Canoe trip reconnects First Nations youth with ancestral land and culture
By Meagan Massad
Children and youth
The 14-day Youth of the Yukon canoe trip gave First Nations communities and the RCMP the opportunity to foster new relationships in the great outdoors.
Image by Andrea Magee
August 1, 2024
Content
A group of First Nations youth spent 14 days learning about their culture - and there wasn't a classroom in sight. Instead, amid a backdrop of breathtaking mountains and serene waters, the teens paddled the Yuk Han-Yukon River to reconnect with the land and their ancestral traditions.
Joined by RCMP officers and three professional First Nations guides, the Youth of the Yukon canoe trip was part of a larger initiative with the Indigenous Youth Outreach Program. The program seeks to foster understanding and reconciliation between the RCMP and First Nations youth in the Yukon.
The land as teacher
The Yukon River and its headwaters flow through the territories of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in, Tutchone, Tagish, and Tlingit First Nations, and are central to Indigenous cultural landscapes.
For the young people who participated, it was a way to learn more about their heritage. "Residential schools took youth away from their home and culture, and I think that Elders wanted to show us about their culture and language," says 16-year-old Tahlaya Dawson, a Kwanlin Dün First Nations youth who participated in the voyage.
In partnership with Dinjii Zhuh Adventures, an Indigenous-owned company in the Yukon, the trip was planned by RCMP Staff Sergeant Jonathan Saxby. "The hope was that the voyage would be one of self-determination for these youth," says Saxby.
Paddling forward
The group paddled nearly 500 kilometres across the Yukon River, from Lake Laberge to Dawson City. Each canoe held an Elder — who acted as a guide — an RCMP officer, and three youth. The guides taught paddling, docking, and safety skills focusing on nature, traditional First Nations teachings, relationships between the participants and police, and finding self-identity. Meals consisting of game meat, stew and vegetables, an integral part of Indigenous traditions, were prepared over a fire at each rest stop.
When the trip ended, the Chief, council members, and community in Dawson City organized a ceremonial welcome for the travellers.
A new perspective
For the youth, it was an immersive approach to learning from the land. "I learned about the river, and the guides taught us about the landscape," says 16-year-old Myra, a Kwanlin Dun First Nation participant. Her younger sister, Harmony, 15, adds: "My favourite part of the trip was paddling through the Five Finger Rapids."
While the trip aimed to share knowledge with the young paddlers, RCMP members also took home lessons from the journey. Constable Alice Cote, a member of the Saulteaux First Nation and originally from the Cote First Nation community, was one of three officers on the trip. "As a First Nations person, to learn about another First Nations culture and teaching was very rewarding. It was also refreshing to see the young travellers surrounded by their culture."
Constable Maxime Lavertu, who works in Old Crow, Yukon, says the shared experiences offered many rewards.
"During the trip, we rotated canoes, and this gave everyone to chance to get to know one another," says Lavertu. "I had front-row seats to see them work together, and improve their skills on the river and land. I didn't realize how much I would learn about the First Nations community and their culture. It was humbling to learn about the land on which I travelled."
