At dusk after settling into camp on a large island in the Severn at the mouth of the Beaver River Allan, who has been filming the far shore, calmly says “there’s a polar bear over there.”

We look over at what appears to be a large white rock part way up the far bank about 200 m away.  But then the rock moves with the slow, deliberate, agile foot steps that can only belong to a bear who, after sitting on its giant haunches watching us, lumbers down to the water’s edge.  Seeing its size and sloping profile  it is clear that this is Wapusk – a polar bear – the largest of all land-based hunters on the planet.

Wapusk gets into the river and starts floating downriver, and downwind of us.  Being downwind will allow Wapusk to  get a better sense of what we are, but it is also a classic hunter’s move because it means that we will no longer be able to catch his scent if he chooses to approach.  We cluster in a group, try to look large, and wait to see whether Wapusk will move on, or take an interest in us.

Before long Wapusk begins swimming quickly across the current towards our shore, aiming for a spot just around a small bend that would hide his landing.  We walk as a group down the beach to keep him just within site.  We don’t want Wapusk approaching us unseen.

As Wapusk comes to shore on our side he does not get fully out of the water.  Instead he crouches and walks in the
shallow water by the shore towards us, hiding behind the steep drop off by the waters edge where the river has carved into the gravel banks.

Having had a good long look, and with our full scent in his nostrils, Wapusk now knows that we are not caribou or moose.  But he continues to walk towards us slowly, calmly and deliberately.  Wapusk is clearly interested in us.

Summer is the lean time for polar bears, who mostly hunt in the winter on the pack ice where seals emerge through their breathing holes.  During the summer polar bears take what they can get, foraging and scavenging as they wait for the ice to form.  Wapusk is likely hungry, and food is almost certainly on his mind.  Polar bears are the only animal in North America that routinely treat humans as prey.  They do most of their hunting at dusk and during the night.

As his back emerges and he shakes off the river water we decide that it is time to establish who is dominant in this situation, and make clear that we will not be an easy meal.

We charge as a group towards Wapusk, shouting and throwing rocks.  He gets back into the water and swims slowly away, his eyes still trained on us.  Bob fires a warning shot over the head of Wapusk.  He continues to swim across the river until he reaches the far shore, but he does not look alarmed.

As we we walk back to camp Wapusk mirrors our movement on the far shore.  He is clearly still interested in us and not moving on.  As the final bits of twighlight fade the last thing we can see is Wapusk getting back into the river towards us.

The thick clouds fully obscure the stars and moon making for a pitch black night.  The sky opens up and and a  pouring rain is driven by a cold wind that makes it impossible to hear any of Wapusk’s movements.  We build up  our fire, turn on our headlamps, and scan the 50 foot radius of visibility around us for any sign of movement.   This is the coldest weather we have hit yet, and we are thankful that Katie had the foresight to set up the tarp well and that we have a warm fire with a good bed of coals that can handle the rain.

At this point Wapusk could approach us from any direction at any time – from the close shore, along the beach in  either direction, or through the woods that are directly behind us up a small slope.  If that happens we would have only a handful bear strides and a few seconds to put the fire between us, dump some cooking oil on the fire to startle Wapusk while increasing our range of vision, and aim the old lever action rifle.

Wapusk may have left, we don’t know, or he could be stealthily approaching us.  A lifelong hunter that is smart enough to hide his black nose in the snow could easily sneak up on us humans in the night.  If he comes at us the situation will not be pretty.  There would be a  high chance of having a dead polar bear on our hands, and perhaps some badly injured canoeists.

Aware that we are intruding on Wapusk’s territory we decide to err on the side of safety for both us and Wapusk and we call for help using our satellite phone.  On the other end of the line is Stewart, the priest in KI who blessed us along with the KI elders as we set out on journey! After a few hours we get confirmation that the Fort Severn  Rangers are on their way in a motor boat, they have around 12 kilometers to travel up the dark, braided river to reach us.

As we wait, always on alert, our wood pile runs low.  We are forced to send groups out down the beach to gather more firewood from a grove of dead poplars that fell over this spring as the ice piled up on the beach and gouged the sand out from under their roots.  As the night wears on we must go further and further into the inky night to gather firewood to keep fire burning in the downpour.

