DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE - Marten, mink, lynx, fox, rabbit and beaver - these are all fur-bearing animals Jeff Canadien has grown to know well over the last three months.

Canadien was one of the students who participated in the Take A Kid Trapping Program offered by Deh Gah School between early January and March 18.

Jeff Canadien displays some of the pelts he helped harvest during the Take a Kid Trapping Program with Deh Gah School, which ran from January to March. - photo courtesy of Deh Gah School

Three times a week Canadien, 12, and fellow student Jade Bonnetrouge went out on the land with harvester Henry Sabourin to set and check snares and traps. The other two school days each week were dedicated to the rest of the student body, which went out in groups of four at a time.

Over three months the students helped harvest two lynx, one fox, 11 beaver and multiple marten, mink and rabbits, making it the school's most successful year. The pelts have already been sent to market and the money from their sales will be divided between Canadien and Bonnetrouge with some going to the school.

"I like going trapping," said Canadien.

Canadien said he enjoyed setting the rabbit snares and learning how to set beaver traps in the ice. As he gets older, Canadien hopes to continue trapping.

The Fort Providence school has been delivering the Take a Kid Trapping Program - which is a Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment initiative - for more than five years.

"It allows the kids to get out and experience traditional activities," said Lois Philipp, the school's principal.

"That's where our kids shine is outside. And what kid wouldn't want to spend time outside?"

The way in which the school offers the program differs each year based on students' needs, said Philipp. The needs are reassessed yearly and the program is planned around them.

Henry Sabourin, a local harvester who was hired to run the program, sees its benefits.

It's important for youths to learn how to trap, said Sabourin.

"It's our culture," he said.

Sabourin said all of the students did well on the land. When the program started, Sabourin helped the students establish a trap line on the far side of the Mackenzie River near Mills Lake.

Lynx snares went out first, followed by rabbit snares and marten traps. Students also learned how to set beaver traps. Every second day a beaver got caught in the trap, said Sabourin.

Five beaver were caught at one house followed by six at a different house. Although Sabourin skinned most of the animals and stretched the pelts by himself due to time constraints, he did show the students how to skin a beaver and how to treat the pelt.

After working on the beaver he offered the students some beaver meat that had been boiling in a pot.

"They were amazed how good it was," he said.

In addition to trapping, students also set fish nets under the ice near the mouth of the Horn River. The Zhahti Koe Friendship Centre distributed all of the fish that were caught and the rabbits that were snared to community members.

Canadien and Bonnetrouge were pleased every time they caught an animal, Sabourin said.

"They were just happy all the time," he said.