The Jasper Local August 15, 2017

a lt e r n at i v e +

LOCAL + independent

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thejasperlocal.com

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tuesday, august 15, 2017 // ISSUE 103

ZAK DUNN-ALLEN MAKES HIS WAY UP THE SHOULDER OF MOUNT EDITH CAVELL’S EAST RIDGE AUGUST 12. // DOUG OLTHOF

No monkeying around! Town closes playground Municipal officials have closed a local playground and fenced off local play structures after an injury at Fireman’s Park.

The Municipality of Jasper says the closures are in place so the parks can be brought up to current safety standards.

“In the case of the playgrounds, the equipment is old and needs some upgrades to continue to be safe for young residents,” said Communications Manager Christine Nadon.

Nadon confirmed there was an injury at Fireman’s Park, located outside of Aspen Gardens in the 200 block of Bonhomme Street, but suggested the closures are a separate matter. Tape went up around a structure at

Lion’s Park and the outdoor climbing wall at Centennial Park was closed temporarily for maintenance.

This past winter, the municipality underwent a risk assessment. As a result, two popular tobogganing hills were closed. Recently, MOJ staff, together with residents, have been working on creative solutions to address identified risks at those sites.

Two playgrounds in Cabin Creek were also removed in the spring. One will be replaced.

“Risk management is a huge portfolio,” Nadon said. “We realize some kids will be disappointed.”

bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page A2 // the jasper local // issue 103 // tuesday, august 15, 2017

editorial //

Local Vocal Do you qualify to live here?

That would be a strange, intrusive inquiry in any other place in Canada. Not so in Jasper National Park, where a federal realty office exists, the employees of which are required to ensure citizens meet the requirements of residency. How invasive, awkward and personal is that?

Like most rules, eligible residency requirements were put in place for a reason. Broadly, they ensure community housing is available exclusively for community use, rather than let Johnny Oil Patch or Vinnie Vacation Home take up valuable real estate in an air-tight housing market.

And in many ways the Need to Reside clause, as it’s known locally, works pretty well. We don’t have “Canmore Syndrome,” wherein second homes sit empty for most of the year while their owners burn the candle in some distant city so they can afford to go skiing a few times a year. In theory, the clause enables Jasper to have a more cohesive community and helps businesses retain much-needed staff.

The problem is when the rule is enforced so rigidly that folks who are fully engaged in the community’s affairs—and its economy—are squeezed out because their circumstances don’t fit the stringent guidelines.

The hope is that discretion, intelligence and common sense will prevail when those whose job it is to manage those systems come upon situations which have not been foreseen.

The digital age has swept in many changes, not the least of which is how our economies operate.

Not only do jobs exist today which only 10 years ago were unheard of (eg. social media manager, app designer, data miner), but many of the vocations which at one time required a brick and mortar presence can now operate remotely (RIP, bookstores).

Jasper is not immune to these changes. Today, home-based photography businesses, accounting firms, computer technician companies and even newspapers (gulp) all contribute to the local economy while their employees and their employees’ families add to the community tableau; yet an argument can be made that many of these enterprises would not be viable by moving into a commercial space as per park guidelines.

In the example we feature in these pages (page B2), common sense does win the day. However, it’s troubling that such a resolution feels so precarious. Our hope is that a wider lens—one which accommodates community cohesiveness and rewards local, sustainable enterprise—will be applied when assessing future eligible residency requirements. That way, things don’t have to get so invasive, awkward and personal. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

A long black snake will slither // Local poetry //

A rare and blesséd wilderness that other lands have lost Still shelters all the wildlife that call this park their home.

In spring come birds from southern spheres to find familiar woods The grass grows green and first flowers bloom as the bear comes down From the Endless Chain to scratch its back on a favourite tree.

Caribou of the Brazeau herd still feed on their ancient land As the eagle soars and sees the wild – as it was meant to be.

But there are plans to open up Pandora’s box And let destruction out. A bike trail like a long black snake

Will slither south through meadow, woods and stream; Rocks will be blasted, trees felled and wildlife’s trails destroyed.

Bears will search in vain for berries, shredded by machine, And dandelions now poisoned by those who want To ‘share the land with wildlife’ – whatever that may mean.

High above, the eagle soars and sees the earth destroyed, Sees creatures driven from their dens while birds that lose their nest trees Call distractedly below; watches as the caribou their ancient land forswear As a hard, paved trail snakes forward to usurp what once was theirs.

The Jasper Local //

Jasper’s independent alternative newspaper 780.852.9474 • thejasperlocal.com • po box 2046, jasper ab, t0e 1e0

Published on the 1st and 15th of each month Editor / Publisher

Bob Covey.................................................................................... bob@thejasperlocal.com Art Director

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// Local comment

tuesday, august 15, 2017 // issue 103 // the jasper local// page A3

SUNSET FROM CALEDONIA LAKE SHOWS BEETLE-KILLED PINE FORESTS WEST OF JASPER//BC

Opinion: National Park rules should apply to all groups

Out by Sixth Bridge in JNP, there’s a spacious meadow which once housed the JNP fish hatchery, warden offices, and Parks Canada staff accommodations.

