CH A P TE R ONE Getting Ready for the Trip JUNE 28 AND sixth grade was finally over John's cousins had called him a few weeks ago to see if he could go on a canoe trip with their grandparents He was excited but a little bit scared too This canoe trip was going to be at least four weeks long They planned to paddle all the way from Rae to Hottah Lake on an old canoe route called the Idaa Trail People used the trail for hundreds of years
to get from Fort Rae to Fort Norman explained his mom They traveled by dog team in winter and birchbark canoe in summer Your grandparents used to travel on that trail with their families when they were your age Now they want to show you and your cousins the important places on the way The next week John's parents drove him from Yellowknife to Rae where his cousins Nora and Peter and his grandparents Etseh and Etsi were getting ready for the trip John Come and look at the map Peter called as soon as he saw his cousin They gathered around the kitchen table Their grandfather slowly traced a route that would take them along rivers lakes and portages north to Hottah Lake It was a route that had been traveled by many generations
of Dogrib people Etsi smiled at the excitement in the eyes of her three grandchildren They spent the next day packing Two large packs one smaller pack and one tent would go in each canoe Tsekoa pass me the sugar Etsi asked Nora Into the food pack went tea flour
raisins sugar lard baking powder dried caribou meat rice salt and a freshly baked bannock Then Etsi packed her sewing kit a few pots and some dishes Etseh carefully placed the guns in their caribou hide cases and checked his ax and fish net We can't forget the teapot laughed Etsi Or the bug jackets said Nora What about the bush radio asked Peter Hee replied Etseh He shoved the bright orange radio into the
