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EMPLOYMENT TENDERS AND LEGAL NOTICES Tuesday July 28 2015 13 SEE US AT NORJ.CA 12345 Place your ad in this newspaper and province wide with a combined circulation of over 800000 for only... 995plus GSTHST Value Ad Network Alberta Weekly Newspapers Association toll free 1-800-282-6903 x228 email andreaawna.com or visit this community newspaper the MOST out of your advertising dollarsSqueeze SPORTS RECREATION CANOEING Alberta paddlers canoe 2200 km to Fort Simpson By MEAGAN WOHLBERG From day to day it was almost a seamless transition coursing around the bends of the Athabasca Slave and Mackenzie Rivers over a 2200-km canoe voyage to Fort Simpson. But with the expedition now complete the quartet of paddlers is reecting on the distinct mood of each river and the strong connections they forged with the land and people along the way. Four canoeists from Al- berta recently nished a 63- day trip starting in Barrhead Alta.onMay13andendingin Fort Simpson July 14. The trip started as a dream of Dylan Bajer origi- nally from Barrhead and an employee for Nahanni River Guides in Fort Simpson who one day wanted to paddle to work. Along with his part- ner Justine Wilmot they were able to collect two more adventurers - Liam Law and Sarah Steele Johnston - for the trip of a lifetime. Along the way the crew stayedinFortSmithforaweek to play on the whitewater and tooktimetoconnectwithFirst Nationsineachcommunity-a privilege that deepened the experience for the group. We decided to write let- ters to all the indigenous na- tions before we left to request permission to travel through their lands and some were very inviting and asked us to meet with them Law said. That included a tour of the Fort Providence area with DehGahGotieChiefJoachim Bonnetrouge who shared the history of the land and showed them to a lodge. He told us that once we hit Fort Providence all the way to Fort Simpson we were under their care Bajer said. Law said he felt it was important to disrupt the colonial cultural patterns of non-indigenous explorers coming to the North without engaging its First Peoples. We got to learn a lot he said. It made the trip meaningful and signicant in many ways. Apartfromconnectingwith First Nations along the way each of the paddlers formed their own connections to the diverse landscape over the thousands of kilometres. For Wilmot who hails from Ontario but has been living in Alberta for a num- ber of years it was a sur- prising comfort to see the Canadian Shield again. Ifelttheloveofhomeinthe Northwest Territories which was an unexpected place to rekindlewiththatgeography she said. I got these ash- backsofbeingbackinOntario. I didnt expect to have that experience I didnt realize I had a longing for home. It was the rst major canoe expedition for Steele John- stonwhosaidshespentmost of the trip reecting on the words of an elder they met when the group was in Fort Smith who advised them to thank the water. I started writing poems connected to a place in nature expressing my gratitude she said. I wrote one on a rock one on driftwood one on a leafoneonafeatherandthen gave them back to the land. For Bajer there were so many highlights choosing a favourite is like picking a berry from a bush. He said every turn of the river provided a new gift from the rapids near Fort Smith that shake the earth to the vast ow of the massive Deh Cho. We started on a river that was about the width of our canoeandendedontheMack- enzie he said. Around every bend was a gift of different scenery the vastness of the land used by the people who havelivedthereforever.Touse that gift was a gift to us. While its unlikely that all fourpaddlerswillgettogether for another journey of such magnitude in the NWT each is now planning future trips that would explore other gems of the North like the Thelon Taltson and Cop- permine Rivers. That is even the case for Steele Johnston who is con- templating moving to Fort Smith after enjoying her week on the Slave River. Im not even a paddler - Im a rock climber she said with a laugh. And I want to live there next summer. PhotoDonJaque Paddlers Liam Law left Dylan Bajer Justine Wilmot and Sarah Steele Johnston take a break from their expedition with a stop in Fort Smith to explore the whitewater on the Slave River.