At around 3:30 a.m. four Fort Severn Rangers arrive in one boat.  It is clear that they do not have space to take us out, but they leave us with a big 12 gage shotgun, a box of large game shot cartridges, a pile of firewood cut with their chainsaw, and instructions to shoot to kill if Wapusk comes near again.

Their confidence lightens the mood. They leave telling us not to worry, most polar bears will leave us alone, ”except for those that go after people in their tents.”

In a few hours the first glow of dawn widens our field of view.  We finish packing up quickly and head out towards Fort Severn into a stiff headwind.  A few short hours later we see power lines peeking above the high sandy banks, and before long we have that dazed, blissed out feeling of sitting in a heated space at the beautiful (really) Fort Severn motel after two weeks exposed to the elements.

Looking back we are awe struck to have had such a close encounter with this powerful animal, and thankful that we are all safe, including Wapusk.

If you are interested in reading up on how to handle yourself next time you encounter a wild polar bear out on  the land, here is a good resource:

http://www.bearsmart.com/docs/polarbearsscript.pdf

The post HUNTED BY WAPUSK – THE POLAR BEAR. KI Water Expedition Update appeared first on KI Lands.

Eventually the curtains transitioned into flowing swirls of light originating overhead and sweeping across the sky towards the horizon. 

How strange and mystical it is to see bright moving lights in the usually dark and static night sky.

Jacob Ostaman, Director of KI Lands and Environment, explained before we left that there are two teachings about the northern lights.  One is positive, and the other negative, a common polarity in KI teachings.

The first teaching is that the northern lights happen when the spirits of the ancestors come to visit.  The lights are their campfire as they sit directly above us. 

The second teaching is that you can bring the northern lights closer by whistling, but you must not do that because if you are not careful you may get taken away.  Many northerners report hearing a faint whistling sound accompanying the northern lights, but scientists have yet to measure any phenomenon that can explain this.

Before we left KI,  Elders explained to Allan that they used to predict the weather by watching the northern lights.  They say that in recent years the weather patterns are changing and that this method no longer works like it used to.  KI Homeland is located at a relatively high latitude which means that it is likely to experience the impacts of global climate change early, and more severely than most other places.  The close connection of KI people to the land and climate means that the disrupted weather patterns and increased volatility will hit particularly hard on KI people.  An unexpected storm on the Big Trout Lake can be deadly.

The post NORTHERN LIGHTS – KI Water Expedition Update appeared first on KI Lands.

But that warm wind did seem to herald a change.  Since that time the pace of excitement has dramatically picked up, with each day bringing new wonders greater than the last.  Yesterday we found ourselves in the middle of a woodland caribou migration.  Check out some great video and photos of the caribou. We set up camp at the last rapids on the Severn just before an intense thunder storm rolled in.

Photo of sunset at polar bear rapids from bob

The next day some of us portaged, while some of us emptied our canoes and ran the rapids – a full kilometer of churning white water and big waves as the Severn drops over a series of limestone ledges.  what a rush.  The map calls this place White Seal Rapids, but the KI people call it Polar Bear Rapids.

At this point the 8 KI people on the trip pressed on to Fort Severn, while the 6 visitors took a rest day and stayed behind.  We said an emotional goodbye and exchanged facebook details.  There is nothing like 12 days together on the water to bring a group of people together, and to connect us in our commitment to protect this life giving river.

The post RAPIDS ON THE SEVERN – Update from KI Water Expedition appeared first on KI Lands.

Our meal is interrupted by Ronald who points up river emphatically. We look but can't see anything new.

"Caribou," he whispers, "swimming."

Squinting into the distance we see what looks like a line of ducks heading for the far shore, a 'V' shaped wake behind them. Through binoculars we can tell that the blobs in the water are actually pairs of caribou heads and tails. As they reach the far shore seven dark caribou bound out of the water splashing. They stand for a while, then trot along the bank looking for a break in the high sand cliffs through which to return to the shelter of the forest.

