Yellowknife Scouts bring Northern culture south
Seal-skin presentation huge hit at Alberta meet-up
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, June 9, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The Yellowknife Scouts were the talk of Wabamun Lake, Alta. after they presented seal-skin pelts to their first ever cuboree last month.
Cooper McLeod, left, Steven McKay and Ryan Cunninham, three of the scouts that went on the trip, sit next to the badges they got through trading. - Joseph Tunney/NNSL photo
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A cuboree is a meeting of different cub groups.
Two of the adults who went along with the cubs and one scout hosted a seal-skin woggle and Inuit and Dene games activity station at the event. They used their seal-skin pelts to make the woggles, which are devices that tighten a neckerchief. At the end of their presentation, each participant attached a Yellowknife or Northwest Territories pin donated by Deputy Premier Robert C. McLeod and Mayor Mark Heyck to their brand new woggle.
"I think they liked it because . it feels nice," said Cooper McLeod, one of the scouts who went on the trip.
The scouts taught 20 other groups about the seal hunt, traditional craftspeople, the communities and various games that would be played at different times of the year to help with a hunter's agility, speed and strength.
They were the only group present at the cuboree from the Northwest Territories and therefore what they presented seemed foreign and new to the other groups.
"We already did woggles back in Yellowknife," said Ryan Cunningham, another scout that went. "So we didn't find it that cool but everyone else loved it. They said it was very cool."
In an e-mail, Yellowknife cub scout leader Cyndi Sparvier stated since she's returned from the trip she's received several Facebook messages from other leaders saying they appreciated learning about Northern culture.
"Not to brag, however several of the other scouters told us throughout the two days that our activity was one of the most popular," she wrote.
The woggle station was just one of many activities the cubs participated in. There was also badge trading, campfires, canoeing and archery, to name a few.
McLeod's favorite activity was badge trading, his fellow scout Steven McKay enjoyed the canoeing.
"It was fun to get out in nature and start doing stuff," said McKay.
A total of 350 cubs attended the cuboree, which ran from May 27 to 29.
While McLeod, McKay and Cunningham all said they loved their adventure, McLeod and McKay said they were happy to come home too.
"I missed my mom so much," McKay said.
The pelts were donated by the Mackenzie Valley Fur Program.
