Gotcha.  Yeah, I probably wrote it down.  If it turns out to be an itch you must scratch, I'll go back & check for you.  [I'm hoping you say "yes" because, now, it's becoming an itch that I can't scratch!]

Anyway, THAT was the guy who told us about the large party of disadvantaged Toronto youths (15-20 teens chaperoned by only 2 slightly older counselors), remember?  He talked about how they came by to visit him & the other elders and to be trained in "living off the land as in the bygone days."  Our 1st Nation driver recounted how they showed them how to use snares, rock traps, & use seines for fishing.  They showed them how to navigate using only the sun, moon, & stars, etc.  The next day he & the elders drove them up to their put-in for a long trip down the Bloodvein River.

Interestingly enough, the teenagers INSISTED on going on their 10 days trip without maps or food (just a few chocolate bars) and only a couple fishing poles.  Rather, they intended to make snares to catch food and build fish-traps the way 1st Nation folks did centuries ago.  I recall expressing my incredulity to our driver and receiving only an unremarkable acknowledgment of a brief nod of that poker face of his.

Then, I said, "Holy S___t!  Aren't you worried?  What do you think is going to happen to them?"

Again, with that deadpan expression and his eyes never leaving that bumpy, dusty access road, our driver replied nonchalantly, "Oh... they gonna die.  Even WE don't do that stuff in "the old way.  They're nuts."

I remember convulsing with laughter over that statement but I guess I took him seriously.  When I got home from Red Lake, I remember checking the Toronto newspapers on-line for stories about "Youth Tragedy in WCPP."  I didn't find anything but I DID ask Doug Gilmore about it at the following year's CanoeCopia.  He just chuckled and said, "Oh, THOSE guys!"  He kept chuckling and finally said, "Well let's just say they made it out of the park OK.  Yep, that was a strange bunch."

Our driver was truly entertaining.

Later,

Jimbo   8-)