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Virtual Museum of Canada The Making of Treaty #8 in Canada's Northwest
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1899 and After

Bush Land Camps 

   

Generally a family would have a permanent house - a home base camp, often a single room log home. In addition, they would have one or more temporary camps to use while fishing, hunting and trapping at some distance from the home.

A person living in the bush on traplines referred to his or her home as a "camp," as in "come to my camp," "stay at my camp," or "tie your dogs at my camp." Thus, a bush person commonly used the term "camp" to describe a place of residence. A traditional bush person living in a modern urban home may still refer to an overnight visitor as someone who has "come to camp with me." 

[Read about trapline homes, cabins and traditional camps]

 

 

 

traditional style trapper home dog shelter cabin at Fort Fitzgerald Trappers Warehouse trappers cabin
snowmobile shelter canvas tent spruce log trappers cabin drying poles Soloman Shortman's spring camp
fish nets Soloman Shortman fishing near his camp moose hide fungus (a natural fire lighter) firewood
natural food cooler traditional medicine birch trees Katy Sanderson at her Cabin abandoned trapline cabin

Reprinted from Bush Land People with the permission of the author. Copyright Terry Garvin, 1992-2002.

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