GAMETI/RAE LAKES
After last year's successful resurrection of an ancient canoe route from Gameti to the barrenlands, a group of Tlicho paddlers has set out to trace yet another path.

"We're kind of expanding on last year's trip," said Petter Jacobsen, a traditional knowledge researcher with the Tlicho Government and one of the trip's organizers.

"We're going to take a different route, from Gameti to Hottah Lake and possibly toward the southern end of Great Bear Lake."

Last year's trip, titled the Traditional Trails Project, took paddlers along an ancient canoe route to Mesa Lake on the barrenlands – a commute abandoned in the 1970s when people started chartering aircraft to the area instead of traveling by canoe.

Paddlers input GPS co-ordinates and recorded elders' stories of significant sites along the way, Jacobsen said.

"We revived that whole area, everyone had such a good time," he said. "It was a good learning experience for everyone, the elders and the youth."

This year's trip, which has the same title, traces a different route but it is no less significant, said participant Tony Rabesca.

The area is well-known to caribou hunters who travel there in the winter but summer trips are rare, he said.

The summer route will allow paddlers to see ancient burial sites and other important places.

Participants will record elders' stories and use GPS to mark significant cultural sites.

"Once they go out on the land it's much easier to spot the location of where the burial grounds are. There are a lot of stories that have been told in that area, lots of stories and legends," Rabesca said. "One of the things we're trying to do is get the stories. Once they start using the GPS and the location on the map, it will be recorded so we have it in our data."

The trip is also intended to link participants with the natural environment, showing them survival skills and testing their abilities, Rabesca said.

"There is more than going out on the land, it's connecting with yourself and personal growth," he said." Once you regain the strength and the skills you need, then you'll feel proud. You'll gain it and continue to explore and learn more on the land."

A total of 24 people were scheduled to participate from each Tlicho community, Jacobsen said. Most of them did not take part in last year's trip.

"We wanted to give new people in the communities a chance to go," he said.

Documenting culturally significant sites and legends will also help rekindle language, Jacobsen said.

"It's reviving the language of the area and the oral traditions, the knowledge of the area," he said. "It's kind of a two-fold way of reviving."

Jacobsen said while there are no immediate plans, he hopes to continue resurrecting ancient routes.

"We want to do more trips like this in the future," he said.

There will be no shortage of paddlers, he added. People immediately expressed interest in signing up for this year's journey.

"Within two days we had 60 people sign up," he said. "Unfortunately we only have four canoes. So it shows there is a lot of will. People really want to be on the land and learn about the area."

The Tlicho Government, the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs, Northwest Territories Power Corporation and the Dominion Diamond Corporation all contributed funding for this year's trip.

The paddlers were scheduled to set off on Aug. 29 and finish on Sept. 10.

Rabesca said he believes the journey is especially important for the region's young people.

"This is very important for our youth and the future generation. We want to preserve our language, culture and way of life," he said. "It's important for the youth to understand the way of life and at the same time to regain and continue using it for future generations. There are a lot of stories."

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