IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OUR ANCESTORS

The canol trail

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Project Overview

In The Footsteps Of Our Ancestors is an award-winning documentary feature and multi-layered community engagement project focused on the Canol Youth Leadership Hike: an epic wilderness trek in the homeland of the Shúhtagot’ı̨nę (Mountain Dene). The trail follows the historic WWII CANOL pipeline route in the Sahtú Region of the Northwest Territories.

In early 2017, two filmmakers from Trails In Tandem teamed up with a young leader from the Sahtú and the founder of the Canol Youth Leadership Hike to design and execute a documentary project. Together with local governments, businesses and NGO’s, they fundraised for the production of the film and documented the hike the following summer. The project involved recording the trail’s history through archival research, interviews with community elders, and retracing the footsteps of Shúhtagot’ı̨nę ancestors on the land.

The team premiered the film at screenings across Canada to great acclaim, hosting interactive community gatherings and discussions on youth leadership, cross-cultural understanding, and the teachings of the Dene. The film has since landed a broadcast and education deal as well as an award for its direction.

1:00:09 Run | All Ages | English

Education Licensing

Film Freeway

Trailer

Project Team

Jordan Lennie (Community Liaison, Narrator)

Erinn Drage (Director, Producer)

Norman Yakeleya (Hike Leader, Executive Producer)

Nicholas Castel (Director, Cinematographer, Editor)

walking a shared trail

Documenting the Canol Youth Leadership Hike had always been a dream for Norman Yakeleya, Dene National Chief and former regional MLA for the Sahtú. Norman has been guiding youth in the Mackenzie Mountains for years, following the advice of his late grandmother Harriet Gladue who understood the power the mountains held had for teaching the Dene way of life. The program, developed with three other hikers from the region (Joe Handley, Garth Wallbridge, Myles Erb), aims to give youth from across the five Sahtú communities leadership and on-the-land skills as they become young adults.

After securing a small grant to explore cross-cultural connections through film, Erinn Drage and Nicholas Castel, two filmmakers with previous experience in Northern Canada, travelled to the Sahtú Region to explore it’s many rich stories. Their time with community members in Tulita and Norman Wells made clear the need for local voices to lead in telling these stories. Invited to attend Dene Tsili, a bush school hosted by the Sahtú Renewable Resources Board (SRRB) in early 2017, Nicholas met Jordan Lennie, a Sahtú Métis intern with the SRRB at the time. Given Jordan’s interests in outdoor education and community, he teamed up with Erinn and Nicholas to form the Trails in Tandem team. Norman reached out to Trails in Tandem after catching wind of the partnership, with his pitch of working together to tell the history and story of the Canol Youth Leadership Hike.

In The Footsteps Of Our Ancestors is a story of coming together; across borders, belief systems, and between generations, to document a uniquely shared human experience in some of Canada’s most beautiful wilderness. The resulting film has many teachings to offer us all.

"This teaching is going to help educate the people. To see how we have to work together in the future for the next seven generations. It was a very powerful film. Very much so."

- Perry Bellegarde, Canadian National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations

“Coming out of the woods and seeing the younger hikers on the sandbar - it was just the best feeling in the world. I did this, I walked the 40 miles. I walked in the footsteps of my ancestors. I felt just as tough as they did.”

- Jordan Lennie , 2017 Canol Youth Leadership Hiker

"The most beautiful scenery and awesome trek with more than a million dollar view. Good teamwork!"

- Mary Jane Kunkel, daugher of Sahtú Dene Guide Fred Andrew

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The Canol Heritage Trail

a brief history

The Canol Heritage Trail

Nestled in the subarctic interior of the Northwest Territories in an area known as the Sahtú, the Canol Heritage Trail is a 355km rugged alpine path that weaves its way through vast canyons, rivers, and thicket deep within the Mackenzie Mountains. The trail is the homeland of the Shúhtagot’ı̨nę and is intimately known by the Sahtú Dene & Métis who have used the trail to hunt, socialize, and trade for thousands of years. Due to its remoteness and length, the Canol is considered to be one of the most difficult trails in Canada. The breathtaking mountain vistas and dramatic canyons of the Canol form an essential component of the Northern Canadian wilderness.

Refinery

After the World War II bombings of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the Japanese Army became a growing threat to Allied supply routes throughout the pacific. To bolster their defences, the governments of Canada and the United States agreed to build a pipeline from the oil field at Tłegǫ́hłı (Norman Wells), N.W.T. across the Mackenzie Mountains to a refinery in Whitehorse, Yukon, where oil would be distributed along the pacific coast.

The Real Hikers

With no maps of the area, and little experience surviving in the north, the American Army relied on the knowledge of local Sahtú Dene and Métis people to guide them through the unforgiving mountain wilderness. The CANOL project (short for Canadian Oil) was eventually completed two years later by 20,000 men and women and at cost of over $300 million.

Noga pi nili (Carcajou River) crossing at Mile 26

Aabandoned Pumphouse at Mile 36

However after only a year of operation, the pipeline and trail were abandoned, with much of the infrastructure left in the mountains. Today the route is frequented by wandering hikers, dall sheep, and grizzly bears. The abandoned route is now known as the Canol Heritage Trail and is on it's way to becoming a designated Territorial Park.

Doi t'o ( Dodo Canyon ) River Crossing

Every year, youth from across the Sahtú embark on a leadership hike along the Canol Heritage Trail to learn how to live on their ancestral lands and to learn the teachings of local Sahtú Dene and Métis elders and guides. The trail also offers an intimate look at the mysteries of the CANOL project, and the work that must be done to preserve this unique natural and cultural landmark.

Telephone Wire

Over 80 tonnes of telephone wire have been cleaned up since remediation of the Canol Heritage Trail began