New! Whatì Fish Camp Video is Ready for Viewing!

The newest fish camp video is ready for viewing! 

The video documents the Whatì fish camp that was held in September 2014 at Burnt Island,about 14 km west of the community.  Film maker Alan Booth, of Yellowknife Films, videotaped camp activities—from going out in the boats to take water and sediment samples, to visiting an elder's gravesite, to setting and pulling fish nets.  The fish camp is part of the Tłı̨chǫ Aquatic Ecosystem Monitoring Program (TAEMP).  TAEMP activities focus on sampling fish, water and sediments near Tłı̨chǫ communities, and using both traditional and scientific knowledge to address the question:  “Are the fish and water safe to consume?”

Elders, youth, other community members, scientists and resource people all learn from one another at fish camp --a unique setting where scientific and Tłı̨chǫ knowledge about fish and their habitat are exchanged. The video includes clips with elders speaking in the Tłįcho language, and interview clips with youth, as well as footage showing youth using scientific sampling methods to take water and sediment samples from the bottom of the lake.  There are scenes of camp life and cultural activities, including a handgames demonstration and drum dance on the last evening at camp --a celebration of a successful monitoring camp and friendships made.  The video also highlights the beautiful waterscapes on Lac la Martre and close to shore near camp.  As it turned out, the lake, the third largest in the NWT, has many moods –from the glasslike calm on the first full day at fish camp, to choppy waves on the second windswept day, captured in the video. 

In the Photo Gallery at the end of the article, you can see Alan at work with his camera over the course of five days at fish camp.  In the first photo, Alan is filming one of the youth is using scientific equipment, the Ekman grab sampler, to pull up sediments from the bottom of the lake for testing later in a lab.  In the next photo, Alan is recording the water and sediment sampling demonstrations on shore before participants headed out in the boats.  Alan is setting up a video shoot in the next photo, getting ready for the interview with elders on Tłı̨chǫ knowledge of the aquatic ecosystem near Whati and on cultural traditions of respect for land, water, ancestors and traditional sites.  Alan is interviewing Paul Vecsei, Fisheries Biologist, Golder Asociates Ltd., in the next photo, who is explaining how fish will be sampled and “processed” for analysis in a lab.  The last two photos show Alan enjoying camp life and the country foods that were prepared at camp, and taking in a spectacular sunset on Lac la Martre. 

Thank you to Alan for his work on the video and to all the participants at the fish camp!

Here is the video.  Note that the video is at low resolution to assist with online viewing.