CHRS Newsletter - Winter 2021

The Canadian River Stewardship Awards are presented every three years to individuals and organizations who have made a significant contribution to the stewardship of a Canadian Heritage River or to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System program as a whole.
 
Three outstanding individuals received a Canadian River Stewardship Award for 2017-2020:

• Clarence Ryan for his work as the Chair of the Pisquid River Enhancement Project (PEI);
• Geoff Bowie and partners for their work on the film: South Nahanni: River of Forgiveness (NWT); and
• Tracy Bond, for her work with the Baker Creek Enhancement Society (BC). 

In this and upcoming editions of the CHRS newsletter, we will feature the invaluable contributions that these river guardians made for these rivers and celebrate their role in our past, present and future.

In 2018, following two years of planning, a production team that included participants from several Dehcho First Nations and Sahtu boat builders undertook a film project unlike any other. Led by filmmaker Geoff Bowie, the project sought to document and film a journey using an age old tradition passed down by Dene and Sahtu peoples since time immemorial: the building and travelling by boats made of moosehide. The production featured the entire process of building the traditional vessel and travelling this ancient route. The film not only followed the physical journey down Nahʔą Dehé, but the emotional and spiritual journeys for the participating travellers as well.

The South Nahanni River and the surrounding landscape have always been sacred to the local Indigenous people, long before they were protected as part of the original Nahanni National Park Reserve in 1976 and designated one of the world’s first World Heritage Sites in 1978. The river was also designated a Canadian Heritage River in 1987 and in 2009 the park reserve was expanded with the cooperation of the Dehcho First Nations to include the majority of the South Nahanni watershed. The film project succeeded in capturing a cultural voyage in action, with a moosehide boat built from scratch on the shores of the river by Dene hands. A tradition long absent from the Nahanni returned, and this film helped the Dene people who undertook the journey to share their story with the world.

Nahanni: River of Forgiveness was produced in partnership with the Indigenous people of the Dehcho and Sahtu Regions of the Northwest Territories. Bowie consulted often with the communities to ensure that the production reflected Dene culture and traditional ways. The team worked together to bring the human aspect of the boat building process and the journey to life throughout the film. It also helped to create awareness of important places of healing and spiritual power like Gahnįhthah Mie (Rabbitkettle tufa mounds), Náįlįcho (Virginia Falls) and Kraus Hot springs.

Nahanni: River of Forgiveness is available on the web for streaming. It has been featured at many festivals throughout North America, made virtual due to COVID-19 and been honoured by many awards (a list which continues to grow, as of the writing of this piece!). As of November 2020, the film has been featured at:

• Yellowknife International Film Festival (sold out screening) 
• Garifuna International Indigenous Film Festival (Los Angeles)
• Celebes International Film Festival (Djakarta)
• Available Light International Film Festival (Whitehorse, Yukon) (top 10 audience favourite)
• Big Sky Documentary Film Festival (Montana)
• U.S. International Film and Video Festival (Redondo Beach)
• American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco) – November 2020
• Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival – November 2020
• Red Nation International Film Festival (Los Angeles) – November 2020

 At these festivals, the film won:

• At the Celebes International Film Festival (focusing on culture) it won the top award: Platinum Star
• At the U.S. International Film & Video Festival it won a Gold Camera Award and was a finalist for the best documentary at the festival.  

Bowie and the film crew acted as impartial observers, allowing the story of the mooseskin boat passengers to unfold in their own words. The journey ended at Ehdaa National Historic site in the village of Fort Simpson (NWT), where the Dene people have gathered for thousands of years.  If you would like to learn more about the film or watch it online, visit riverofforgiveness.com or look for it on the Documentary Channel and CBC Gem in the coming months ahead.

Geoff Bowie and his partners were one of three recipients of the Canadian Heritage River Stewardship Awards 2016-2019. The Awards are presented every three years to individuals and organizations who have made a significant contribution to the stewardship of a Canadian Heritage River or to the Canadian Heritage Rivers System program as a whole. As stated on the Award: 

“Geoff worked tirelessly with the Dene and Sahtu project partners on Nahanni: River of Forgiveness to share the Dene and Sahtu traditions and experience of moosehide boat building. He expressed appreciation for the work accomplished by his team, the people involved and their journeys. He demonstrated compassion for the Dene people and motivated everyone to achieve their goal in sharing their amazing craft and expertise with the world."

The Red River, one of Manitoba’s four designated Canadian Heritage Rivers, is well known for being a winter recreation hotspot. In particular, The Forks Centennial River Trail, which starts at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers in Winnipeg, is visited by thousands of people each winter and used for skating, walking and running. This trail holds the Guinness World Record for being the longest naturally frozen skating trail in the world (10 km) and receives international attention each year for its unique Warming Huts art and architecture competition. The Forks trail officially began to be cleared for skating in 1990, but people have been skating on the Red and Assiniboine rivers since at least 1872. The opening and closing dates of the river trail, as well as its length, are dependent on weather and ice conditions, but the trail is typically open for at least eight weeks. This year, the first section of the trail was opened at the end of December, with additional sections to be added in January. The availability of the river trail is more important than ever in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as it provides a safe way for people to recreate and get exercise outdoors during this difficult time.

The Red River is not the only Canadian Heritage River that provides winter recreation opportunities. The Rideau Canal in Ottawa also offers an internationally known skating trail. Another example of rivers being used to encourage people to get active in the winter is Walk to Tuk, an annual community walking challenge in the Northwest Territories. In this challenge, people form teams and combine to conceptually walk the distance of the Mackenzie River from Fort Providence to Tuktoyaktuk (1,658 km).

In late 2019, a study was published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health that examined the impact of an urban trail on a frozen waterway on visitor counts and physical activity levels. The urban trail used to conduct this “natural experiment” was the skating trail on the Red and Assiniboine rivers in 2017-18 and 2018-19. The study results noted that this frozen waterway attracts approximately 200,000-250,000 visitors each year, or 2,000-4,500 daily. Conclusions of the study included that the river trail substantially increased visits to the existing urban trail network and was associated with a meaningful amount of moderate to vigorous physical activity. This suggests that providing opportunities to travel and recreate on urban rivers in the winter could encourage populations living in cold climates to be more active during the frosty months. However, it should be noted that the study authors found that very few users of the river trail came from low income homes or were visible minorities, with the reasons for that unknown but potentially related to transportation options, a lack of adequate clothing or equipment, and/or other factors. This suggests a need for improved access to, and potentially awareness of, the river trail.

The success of Winnipeg’s river trail in terms of attracting visitors and providing a variety of winter recreation opportunities should serve as a model for other jurisdictions looking to expand use of their rivers in the winter months. The results of the study described above provide even more incentive for communities across Canada to try to follow this example and encourage their citizens to be more physically active even when the temperatures drop.