Find out what happens when you take a land-based course about indigenous governance and decolonization and add the Royal Family’s newest celebrities, Will and Kate. This radio documentary takes listeners to Dechinta Bush University on Dene Land in the Northwest Territories. The main character, Erin Freeland Ballantyne is the visionary behind this project, and she works closely with young leader Kyla Kakfwi Scott.
Teaching looks a lot like learning at Dechinta Bush University. This isn’t any old campus. The school is located at Blachford Lake Lodge, 25 minutes east of Yellowknife by float plane on the traditional territory of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
Five friends and I completed a 54-day canoe expedition on Nunavut’s Back River in the summer of 2005. I was ready to be tested, but I never imagined the combination of grief, beauty and disaster that would push me to the limit and leave me with a new understanding of the wild. I wrote this essay at the Banff Centre’s Literary Journalism program in 2005.
June 2010: Excavation Digging down through layers of northern experience. And going back in time. This essay pulls apart the strata of history that compound to create a single moment.
Check out some of my past work in this entry.
I am a writer, a broadcaster, a wilderness guide and a naturalist. My passions include communications, wild places and radio journalism. On this site, you will find a bio, a portfolio and a way to get in touch with me. I hope you will.