Learning Story – “Do I have caribou legs?”

Learning Story – “Do I have caribou legs?”

The Week of November 19th, 2024

What Happened?

Lila Fraser Erasmus read the story Caribou Boy with us today. We talked about the significance of caribou and how hunting for caribou is about so much more than eating it. “We are caribou people.” We talked about what this means and and how important it is to respect the caribou so that it will continue to provide for the Dene people. While reading the book and talking about caribou boy’s legs and how fast he was, one of the Bushkids said “Do I have caribou legs?” 

Why is it Important?

We put the canvas on the tipi today! It is the first tipi we have ever had at Bushkids. It is a tremendous gift. Lila shared the story of Caribou Boy today because tipi’s are often made with caribou hide. The caribou provide so much for Dene people and it is important to give the Bushkids an appreciation for Dene hunting technology. We needed many hands to get the tipi up and we worked so well together as a team, finding our own role and what we could contribute to the process – strength, planning, leadership, small hands for small spaces and problem solving. 

What Does This Mean For Next Time?

We could make a caribou skin ball with the small piece of caribou hide that we learned on to share another way that the caribou contributes to the Dene community. We were gifted a moose leg to process for next week so we can talk more about hunting in the context of moose – where and when was it hunted and by who? How is the moose habitat different from caribou? We can also practice more Tłı̨chǫ language about moose and caribou.