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LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
Edward Oudzi grew up travelling around the Sahtu, although he was born and raised in Colville Lake, and he continues to live on the land he loves.

Edward Oudzi builds a canoe at the Norman Wells Historical Centre. Oudzi grew up in Colville Lake and frequently travelled to the neighbouring communities while trapping with his family. - photo courtesy of the Norman Wells Heritage Society

In 1994 Oudzi moved to Norman Wells after the death of his wife. Oudzie said the move seemed natural and the community had a lot to offer him.

"There are lots of things to do around here," he said. "There's lots of jobs and that's why I ended up living in Norman Wells."

In addition to working seasonal construction jobs, Oudzi lived on the land like many of his generation in the area, and he still keeps many of the skills, such as snowshoe making, trapping, and fishing alive today.

"(Growing up in Colville Lake) was pretty good but it was kind of hard," he said. "All the people my age, they're used to it because they've been out on the land all the time.

"I quit school pretty young and I learned everything what to do - from my elders - like my dad and my uncle. They told me what to do."

Oudzi said his uncle was a particularly effective teacher.

"My uncle was the one who taught me how to build snowshoes," he said. "After I made my first snowshoes he said, 'It's not too good.' So he broke them and threw them away and he told me to go cut more and make another one. I made three pairs of snowshoes until I made it better and then he said, 'That's good now.' Making snowshoes, I learned how to do all the work on the snowshoes."

Even now, as an experienced snowshoe-maker Oudzi, said it takes him a week and a half to finish a pair.

Oudzi still travels to neighbouring communities as he did when he was young but said he misses travelling by dog teams.

"I really enjoy travelling by dog team but there are no dogs anymore now," he said. "Ski-Doo is fast but dog team is more enjoyable. It was better by dog team."

One of Oudzi's favourite stories is about how two dog teams helped carry a 20-foot canoe, his ill father, and enough supplies to cover the 240-km journey from Colville Lake to Fort Good Hope and home to safety. Looking back, he didn't know if he could have made the trip without the 14 dogs who were with them.

"The first dogs could pull the gear," he said, "And the other team were nine dogs and they were pretty strong."

Oudzi is now retired in Norman Wells and while he still traps a little, he spends a lot of his time fishing, maintaining his cabin and doing odd jobs for the historical society.

"Lennie Lake is the best place, I like to be over there," he said. "I like to be fishing, especially in November."

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