Tse’k’wa to host Foundry Traps and Tracks camp for youth

CHARLIE LAKE, B.C. — A local historical site dating back to the ice age will be home to a tracking camp to begin the summer.

Foundry Fort St. John is set to host a youth Traps and Tracks camp, scheduled for Friday, July 3rd, at Tse’k’wa Historic Site in Charlie Lake, in partnership with the Tse’k’wa Heritage Society.

In Indigenous cultures, fur trapping was historically done to cultivate animal pelts, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia. Animals also provided food and shelter for Indigenous Peoples.

Foundry Fort St. John community development and project lead, Ascunsion Sta. Maria spoke with Energeticcity.ca about how the camp planning came together.

“[Foundry] started offering family and youth-oriented activities in March,” said Sta. Maria. “We have been doing one activity every month, and we also started hosting the youth hangout space at the library monthly.”

“All of these activities and gatherings [always] have a registration form. We always ask if you were to be asked, ‘what kinds of activities would you like us to do in the future?’  One of the things that we’ve heard more than once is hosting an outdoor-type activity and hosting an Indigenous-focused activity.”

Sta. Maria said she begun talking with Tse’k’wa Heritage Society executive director Alyssa Currie in January but made concrete plans for the camp about a week ago.

The camp will be done in two sessions, in the afternoon and evening. It is open to all youth ages 12 to 24, and is free.

Activities during the camp will include trapping traditions, learning animal names in the Dane-zaa language, fur and trapping demonstrations, tracking wildlife, a campfire with hot dogs and marshmallows and more.

The event will take place on Friday, July 3rd, starting at 1 p.m., at Tse’k’wa National Historic Site, 12629 Butte Lane in Charlie Lake. Transportation to the site will not be provided.

More details and how to register are available on the camp’s Facebook page.