TARR
10233 100th avenue V1J 1Y8 Fort Saint John, BC, Canada

Well, the day finally came, 1970 WMFN invoke a traditional law not to hunt the Caribou because of the impacts of the WAC Bennet Dam and the creation of the Wil...liston Reservoir. In 2005 Canada and BC was supposed to have a recovery plan in place, with the Governments in office at that time and it was not done. 2009 WMFN went to court over an illegal mining trespass and forced BC to start talking about a recovery plan. 2013/14 WMFN and SFN started an emergency maternity pen on the Klinze-za herd to recover those caribou from 16 animals, 2017 Minister of Environment, ( McKenna), issued a Imminent Threat Declaration on the Southern Mountain Caribou. This morning at 10 am WMFN, SFN, Canada and BC finally signed a recovery plan. A precedent setting agreement, first of it's kind in Canada! See more

A reflection of times in the northeast. Abandonment! This exploratory well sits on the family trapline not far from a lake named after my brother Curtis. It is ...getting put to bed a few decades after it was drilled. I remember my dad telling me there was a time when my grandfather would joke about having to still cut trail the old way when all his other trapping peers were having oil and gas companies do a lot of the work for them. I am talking way back when natural gas exploration first came onto the scene. Fortunately for us, much of the heart of the family trapline remains intact, which is not the case for those further east. Still, there are quite a few wells like this out there on the land. Wells that never produced an inch of gas. Companies are now coming back after several years to abandon their prospect. I am sure there are many reasons leading up to its demise, but I am certain ‘economics’ are at the top of the list. Which is the way she goes. Unfortunately, they have already taken many local families down with them. In the hay-day, each one of these beautiful wells on the trapline started with an engagement process with either my grandfather or my dad. I remember having breakfast with the old man and a big wig(as he liked to call them) talk about their potential plan to develop a resource road and associated wellsite on the north part of the trapline. They pulled out a map, and dad fired off a ton of land based knowledge about where the moose licks were, where caribou calved, which way the animals moved depending on the season, places hammered by beaver, and so on. The fella from Texas(literally) was amazed at how knowledgeable he was when it came to the land he spent countless hours on. I recall the Texan saying something along the lines of, Dang, people pay big money and go to school for years in order to be able to give us that kind of information. They took what he had to say to heart. It was a cool to watch. I know the old man always had the land in his best interest, despite being open to building relationships with those who also had interest on his territory. This was a man who spent nights on-end out there, and was no doubt connected on a level many can’t comprehend. He was so dialled-in and calculated, I wonder what he would have to say about what is happening right now. Anyways, this well and it’s owner are a goner. We’ve lost some good men along the way, men who made their living off this land in more ways than one. Certainly, we are still here. Always have been. Always will be. That is the sentiment I take away from all of the abandonment going on right now, despite the anxiety of many who call the north home. We knew they were never going to be here forever and our people have always faced the next day head on. Our strength has always been our resiliency and our ability to survive whatever comes next. Reynold Dickie we’ll see to it that they leave it they way they found it.

Jâhanatché (Hello) Here are videos including 360VR of the High on Ice Festival in Fort St John B.C. February 14,15 and 16th 2020. This is the first year Doig Ri...ver First Nation hosted the Kema Experience, an indigenous cultural space, inclusive of surrounding Indigenous communities. Three types of shelters were created a tipi, a stick house and wall tent to allow the visitors to experience authentic winter bush camp. We created traditional winter camp shelters, served wild boreal forest tea with bannock and stew throughout the event with our partners City of Fort St John, High on Ice , Pembina, GES, the FSJ Metis Society, Sandra Apsassin from the Blueberry River First Nations and Doig River First Nation members. The families and children that attended the camp were very interested in hearing about local Beaver people’s history. Very few people knew anything about the local culture and were interested in learning about the 12,500 years of local Beaver/Dene history. The tremendous positive interest from the local and international visitors was wonderful to see and hear. Doig River First Nation is leading the way in reconciliation activities with the city of Fort St. John to bring indigenous tourism potential in the region. Kema Experiences mission is to connect people, land and spirit, Where knowing , creating and sharing comes together in nature. Kema experiences will have a booth at the largest Canadian Outdoor Adventure show in Vancouver, BC - February 29 & March 1st, 2020 to showcase cultural excursions in the Northeast.