Reflections of Learning: Youth Event Spring 2025

DAY ONE 

The start of this youth event began with me and another youth participant leaving Moose Factory through boat taxi to reach the train station in Moosonee. Once we boarded the train, we were able to take a break and relax for the three-hour ride it took to get to the Fraserdale train stop. Unlike your typical train station, this is an isolated destination in the forest of Northern Ontario.  

When we arrived in Fraserdale, we were immediately picked up by another youth participant and Claire Farrell, a Wildlife Conservation Society Canada (WCS) employee. The drive to our campsite alongside the Mattagami River was fun since we were able to spot wildlife immediately. In total, the four of us counted about 51 rabbits and 7 bears before we made it to our camping ground, which made for a silly moment as our driver almost missed our seventh bear sighting. It was a quick moment where she thought we were looking at more rabbits, but as she turned her head to the direction we were focused on, she finally spotted the bear and shouted, “he looked at me!” It was a nice moment to share some early laughs with the group I would be spending the next few days with.  

Additionally, this experience allowed us to see the hydroelectric stations/dams we would cross multiple times throughout our time camping in the Lower Mattagami River area. 

DAY TWO 

On our second day, I experienced an interesting wake-up call that was too early to enjoy staying awake. Since we were camping in a safe location near the hydroelectric station, I was woken up by the sound of their alarm at 4AM. In the previous night, we were told about the possibility of hearing the noises that go on with the hydroelectric station, so I was able to fall back asleep with no concerns.  

At a more reasonable hour, we received our real wake-up call and joined everyone to eat breakfast. During this time, we went over our plans for today, and once we were done eating, we cleaned up our mess and started our activities for the day.  

The day started off slow, learning about the various water tests that we would be doing later in the evening. Next up, Cynthia Archibald, a Moose Cree Knowledge Holder, arrived to guide us on a nature walk to share information about the plants, trees, and the environment around us. I enjoyed this interaction as we learned how helpful certain plants, depending on the season, can be in times of crisis.  

When we finished our walk, our next activity for the day began. All the youth participants were gathered and assigned in two groups to do a geocaching/GPS activity. This required following a set of predetermined coordinates down the road we walked through during our nature walk. I enjoyed this activity because it gave us a chance to learn about what Learning from Lake Sturgeon does. In searching for all five answers, it gave us an opportunity to read about the research the LFLS project has done on lake sturgeon and why the science behind it all matters when it comes to the environment and our water resources.  

After the activity was over, we all gathered to eat lunch and enjoy some downtime. While we were enjoying our time, it was quite hot outside, so some participants chose to take a nap. Others chose to do their own activities, like sunbathing and reading books they brought from home. I chose to watch the cornball game that had been set up during this time, and it was fun to watch everyone compete.  

As the weather turned cooler in the evening, we all walked towards the river with our life jackets and water sampling kits to document our findings with the tools that WCS brought for this trip. I personally think water testing should be more common in our area since this trip helped us understand the importance of doing so, and it can provide useful information in understanding the water that provides our community with many of our cultural needs.  

The rest of the evening was spent socializing by the fire and sharing our thoughts. Some participants made s’mores and others made banana boats – a snack that requires you to roast peeled bananas in a tinfoil with chocolate and marshmallows. With food being out, we did experience a surprise visit from a fox! We made sure that no food was accessible to the animal as we did not want it to get near us. It was cool to get a few photos of this fox as we had seen it multiple times during this trip, but we made sure that it did not get too close to us. This was another funny moment during the trip as we watched our supervisor make themselves loud and scary to warn the fox from getting too close to our campsite.  

We also experienced a lot of bird watching and identifying them since Claire Farrell from WCS has a passion for birding. This made the event more fun for me since it brought forward a lot of enthusiasm that I admired. Everything about this youth event made me more appreciative of the environment I live in. 

DAY THREE 

Our third day was definitely our busiest day since we experienced an earlier wake-up call. After breakfast, we left our campsite at 9:30 AM to join the Ontario Power Generation (OPG), partner to Moose Cree First Nation (MCFN), who would guide us through our day. Through their guidance, we arrived at our first destination to talk about the measures they take to ensure the land around their work remains healthy. This work was guided by professionals from Natural Resource Solutions Inc., an environmental consulting firm, and Kiewit Corporation, a contracting company who has been working on updates to the Lower Mattagami Hydroelectric Complex. 

When it comes to planting seeds, they have a device that evenly spreads the assorted mix of domestic seeds that are local to our area. After a brief tutorial, we were given the chance to try the device for ourselves, and admittedly, it is a little tricky to figure out how to use the device. In another location, they educated us about the tree planting that happens in the area and the various types of trees that can be ordered. This was an interesting portion of the trip because we were able to plant several trees in the area.  

While we were doing this activity, we spotted two killdeer birds, and one of them was pretending to be injured as this is a defense mechanism they use to protect their nest. They were trying to distract us from getting too close to their eggs, and thankfully, we never disturbed their nest as we continued to plant trees in the area! When we were finished, we ate lunch that OPG provided. 

 Afterwards, we went back to one more area to learn about the history of their tree planting. The area we stood in was previously designated as a large work camp, but since it is no longer an active site, we were able to view the successful efforts of replanting trees in this area. When this part of the day was over, the youth participants and I were taken back to the campsite for the remainder of the day.  

This is when we were joined by Marrisa Matthews from MCFN to discuss and complete the community survey on a proposed Energy policy. We truly learned many different things on this trip, and I am grateful for the people who took the time to educate us during this youth event.  

After supper, we had a lot of free time to do what we wanted, and since it was our final evening, I chose to go fishing with another youth participant. It was nice to experience a calm evening after all the activities we participated in. I did catch one fish, a small walleye, and admittedly, I had no idea I caught a fish. The original thought was that I caught grass on my line because there was little to no resistance, but I was wrong! Afterwards, we went back to the campsite since there were hardly any bites before or after my catch.  

Before it was time to sleep, we had one final activity by the campfire, which was conservation jeopardy! The whole theme of the game centered around facts we learned throughout this youth event. We had a lot of laughs about this because everyone showed a lot of enthusiasm as the game started to reach an end. Since this game was played in the dark and it was our final night, we were given glowsticks to play with, which I kept in my tent when I prepared for sleep. Before I fell asleep, I noticed my tent was glowing orange, so I unzipped it to see a huge fire in our designated fireplace. A few participants and supervisors stayed by the fire to burn our empty cardboard boxes. By doing so, they kept the site clean and minimized the waste we would travel back home with. 

DAY FOUR 

Our journey was finally coming to an end. On our last day, we woke up early to accommodate the participants who needed to be back in Fraserdale to board the train back home. We had our breakfast, shared our final thoughts in a shared group debrief, and expressed gratitude to the people who made this youth event fun and safe. When that was over, we started packing up our belongings and cleaning up any garbage we saw to leave the site unimpacted. This was a slightly bittersweet moment for us since everyone enjoyed the time we spent together, and I was really impressed by how much we could learn about the environment we live in.