Carrying the Canoes

A group of 20-30 individuals made up of Tłı̨chǫ youth, Elders and guides work to transport canoes and cargo up a steep rock embankment along the shore of a river. Large canoes are hoisted up over the shoulders of two people and are portaged along a single track trail that leads into a forest. Other members of the group not carrying the canoes carry large bags of gear.

John B. Zoe: So we’re walking the old trails but with more people. The world must have felt strange to the first people that walked those trails.

Traveling out on the land, the youth are considered to have a lot of power, in turn, unharnessed power, unpredictable power. In a classroom environment, they can either make it positive or negative and it's the same thing out on the land. Traveling out on the land with the ones that have been there before, their powers might have dwindled because they used it all when they were a youth. So any youth going out on the land with us, we prefer them to make the offerings to the water and to the land and ask for good luck and good health and to make sure that we have enough of all the things that we need to get through the trip. So with their offerings, it can be very powerful. So it's a matter of shedding whatever extraneous thoughts they have in exchange for realistic living.

And so the youth during those boat trips get a strength that they would use to take to the classroom and succeed in everything they might be pursuing.

If you are in the classroom environment you know that you can take a shower every few minutes if you want, and to drink all the same stuff, and eat ten meals a day. This trip is all preparation for the future. If you want to explore it means you have to get a little sweaty, get a little dirty, and you might not change for a couple of days, or shower for a few days. You might be getting a little hungry every once in a while, and you might not eat as well. But natural sounds and songs might come from the heart, and that will provide guidance on how to succeed in the future.