Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation youth follow ancestral waterways in educational canoe trip

Earlier this month, a group of 42 people set out from Southend, Sask., and travelled by water roughly 212 kilometres over 10 days to their destination in Pelican Narrows.

Andrea Custer H. Clarke from Pelican Narrows came up with theidea for"Following the Trails of Our Ancestors:"a tripwith youth using the very same waterway systems in the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation area in northeast Saskatchewan that were used for hundreds of years before highways were made.

"It's almost like taking their hand and walking them through history, but through like a land-based educational experience," she said.

Custer H. Clarke took a similar trip in her master's program, between Nipawin and The Pas, Man.

The group met in OtterBay, and the next day they participated in an all-day safety training at Grandmother's Bay before heading out on the waterand travelling thetraditional lands of the Rock Cree people.

Custer H. Clarke said they talkedabouttraditional names for the rivers and waterways they took.

"It was decolonizing I was telling the youth, this river, that's not what we know it as," she said.

"We know it as something else. But [its name] in English, it's a way of claiming territories over our lands."

Participants learned the Churchill Riverwas traditionally called "mahtwi-spiy,"which means "the wondrous river." She said the youths learned about the rock paintings they got to see during their trip and what the significance of them were long ago.

Daily challenges included choppy water and overgrown portages,weather changes andmosquitoes. Custer H. Clarke said the group stayed resilient through it all even on days where she felt way over her head.

"After facing such difficult days where I'd be crying and I'd be like 'What am I doing,' they would just laugh and brush it off, and be like, 'Let's do this.' And just revved up to go again," she said.

'You have to keep trying'

Randy Clarke, a land-based teacher who went on the trip, said the safety training was important.

"Some of them were really skilled paddlers, and some of them were just beginners," he said.

He said the group learned what to do if they tippedthe canoe, how to balance, and other basic things they could do to ensure their safety while on the trip.

Clarke said localshelped them through the first part of their tripand the portage was well maintained,which made it easy.

Clarke said their biggest challenge was Steephill portage, which was the hardest one.Clarke said they told the youths to remember the hard parts and thatif they made it through what their ancestors had gone through, they can get through anything.

'We all worked together as a team'

Jordan Linklater from Pelican Narrows said he was nervous about going on the trip, because he didn't know what to expect.

He said one of the things he will remember most is Steephill portagebecause of the challenge it presented.

"We all worked together as a team and pushed forward," said Linklater.

"That really stuck with me because if I can go over Steephill with a bunch of people helping me, think of the other things I could do in life."

Linklater said he learned a lot of Cree words and phrases, and was interested in learning weather words, and how to make sentences.

"After the trip when we came back to Pelican, all the way from Southend, I was really proud of myself and all the other people that were with me there," he said.

"As soon as I got off the voyage, I went to go hug my mom. I had tears of joy. I didn't ugly cry, but tears were like falling out of my eyes."

Linklater said during this trip he saw other youth come out of their shyness, andthe trip built up their confidence and character.

"If I'm able to go again next year, that would be like a blessing," he said.

"Being out in the land like that, like being with our people, like really trying to keep our language, you know, and stuff like that It was just really great in general."