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A traditional spin on prehistoric fish
Tour operator connects find with Dene legend

Angele Cano
Northern News Services
Published Tuesday, June 26, 2012

HAY RIVER
A traditional twist is being proposed for prehistoric tracks on the edge of the Hay River south of Enterprise.

NNSL photo/graphic

Hay River tour operator Doug Lamalice stands between two prints that have been determined as belonging to a large prehistoric fish. Lamalice connects the discovery with a legend that has been passed down through time in the South Slave Dene culture. - Angele Cano/NNSL photo

Palaeontologist Donald Henderson of the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Alta., recently determined impressions in rock near Alexandra Falls are prehistoric tracks dating back 360-380 million years.

Henderson said they were most likely left by a sauripterus, a large lobe-finned walking fish. Doug Lamalice, who leads a cultural tour by Alexandra and Louise Falls in Enterprise, said the finding has a corresponding legend.

“In (Dene) culture there is a legend of a fish the size of two NTCL barges,” said Lamalice. “When the fish appeared and the waves hit it, it caused the river to flood further and further up the riverbank."

Lamalice said the legend was passed onto him from his grandmother before she died, and has been told by countless elders within the community. Elders described the creature as large, black, and shiny, looking not fully alive, but not completely dead.

Lamalice said the large fish appeared only for a few days and, as the water rose, people gathered their gear and moved inland for a few days until they received word the fish had disappeared.

“After she told me the story, she always said, ‘These things really happened,’” said Lamalice. “I know it’s hard as a grown person to believe the things they hear in these stories, but this is story that is part of our culture. I’ve heard a lot of legends and they’re hard to fathom, but when something like this happens it concludes my thinking that it’s untrue.”

It’s said the fish first appeared at Fish Point.

Lamalice noted that close by there are sections of Great Slave Lake that are nearly three miles deep.

Elders said the fish appeared "long ago, back when the world was new.”

It wasn’t only a terrifying apparition, but Lamalice said his ancestors took it as a warning.

“For them it was a sign of things to come and things that could happen,” he said. “They did things more carefully after that. They said they learned to treat the land with respect and not take what they didn’t need.”

Henderson said it’s common that legends connected to findings could be stories to explain the appearance of fossils a long time ago, adding it’s quite possible the legend could be connected with the Hay River rock impressions, even though they are in different locations.

“It depends how widespread that story is and if it was regional to Hay River,” he said. “If someone saw other tracks somewhere it wouldn't surprise me. I know elsewhere in the world, some legends are based on fossils found.”

The paleontologist warned the prints near Alexandra Falls could be wiped out as soon as next winter and suggested a mold should be taken of the indentations in the rock to make a record of them.

“I don’t think they've be able to preserve what's there, you can't fight erosion,” he said. “Unfortunately where they are the spring breakup event eats them away. To preserve it, you'd have to cut out a thick spot, but we do need to make a record of it.”

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