As the minutes pass our trained eyes spot group after group of caribou swimming, all west to east, the 600m width of the Severn. Terry explains that these are the threatened woodland caribou, darker and more rare than their tundra cousins. They are traveling east to gather, lock antlers, and rut. By lunch we have counted 40 heads crossing the river directly above and below us. As we continue our paddle it becomes clear that we are in the middle of a substantial migration route.

Paddling 30 feet from the western shore a group of 14 caribou emerge suddenly from the forest. Caribou of all ages stand directly across from us on the bank pausing, confused by our presence. The calves stick close behind their mothers.

Then two large caribou, their antlers in velvet, emerge from the woods and set the group in motion running along the shore directly beside us. As they pull ahead they plunge into the river, intent on crossing as if pulled by a powerful magnet towards their yearly mating ritual Our boats pass within 20 feet of the fast swimming animals and we can hear their heavy breathing. What great fortune to be at this exact spot as a herd of these graceful, majestic beings of the deep forest emerge briefly to ford the river we are traveling.

Over 100 of these elusive icons of the boreal forest pass within our sight in one afternoon. Woodland caribou are a threatened species. Once they roamed as far south as Ottawa, but they have been chased out of half of their range by encroaching extractive industries. Their survival strategy is based on dispersal in inaccessible terrain deep in dense boreal forests and wetlands. This makes it energetically costly for wolves to pursue them. Anywhere a road is built into the forest it becomes a wolf highway, easing their pursuit of the caribou who must retreat 12 kilometers. In another 10 years the caribou retreat a further 20 km as deer move in to browse on roadside shrubs that grow in the disturbed ground. The deer provide sustenance to the wolves who hunt the caribou, further shifting the balance against the caribou.

Once the caribou leave they never return.

Caribou in the boreal are like the canary in the coal mine. They are an indicator species for the health of the forest and a range of species and ecological processes that require intact, unfragmented landscapes. Here the caribou populations are healthy and continue their delicately balanced dance with the wolves. There is so much that science still does not understand about this complex ecosystem. But we do know that introducing industrial business as usual into this landscape as we have further south is a nearly certain recipe for ending KI's vital relationship with the caribou.

The post MIGRATION – KI Nation Paddlers Update: September 3 appeared first on KI Lands.

Coming around a wide bend we reach what appears from a distance to be a very long lake running perpedicular to the Fawn. As we reach it we see that it is no lake. The current in this large body of water is ever more swift than anything we have experienced so far on our journey. We have reached the confluence with Katajiiwan – the Mighty River, known in English as the Severn. It dwarfs the Fawn whose waters are quickly subsumed into the murky, silt laden flow of the Severn.

At a point protruding into the confluence we find a note and some treats left for us by Chief Donny Morris a week earlier as his canoe party passed this point on their way down the Severn after having navigated the Sachigo River, another major tributary of the Severn, which flows through the Sherman Lake area where Chief Morris was raised.

In March KI successfully evicted gold exploration company Gods Lake Resources whose claims and leases threatened the KI sacred landscape and were directly on top of KI ancestral burials.

Fearing further high profile conflicts and costly buy-outs the government of Ontario withdrew 23,000 square kilometers of KI Homeland from all mining activity – the largest such withdrawal in Ontario history. [link to news article about the withdrawal]

KI succeeded in gaining partial respect for the moratorium on industry they had declared a decade earlier. But half of the KI Water Declaration area remains open to mining exploration – a situation that seems to invite further conflict.

Please write to the Premier to encourage him to fully respect KI's Water Declaration and Indigenous Laws. 

The post Confluence: KI Nation Paddlers Update – September 2nd afternoon appeared first on KI Lands.

The six white lines symbolize six boats (Cheman) and the double sided arrow marks a return trip. The stone was marked by the men paddled, poled, and lined supplies up the Fawn River in large york boats for the Hudson's Bay Company, and brought furs from Big Trout Lake down to Fort Severn on Hudson's Bay.

Fort Severn, the northernmost community in Ontario, became a fur trading post in 1689, making it one of the oldest in the oldest in Canada. As recently as as 1947 this was the primary way outside supplies arrived in KI, and the sustainable fur trade was the primary source of cash income for KI families. Terry's grandfather and uncles worked on york boats, as did many of the men in their generation. Brandon's grandfather and grandmother raised him and four siblings on the food and income generated from their trapping. Brandon is eagerly anticipating his upcoming 18th birthday when he will inherit his late beloved grandfather's cabin.

