A local Aboriginal man took his canoe on a journey down the Peace River to heal youth from an Alberta reserve who had been caught sniffing gas.Dan Lindsay, a Cree-Mtis man living in Gibsons, owns the Yanka Dene, a replica of traditional West Coast canoes. The Little Red River Cree Nation invited Lindsay, who is a certified alcohol and drug counsellor, to bring his canoe up for the trip. Max Morin, a former Sunshine Coast RCMP constable who retired then joined the North Peace Tribal Police, called Lindsay because he knew him and his canoe. The tribal police joined with the nation's Fox Lake Reserve to embark on the project, after the reserve was seeing younger kids get into gas sniffing and even dying. The journey took 10 youth ranging in age from nine to 12 and two elders down a route their ancestors had travelled."The goal was to teach them to reach back into the past and to help make a better future," Lindsay said. As well, the 57-mile cultural trip was to raise their self-esteem and to teach them something to do instead of sniffing gas. The group paddled the distance in the 31-foot canoe, with Lindsay steering. "The canoe is like a ship to them," he said.They camped along the way, rediscovering their culture through nature. At the end, they had cultural events such as traditional songs and dances, where about 800 people came in from three surrounding reserves."They had a ball," Lindsay said. Their journey from Aug. 9 to 18 started at Fort Ver-million outside Edmon-ton and ended at the Little Red River Post, a former Hudson's Bay trading fort.The reserve is completely isolated and the native language is still intact because children don't learn English until they enter school, Lindsay said. About half the community is under 20 years old, he added. Lindsay felt blessed to invited into such a closely-knit community.Lindsay bought the canoe to heal and educate both Aboriginals and non-Aboriginals. He and his wife Brenda Menard make up the Yanka Dene Seagoing Society, which takes people out in the canoe on tours by donation."If there's a need, we answer the need," Lindsay said.He takes people out who otherwise would not have the opportunity or who could not afford a canoe trip, such as a group of HIV-positive youth from Vancouver. He also takes school groups out canoeing. "The look on their faces Ñ that's payment enough," he said.
