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LUTSEL K'E/SNOWDRIFT
Seven young people from Lutsel K'e were recently taken on a canoe trip of a lifetime on the Thelon River.

Shonto Catholique, left, a youth from Lutsel K'e, watches as guide Joseph Catholique cuts up some caribou meat during a canoe trip on the Thelon River. - image courtesy of Mike Palmer, The Nature Conservancy

The trip was designed to put the young people in touch with nature and their ancestral roots.

Along with exploring the land, they visited the birthplaces and burial sites of ancestors, set up camps and prepared meals by fire, and heard traditional stories told under the open sky.

The trip was organized by The Nature Conservancy, a non-profit conservation organization based in the United States.

"The idea was to take some youth from Lutsel K'e along with some adults and go to one of the spots which they consider to be the most spiritual place in their traditional territory, which is the upper Thelon River," said Mike Palmer, the organization's program officer for the NWT.

The goal was to teach the young people about their culture, how to travel on the land, and get them reconnected to the land, he said. "And then hopefully in the future they will be more informed to make land-use decisions about that area."

Palmer noted it is believed that the trip was the first time a group of youth from Lutsel K'e has been on that stretch of river.

There were seven young people – aged 14 to 24 years of age – from Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation on the trip, which began on July 24 and ended on Aug. 7 in the Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary.

The young adventurers are Damien Kailek, Amber Powder, Shonto Catholique, Miles Catholique, Leroy Catholique, Brendan Lockhart and Tristen Lockhart.

They were accompanied by two guides and another adult from Lutsel K'e, along with Palmer and three others from The Nature Conservancy, including the organization's Canadian director and its lead scientist from Montana.

The group flew about 200 km out to the Thelon River, canoed about 200 km along the waterway and then flew back to Lutsel K'e.

Palmer, who opened The Nature Conservancy office in Yellowknife four years ago, said the organization has been doing a lot of work on protected areas, but has also been looking to go beyond that and do work with communities.

After meeting people from Lutsel K'e, he travelled there about a year ago to see if The Nature Conservancy could help with some projects.

"This idea came up that they've always wanted to have youth visit this part of the river," he said, adding The Nature Conservancy felt it would be a good way to kick off community work.

"It does align with our mission of forwarding conservation in the territory," he added. "We see a large disconnect these days between the youth and the land. There are a lot of things competing for their attention, like TV, video games and iPods."

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