First Nations youth learn archery

Young people in Fort William First Nation were sharpening their archery skills on Friday.

A couple dozen youth gathered in the community’s gymnasium Friday for a day of learning and competition.

Archery is a traditional method for hunting and at least one participant hopes the skills he learns through the workshop will come in handy in the bush.

“When I’m out in the wild, if I have archery, if I don’t have any food, I’ll try hunting like animals, squirrels, deer,” said Marcel Pelletier.

Learning the traditional knowledge is important, he said, and might help him one day.

We are learning “how to shoot properly, how to load up the arch and arrow into the (bow) properly,” he said.

It’s important to show Indigenous youth how food was gathered “back in the day,” said Kalem Goodchild, Fort William First Nation’s recreation coordinator.

It’s the fifth year in a row the First Nation has hosted the archery program, Goodchild said.

“The youth really do enjoy it, it brings a lot of community members in, brings a lot of friends and families in,” he said.

He said there are a few competitions at the end of the day, which lots of youth look forward to.

Aside from hunting, Goodchild would love to see some of the youth take up archery as a sport.

The workshop was taught by officers with the Thunder Bay Police Service. – tbnewswatch.com

article website here

…Archery is a traditional method for hunting and at least one participant hopes the skills he learns through the workshop will come in handy in the bush.

“When I’m out in the wild, if I have archery, if I don’t have any food, I’ll try hunting like animals, squirrels, deer,” said Marcel Pelletier.

Learning the traditional knowledge is important, he said, and might help him one day….

• Archery is a traditional method of hunting by FN people
• The workshop was taught by officers of the Thunder Bay Police Service

Anyone see an irony here?  Seriously?

Come on.  You cannot make this up.