Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
A group of women, passionate about protecting the lands of northern Saskatchewan, gathered at Missinipe for a weekend of discovery, exploring the landscape, gaining knowledge and sharing their concerns at the third Women Protecting the Land Camps, held Sept. 19 to 21.
Several of the women were accompanied by their young daughters, who had the opportunity to do their own relaxing and learning.
Elder Edie Venne accompanied the women onto the bog and shared the importance of plants, the language and what that teaches about the plants and their purpose from a traditional Cree perspective.
She said, it was very difficult walking on the floating bog; it took time to get to their destination, she said in an interview with the Northern Advocate.
“That floating bog is really tough.”
The bog was a nice experience, as children picked the various plants and then they identified the plants.
Vene taught them the Cree names for the plants and a little bit about the land, how the words in Cree reflect how the words to describe the plants “they’re related to the land … lots of words have the land in them, the word for land, askiy, which means land in Cree, is part of many other “so everything is related, so related to the nature of the north … the language is about the relationship, the land and the. Relationship. You can’t really separate it, you know, because it is part of the land … everything is related within the language, within the land,” she said.
As the children collected plants Elder Edie Venne taught them the Cree names for the plants.
Most of the women are members of For Peat’s Sake; Protecting Northern Saskatchewan Muskegs.
The group began in September 2020 after a Quebec company showed interest in mining the muskegs near La Ronge.
Over the years members of the group have done a number of things to raise awareness of the value of peat, when it’s kept in the ground.
Those things have included self-educating themselves about the peat, muskegs and more.
They created a Facebook page and keep it filled with much information on the value of peat and more.
They’ve made videos, led walks and tours of the local muskeg for individuals and groups and done speaker series, amongst the much.
Members of the group have participated in putting together information pamphlets on the importance of peat.
They have not left a leaf unturned in their efforts to preserve, not only the muskeg, but the health of the land itself.
During this camp, there was opportunity to meditate on the land, share their concerns and learnings with one another, go out into the muskeg, do some canoeing, and try some experiments.
Peter Friedrichsen, of the Prince Albert Model Forest, offered a comprehensive view of the forest, particularly focusing on the caribou, which are a species at risk in Saskatchewan.
The younger participants learned first-hand, about ways to purify water.
