Heritage Community Foundation Presents
Alberta Online Encyclopedia

The Changing and Future North

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Clip Synopsis:

The Heritage Community Foundation, with the kind permission of Terry Garvin, is pleased to present this feature excerpt from the Bush Land People video.

The Aboriginal Peoples who have lived by their traditions for centuries are part of a changing north, one that becomes more industrialized with each passing generation. Future generations have had to learn to cope with the new while struggling to hold on to the traditions that shape their heritage.

Clip Transcription:

Aboriginal People tend to move in and out of hunting and trapping occupations for environmental and economic reasons. A responsible hunter knows how to manage renewable resources like water, plantlife, and wildlife efficiently so that these are preserved for future generations.

On the other hand, industrial development, which is often at odds with conservation management, has not moved forward very smoothly in the north. As modernization has brought changes in technology and ways of working, new generations of hunters and trappers have been forced to reshape life, to combine traditional skills and resources with new challenges.

The challenge for the young people of the bushland is to learn the practical hunting and trapping skills which sustained their elders, while at the same time branching out to take advantage of new education and income opportunities. The challenge for all bushland people is to explore ways in which to preserve traditional land use areas, while at the same time being challenged to participate in an industrial economy.

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            For more on Aboriginal hunters and trappers in Canada’s northwest Boreal forest, visit Peel’s Prairie Provinces.
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