Hunters sharpen tracking skills near Regina

Sask. hunters learn tracking Indigenous hunters and the Nature Conservancy of Canada trekked into the woods Saturday to learn about different animal tracks.

A group of eager learners of all ages took part in an animal tracking course north of Regina on Saturday.

Darryl Chamakese, an indigenous hunter and fisherman, grew up loving the land.

He says hunting and fishing are part of what defines him, and now he’s sharing his appreciation for nature and his knowledge of living off of it through a course hosted by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

“Without Mother Earth, we wouldn’t live,” Chamakese said. “So we try to show them that respect, and I’m glad there’s some young people here enjoying the land, getting to know her.”

The conservancy says it’s important to get indigenous hunters involved to share their deep rooted history with the Treaty 4 land.

“The people who lived on this land before we got here, how did they figure out where they were going, who they were and how to hunt them and how to track them?” said Kayla Burak with the NCC.

Philip Brass, another leader of the course, says reconnecting younger generations with nature is important for maintaining culture.

“I think for a lot of the crisis that our first nations youth are facing, it’s really about a crisis of loss of identity that stems from a disconnection of land-based lifestyles,” Brass said.

Brass says the rise in privately owned land and selling of crown lands has played a role in availability to hunting grounds.

“Access is always the issue, we’re seeing less and less access in order to maintain that way of life,” Brass said. “There’s definitely a desire for it, it’s just about trying to knock down some of those barriers that restrict us from exercising and accessing that way of life.”

To help fuel that desire, the tracking course sought out prints of deer, fox, moose, and elk in hopes of teaching more people to appreciate all Mother Nature has to offer.

Based on a report by CTV Regina’s Stefanie Davis