It was a sunny, cold day in Dettah, and for one group of fourth grade students from Yellowknife’s N.J. Macpherson School, the day served as a backdrop for time on the land, learning about net fishing and trapping, and how to process what they catch.

“[We’re] just sharing what we have and sharing our traditional knowledge,” said Bobby Drygeese, owner of B.Dene Adventures.

The local tourism and on the land experience company hosted the students on Friday and gave them the opportunity to gain hands-on skills.

“[We] go check the net, check traps and setting snares and cooking bannock with the kids and cooking fish,” Drygeese said.

On Friday morning, the group of kids walked from Dettah to the B.Dene Adventures site, before heading out on snowmobiles to check an ice fishing net on Great Slave Lake. They helped pull the net and the catch from the ice.

“It’s important for them to learn hands on, because you have to make sure that they hold the fish, you have to make sure they hold the muskrats and hold the things they caught,” Drygeese said. “The best way to learn is just hands on.”

For Yellowknife Education District No. 1 (YK1), this field trip is one of several over four weeks for hundreds of students in Grades 4 and 7 at district schools in Yellowknife, said Andrea Harding, regional Indigenous language and education coordinator.

“It’s really important to keep teaching those traditions and keep getting our kids out on the land. To have this time to work with elders and knowledge keepers is really special,” Harding said.

After ice fishing, the kids returned to the camp to create art from fish scales, cook bannock on a stick, prepare the fish, and check traplines around the site.

Student Emery Smith said she’s already had a lot of experience with fish, but was looking forward to doing more and learning new skills too.

“There’s lots of different activities, and you can try more new stuff,” Smith said.

Classmate Wesley Oldfield said learning about the trapping line stood out to him.

“We got to see how they trap animals.”

Drygeese said he sees the difference in the kids who come out for this experience.

“They have more confidence, in touching things and just holding the fur and holding the fish and making sure that they cut things the right way … and making sure everything is done the right way,” Drygeese said.

“It feels good because a lot of people don’t understand what happens with First Nation communities and how people survived for thousands of years. We’ve been trying to help people to understand how we live and why we do things the way we do.”