Climate change studied first-hand
Four-day river trip shows youth how Mackenzie has changed
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, June 30, 2016
DEH CHO
A four-day canoe trip down the Mackenzie River took a group of youth, adults and researchers through history earlier this month.
Christopher Canadien was one of three Deh Gah School youth who accompanied elders, researchers and Fort Simpson youth on a canoe trip. - photo courtesy of Dahti Tsetso
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Leaving a day later than expected due to poor weather and a strong wind, paddlers pushed off on June 18 and wove their way down the river to Burn Island, learning from elders and people who were out on the land as they went.
The trip, facilitated through Dehcho K'ehodi, brought together PhD student Kristine Wray, who is a researcher from the University of Alberta, with members of Dehcho First Nations and youth from Thomas Simpson Secondary School as well as Fort Providence's Deh Gah School.
Dahti Tsetso, from Dehcho First Nations, said the group also interviewed land users and elders while exploring the river.
"We talked to them about the changes they've seen in the environment," she said.
During the first day, canoers paddled from Fort Simpson to Two Islands, where they interviewed an elder. The following day, they made it to Burn Island, where they swam, fished, camped and interviewed three more land users in the evening.
Tsetso said she did the interviewing, while the role of the youth was to listen and learn.
"I asked the questions, and at the end if the kids wanted to ask questions as well, they could," she said.
The third day of the trip was spent fishing and swimming upriver, before the group turned around to head home.
Shaznay Waugh, one of the Fort Simpson youth who went on the trip, said learning about the Mackenzie River has been important to her. The river trip followed a presentation Waugh gave to the University of Alberta last month regarding the river.
"This trip was a great experience because we got to actually be on the land," Waugh said.
"In high school, we often don't have much opportunity to do that."
Waugh said hearing what elders and land users had to say was eye-opening.
"It was interesting to learn about how the land is changing," she said.
"I thought it was cool, too, to hear from community members who have lived here for a long time."
Tsetso said the partnership between Dehcho First Nations and the University of Alberta allowed her to access funding for the trip through the university's Tracking Change program, which is devoted to documenting local and traditional knowledge about social-ecological change in the Mackenzie River basin.
The program has six years of funding available, which Tsetso hopes to access for more river trips with other communities.
"I got direction from the communities to get youth out on the land with their elders," she said of the motivation behind the trip.
"Dehcho K'ehodi was a natural fit with Tracking Change."
Before the end of the summer, Tsetso is tentatively planning partnerships with Jean Marie River and Kakisa for more trips on the land with elders and youth.
