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Fantasy river. ILLUSTRATION: STEPHANIE RYAN


Storyteller. T E L LING TA L E S


On our final day, I'm up early. After paddling till 4 a.m., we've reached the map’s final X, our take-out at Fort MacPherson. The vibrations and sounds of traffic are foreign to my senses and I can’t sleep. Instead, I stroll along the hard mud banks of the Peel River, among the scattered cabins and wall tents that are summer homes to the local community. I wander past a pile of tangled fishing nets to a traditional smokehouse and pull the door open a crack. The warm scent of smoking fish wafts out. A ferret scampers across the floor and darts into a small hole.


An ancient man stands to greet me. My host is Ernest Vittrekwa, a 70-something-year- old Gwich'in elder who has spent his life on the Peel and explored its every corner. His community is one the strongest voices fighting to stop industry development from coming to this watershed.


He doesn’t talk about that though. Instead, he tells me his own stories about the places I have just paddled through—the winter caribou hunts upriver and the summers spent at Hungry Lake. It’s not just his own


46 | Canoeroots


stories he shares; tales passed down from his father and grandfathers are woven throughout. The sense of place gained from the roots of generations has made him familiar with this land in a very intimate way.


Mostly, I sit quietly, simply listening. When I leave the smokehouse, I feel connected to the land in a new and deeper way. I’ve found its human soul, thousands of years old.


More than 800 people attended the sold-out show of paintings, photos, video and song created during the trip. Get music inspired by the journey at www.matthewlien.com. This summer, photographer Peter Mather will return to the Wind River with a second group of artists to bring further attention to the Peel Watershed and the threat it faces. www.petermather.com.


jDIGITAL EXTRA: Click here to watch a short film with images and music from the expedition.


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