Elders pass on knowledge
Youth camp in Kakisa cultivates stories, traditional knowledge
April Hudson
Northern News Services
Thursday, September 1, 2016
KA'A'GEE TU/KAKISA
Elders from Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation made their way to Kakisa's Sucker Creek community camp to help Kakisa, in partnership with Dehcho First Nations, hold a camp for youth.
Nyah Simba, left, and Sadee Simba took part in some Dene traditional games during the camp. Here, they are engaged in the arm pull. - photos courtesy of Dahti Tsetso
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The camp ran from Aug. 22 to 26 and saw 10 youth and four children from Kakisa, Fort Providence, Nahanni Butte and Fort Simpson gather to learn about some of the place names in the area and the history behind them.
Half of the evenings were taken up with storytelling from the elders, who brought out a map that was created when Kakisa originally completed its place names strategy. With the map on the table, they told stories of places they knew and remembered.
Kakisa's Melaine Simba, who was a driving force behind the camp, said one of the highlights for her was seeing how much effort camp cooks, helpers and attendants poured into their work.
"Every day (we) woke up feeling happy, seeing the kids smiling," she said.
"It was a good environment."
Simba said the group utilized four cottages at Sucker Creek, which Kakisa had purchased a few years ago. Once the camp wrapped up, she said, many were
reluctant to leave.
"They wished the camp was longer - they wanted to stay for another week," she said.
Dehcho First Nations' Dahti Tsetso said the original plan was to spend part of the time at Sucker Creek and part at First River but the group ended up staying at the cabins at Sucker Creek the entire time due to the size of the group.
"It was a team effort, for sure," she said, adding the camp was Kakisa's and Dehcho First Nations provided support.
Although Dehcho First Nations brought the place-names focus to the camp, youth participated in many other activities over the course of the week.
That included a half-day session of Dene and Inuit traditional games, courtesy of the Aboriginal Sport Circle of the NWT, an introduction to archeology thanks to Glen McKay from the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre and a paddle safety course which was instructed by recent Fort Providence graduate Mikaela Vandell.
Tsetso said that course proved challenging for many participants.
"There was a strong current because we were right at the mouth of the Kakisa river," she said. "It was a challenge to get the hang of it."
Kakisa also brought in forest ecologists who were in the area to talk about their research into forest fire regrowth and the impacts of melting permafrost.
Tsetso said the camp also encouraged youth to learn Dene Zhatie, and included a scavenger hunt where participants were given a list of items in Dene Zhatie, a few phrases they could say to ask for the items to be translated into English and subsequent phrases to identify each item in Dene Zhatie.
Mike Low from the Dehcho Aboriginal Aquatic Resource and Oceans Management program offered lessons in fish biology and dissection and showed the participants different monitoring methods.
"He put a net in the water next to the shoreline and had the youth pull it in so they could see the different kinds of invertebrates, bugs and fish that live near the shoreline," Tsetso said.
Tsetso said one of the best parts of the trip was how eager youth were to get more involved, once they understood the reasons behind the camp.
"When the (particiants) found out that the initiative for the camp was because elders, leaders and community members wanted this for the youth, they started asking me, 'How do I get more involved?'" she said.
The camp was one of three trips Dehcho First Nations took part in this summer, including a similar camp run in Jean Marie River and a youth river trip down the Mackenzie River.
