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Nak'albun celebrates Heritage Days in Fort St. James

Elders from the community braved extreme northern temperatures to demonstrate traditional knowledge and practices to school children at Nak'albun Elementary School last week.
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Darian Bourgeois and Felicity Clark

Elders from the community braved extreme northern temperatures to demonstrate traditional knowledge and practices to school children at Nak'albun Elementary School last week.

Tutorials included setting nets under the ice, ice fishing with a hook and lure, cooking bannock on a fire, preparing hides, traditional medicines, crafting and beading leatherwork, traditional baskets, trapping, archery and other hunting techniques.

Students of Quinson Elementary in Prince George had come all the way to the Fort to learn some traditional skills.

The trapping and skinning skills seemed to make an impression on the grade 4 students The Courier spoke to, because when asked what they had learned, the students all seemed to remember something about those particular skills.

"When you scrape the moose hide you have to be strong," said Destiny Holtis. 

"It's hard to catch a wolverine and skin an otter," explained Madison Tuberman. Sydney Casey recalled how "they used special stuff to trap them and they take out the insides."

Despite the cold, the students ice fishing on Stuart Lake enjoyed their experience, and everyone asked said the bannock was delicious.