LAC LA BICHE - The 35 local kids who gathered at the Bold Center on the afternoon of Aug. 18 for the weekly Mad About Science Camp were given an education in local animal tracks and hides, but also picked up a bit of the Cree language.
Mad About Science is a free, educational summer day camp for kids between the ages of six and 12 and is sponsored by Lac La Biche County Environmental Services.
During the presentation, Nicole Lavallee, a community support worker at the Lac La Biche Native Friendship Centre, and Vernon Auger, who teaches Cree, displayed the hides of various animals which are endemic to the region, including coyote, rabbit, beaver, fox, skunk, and others.
While Lavallee passed around the hides to the eager and excited group of youngsters, Auger told them the names of each animal in the Cree language, but not before asking if they already knew what the Indigenous words were.
Auger also explained the process of making hides.
“After an animal is killed, the skin is dried, with the excess meat gets scraped off,” he told Lakeland This Week. “Some hunters use fat or salt to help soften the skin during the process of creating hides.”
When this portion of the event had concluded, the attendees were shown how to identify the tracks of dozens of common animals, with the guest speakers distributing printouts with pictures on them to make the learning easier and more fun.
Lavallee explained that teaching this knowledge is very important, as people must learn to balance living with nature.
“Even though we don’t live the same way our ancestors did in the past, we must still respect the habitat of animals,” she stated. “Furthermore, people should be more mindful when tramping through natural areas and not leave garbage behind.”
The Lac La Biche region is home to hundreds of species of wildlife, including mink, rabbit, coyotes, red foxes, beavers, moose, and black bears. There are also over 200 bird species, including shorebirds and waterbirds like herons, pelicans, and grebes and birds of prey such as eagles, ospreys, and owls.
