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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Living off the land during a Northern winter means facing extreme temperatures – something students learned first-hand last week while participating in cultural fishing camps on Great Slave Lake.

Tafadzwa "Taffy" Sakarombe, left, and Lisa Muyambo warm up in the B. Dene Adventures camp building with bannock during Range Lake North School's Grade 7 cultural fishing camp on Friday. - Laura Busch/NNSL photo

Grade 7 students from Yellowknife Education District No. 1 participated in winter fishing camp.

On Friday, a group from Range Lake North School had their turn and travelled to Dettah where they were taken by snow machine to the fishing camp nearby.

Once there, those brave enough (and who had warm enough clothing) hopped back in the snowmobile sleds and to help their Dene guides check the fishing nets set the day before.

"They have to learn about the traditional way of living," said Bobby Drygeese, owner/operator of B. Dene Adventures who guided the camps. Drygeese said the outfitters also take out tourists and other groups on the land during the winter, and from what he has seen, school children tend to fare better than most adults.

Temperatures Friday neared -38 C with the wind chill, so guides were extra careful to ensure their charges were bundled enough to avoid frostbite.

Students who chose not to go outside stayed in the heated base camp lodge and helped fillet fish, cook bannock, and prepare fish stew for lunch.

Back in the warmth of the camp, Drygeese told one student who had minor frostbite on his cheek that when he was growing up, his father wouldn't let him use gloves while untangling frozen fish from the net. When my hands were really cold, he was told to dunk them in lake water to warm them up, Drygeese told the wide-eyed student.

Gillian Thomas, a Range Lake North teacher who also braved the cold to check the nets, said that these kinds of activities allow students to shine – even if they tend to struggle with more academic coursework.

The winter fishing camps are part of the Dene Kede curriculum, and so are mandatory for all Grade 7 classes in the Yellowknife public school system, said Thomas.

Under the Dene Kede program, students participate in different cultural activities in each grade. The purpose of the program is to integrate Dene cultural knowledge into school coursework. The curriculum was originally intended for Dene teachers and students, but has since been expanded to all public school students.

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