When big ships arrived in Fort Severn the local people would paddle the supplies up the Severn River up to the confluence with the Fawn. They left the supplies in a stone storehouse near a creek at the confluence and then KI people would bring them the rest of the way against the strong current. We are finding the downstream voyage seriously challenging and we marvel at the strength and endurance the upstream voyage laden with trade goods would demand.

The post The Traders – KI Paddlers Update – September 2nd, morning appeared first on KI Lands.

Pitticow means something like "short cut."  It is the start to a route that can be used to cross over the height of the land and into the Winisk River watershed, the next major river to the east of the Severn.  Beyond the Winisk are the Albany, Attawapiskat, and Moose Rivers, all on a similarly massive scale.  

View maps of KI's territory.

1.  KI summer travel routes documented in the 1970s by Kayahna Atlas

2.  KI winter travel routes documented in the 1970s by Kayanha Atlas

The vastness of the landscape is beginning to set in.  we are now approximately 400 km from the nearest road to the south, and still over 100 km from the next village – Fort Severn on the Hudson's Bay coast.  We haven't seen another human soul in nine days, but the signs of Indigenous landuse are all around – recently used camps, fishing nets neatly folded and hanging in trees, and maintained portage trails.

This landscape is remote and intact on the grandest scale, yet is is well known and loved in the culture, memory, and use of the peoples that live here.

The post PITTICOW RIVER – KI Paddlers Update – September 1 appeared first on KI Lands.

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WILD LIFE - August 31 morning

Today was a wildlife bonanza.  There was a slight headwind which meant that our scent did not precede us down the river to warn shy animals of our approach.  

We started out the morning watching a Bald Eagle swoop down from a nearby tree.  Then we heard stacato honking that grew ever closer as two flocks of huge birds approached flying low over the river and passing directly above our heads.  These were not the common Canada Goose, they were rare Cranes.

Next we saw a dark spot on the gravel bank about 200 meters ahead.  As it moved towards us it became clear that it was a large lone wolf.  We silently drifted towards it on the current and came within 60 feet before it caught our scent, lifted its nose, turned and loped off into the dense spruce forest.  We were left breathless by such a close encounter with this wild and elusive creature.

A few kilometers further we pulled over and explored a wolf den dug into the bank of the river.  Within the main chamber there was a clean beaver skull.  Multiple escape routes led to other access holes, including small ones that only pups could travel.  The whole area was covered in a dense network of wolf trails.  Terry told us that he had seen the black wolf before.  He is the alpha male of a large pack that lives in this area.

A SACRED RELATIONSHIP - August 31 afternoon

Shortly after lunch we saw what looked like 3 logs floating in the river.  But as they moved across the current we realized that these were caribou fording the river.  They emerged on the other bank, their velvety antlers dripping river water, took a quick look at us and disappeared into the forest.

A short while later Orion and Joel saw another group of caribou and took one to feed out group.  Richard thanked the animal, cleaned it expertly, and then arranged the head, legs and hide neatly to show respect and to ease its journey to the next life. 

These are "muskeg carbou," not the more rare and elusive Woodland Caribou found at Big Trout Lake.  Both types have healthy populations in KI Homeland.

We grilled the choice cuts over an open fire after marinating it in moose berries (taste like sour cherries), honey and garlic – a real delicacy.

Caribou have been an essential source of protein for the KI for thousands of years.  They remain one of the healthiest and most affordable sources of sustenance available to people in KI where outside food must be flown in or trucked long distances over ice roads.  The people of KI take care of the vast landscape the caribou rely on, and the caribou provide much needed winter meat – a sacred and ancient relationship that lives on.

After eating from the land for a week it is not hard to understand why KI would want to ensure that their water as clean as possible.  Anything that contaminates the land and the water hear will end up in the animals that KI people live on, and ultimately in their own bodies.

The post Wild Life: Aug. 31 Update from the KI Nation Paddlers appeared first on KI Lands.