good part of the winter.

“If you have a dog team of eight dogs that is eight fish a day,” said Patterson.

The frozen fish can be stacked “like cordwood” in the shed.

The traplines were set in December. Maintaining a trapline is no small task. Patterson said they need to be checked at least every other day.

So far they have spent three afternoons skinning and stretching the furs.

“We’ve had about 30 martin so far and six or seven fox,” said Patterson.

The students are expecting to make between $4,000 and $5,000 by the end of the trapping season.

Brandon Orlias, 14, is planning to go on the Europe trip. He is looking forward to seeing the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Colosseum in Rome.

Orlias said he is learning how to skin the animals and stretch them. The furs need to be turned every day. There is an art to treating each type of fur.

“Martin, fox and mink you leave them inside but wolverines and wolves you have to leave the skins outside,” he said.

Sydney Oudzi, 14, said he is learning a lot from his trapping teachers. One important piece of advice saved him from making a costly and messy mistake.

“You have to be careful not to leave your martin too close to the woodstove or it’ll cook,” he said.

Oudzi will not be going on the trip to Europe because he just missed the cutoff date. Missing out this year doesn’t bother him at all. He said he is quite happy to stay in Colville Lake.

“It’s the best part of the world,” he said.