So, Pierre was pulled out of school and became a hunter. This wasn't that many years ago. Is it any wonder he wishes he could have gone to school? He has done well by his family and all his kids are doing great. They all have grade 12 and several are going on to post secondary endeavours.

It is late and I have been going flat out for what seems like weeks. I am REAL tired of this job right now. It is just in my face and as much as I like these folks I am in no mental space to do the sampling. I am counting the days until Lynda and I leave.

Another day closer to getting back on the water. And I can't wait, although I must admit today was a great day. We got only half our intended work done due to extremely high winds that kept us on the south side of Black Lake, but we caught a seven pound thlewizane (trout) for lunch. We cooked it on a stick over a fire and ate it from a bed of spruce boughs. Pierre's wife, Martha, sent along some bannock and it was a feast.

While we had a nice slow lunch hoping the wind would die down, Pierre told me some of the stories he has heard from old people, stories about muskox and caribou and a life on the land that has changed so much in the last few decades. When trapping all but collapsed and families had to stay in town so the children could go to school, the changes were huge. A once vibrant nomadic trapping lifestyle was stopped dead. It is really no one's fault, but it has left a great impact on the Dene of northern Saskatchewan. In fact it is this same scenario that has unfolded across Canada, leaving once proud people not sure what to do next.

At supper I met a friend from Black Lake who is now working on land claim issues with the Prince Albert Grand Council on behalf of the Dene. They got short shrift with the creation of Nunavut. Much of Nunavut is really Dene land. The Inuit were and are largely a sea going people. Their occupancy of the inland barrens south of Baker Lake and West from Arviat was brief, according to all I have read. As well, the area they occupied was largely bounded by the Kazan River on the west. Yet when Nunavut was created, a huge tract of Dene Land to the east of Dubawnt Lake and bordering Saskatchewan and Manitoba was given, lock stock and barrel, to the Inuit.

The idea that the Dene I know have no "title" to anything north of the Saskatchewan and Manitoba northern boundaries is absolutely ridiculous My advice to Ron was and will be to just go up there to, say, Wholdai lake and build a bunch of houses with Indian Affairs money. I doubt that the old people ever knew or would know that they had crossed a boundary. And as they say, "Possession is 90% of ownership." Even if it didn't work, it would be a lot more fun than sitting across the table from a bunch of "talking heads" from DIAND.

We went by a shrine on the lake shore today. A 28 year old man drowned on the lake, I think two years ago. His body was never found. Pierre and Jason waved their respect as we passed the shrine. I have been told before that if the body isn't found, the soul can go to neither heaven nor hell. What a burden for the family of this man. I am not religious in any way but in my mind anyone who dies on the land would and should go to heaven.

Shrine at Black Lake

An easy day today. I went to Black Lake and visited some of the band councilors. Lots of people are gone to Pine Channel for the Religious Pilgrimage. But I was able to see Georgina MacDonald who is the CEO for the new Athabasca Health Facility that is being constructed on Indian Band land at Stony Rapids. The original reserve where the Black Lake Dene lived was at Middle Lake to the east of Stony a few miles. It was set up in the late 40s or early 50s but was a poor location for large numbers of people. Hence the new location for the community on the shores of Black Lake. I showed Lynda's Dene Elder's Book to Georgina and several older people.

Although the book is about some of the so-called west side communities of northern Saskatchewan ( La Loche, Dillon, Turner Lake, Buffalo Narrows), the people in Black Lake know lots of the elders whose stories are told in the book. This is hardly surprising, given the vast distances these people traveled just to find food to stay alive.

Although I am obviously biased as I live with Lynda, the stories these people tell are a fascinating glimpse of a life that has in many ways vanished. Copies of the book can be had by contacting Lynda Holland at dutch@mail.cableronge.sk.ca. Don't expect a quick response, as Lynda will be with me for the next 35 odd days on the second leg of our canoe trip.

In spite of the lives of the Dene changing a lot in the last 40 years, there are still some fascinating stories about modern travels. Freddie Throassie from Black Lake has been taking kids out on canoe trips for the last 15 years. Each year the trips get longer and harder.