Tłı̨chǫ K'ielà Project

The Tłı̨chǫ K’ielà Project documents a 1996 land-based knowledge project near Russell Lake, just outside of Behchokǫ, where six Tłı̨chǫ Elders came together to rebuild a traditional birchbark canoe. This work centred the transfer of skills, law, and responsibility tied to travel, harvesting, and living well on the land. Elders led the process, with youth learning through observation and practice, showing how knowledge lives through doing, not instruction alone. The project was recorded through film, photography, and written documentation, later earning the People’s Choice Award at the 1997 Far North Film Festival. It stands as a record of Tłı̨chǫ self-determination in protecting and carrying forward land-based knowledge, at a time when these skills were at risk of being lost.

Read the Tłı̨chǫ K'ielà Project Information Pamphlet

View video on the Tłı̨chǫ K'ielà Project on PWNHC Vimeo Channel or below:

References:

• Dogrib Birchbark Canoe (1997) from PWNHC on Vimeo.
• Dogrib Birchbark Canoe Project from Archives Canada
• The Dogrib Birchbark Canoe Project by Thomas D. Andrews, John B. Zoe Vol 51, No 1 (1998) on Arctic Institute of North America