Long before, it was a place where Indigenous Peoples gathered.

It’s a surreal site; native grasses carpet open meadows and the whisper of rustling aspens and the murmur of the Maligne River are the only discernible sounds.

Fittingly, it is now welcoming back Indigenous groups with ties to JNP, as a cultural and spiritual site.

This area is also a wildlife corridor.

However, the animal currently grazing there is not an elk or a deer but an ungainly pachyderm—an elephant in the room.

As reported in The Jasper Local (Fire for ceremony during ban was justified: supe, August 1) a grizzly bear was lured into camp by an untidy campsite and a ceremonial fire was allowed to burn during a park and town-wide ban. Typically these are serious park offences which have serious consequences. The elephant is the fact that

no one is administering or talking about these violations.

Many park users, including myself, have furrowed brows and silent questions on our tongues; we all understand the importance of proper food storage when camping. Why don’t wildlife safety park rules apply to this site? In addition to spiritual and cultural ceremonies, this site should strive to be an exemplary model of what’s expected and important in a national park and why.

Many have worked very hard to make this site a reality and maybe some things have to be reassessed; while it’s absolutely important to have this distinctive place for spiritual and cultural ceremonies, the site should not be a lawless oasis in the middle of a national park.

Indigenous groups should be encouraged to respect park regulations, still be able to practice traditional ceremonies but not at the expense of public safety and compromising wildlife. Moreover, Parks Canada should deal with these violations in the same way other users’ violations are dealt with.

The native grasses in that surreal, open meadow have to sway in harmony and peace.

Loni Klettl // info@thejasperlocal.com

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// poetry cont.

The fierce eye of the eagle sees the mother bear That once enjoyed the fresh spring grass that grew on this good earth Wander off with two small cubs in search of other fare.

Tired souls came from concrete

lands to see this envied wild With lofty peaks and tangled streams, primordial, Mirroring this country’s past and its present fragile beauty.

Thousands came to wonder, heal, and leave refreshed They saw the bears, they saw the

wild, but now they’ll only see A long black snake that kills the earth and kills the peace Where protected wilderness was meant to be.

- Jill Seaton, Jasper

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page B1 // the jasper local // issue 103 // tuesday, august 15, 2017

Local festivals //

THE WORLD’S BEST CYCLISTS WILL ONCE AGAIN LINE UP IN JASPER AND LOOP THE SOUTH ATHABASCA VALLEY BEFORE CLIMBING STEEPLY TO MARMOT BASIN // B COVEY

Stage set for Tour of Alberta

On September 1, the ATB Tour of Alberta will roll into Jasper National Park.

For racers, the Jasper stage is atheistically beautiful, with the only mountaintop finish of the Tour. For locals, it’s a chance to experience an international event and see the best cyclists in the world up-close. For the Local Organizing Committee, it’s the culmination of months of preparation, community outreach and decision-making.

Christine Nadon is the LOC’s cochair. Having recently announced the festival’s Robson Park location (Elm Ave at Geikie St), Nadon hopes the group has struck a winning compromise when it comes to accommodating spectators and businesses.

“It’s close to downtown but we’re not disrupting the downtown core as much as we were two years ago,” she said.

Through a poll, the business community narrowly chose the festival site as Robson Park, next to the Jasper Library, rather than having the hub at on the Information Centre lawn as in 2015.

Street closures will affect Elm Ave and Robson St on Thursday and Friday (noon, August 31 to 6pm, September 1); and Geikie St and Elm Ave on Friday (5am-12pm, September 1).

The race begins at 10:25 a.m.

Friday, September 1.

Parking bans will be in effect on the race route at 7 a.m., Sept 1, until the racers exit Jasper. A rolling 20 minute closure will follow the racers and their entourage down the highway.

Race Route Racers will head to the back of town on Elm Ave from the festival site, head west on Bonhomme St., south on Pine Ave. (Lions Park), west on Connaught, take Sleepy Hollow Rd then exit town via 93A. They’ll loop counterclockwise 3 times on 93A/93 until the Marmot Basin hill.

Racing fans familiar with European events will appreciate the event’s relatively small scale. The ATB Tour of Alberta is popular, but compared to other pro tours, crowds are sparse. The TOA represents a rare opportunity to get an up-close view of the action, says Freewheel Cycle’s Chris Peel.

“You can get right beside the road. If this race was held in Europe there’d

be thousands of people watching.”

Tourism Jasper expects millions to be watching abroad; an estimated 47 million viewers in 50 different countries tune in. Festival goers can see what they see by taking in the event on the jumbo screen at Robson Park, or they can watch it live from a pullout along the race route.

If you ask the LOC’s Erin Reade where to watch the race from, she’d suggest watching the start in Jasper, finding a safe spot on 93/93A (before 11:30 a.m) to view the second lap, then driving up to Marmot Basin (before the road closes at 1:30 p.m.) to see the

“If this race was held in Europe there’d be thousands of people watching along the road.” live finish (public parking in P3/P2).

When the dramatic breakaways start to take place on the mountaintop, Ottawa-born Michael Woods of team Cannondale–Drapac hopes to be making a challenge. Woods rode as an amateur when the TOA came to Jasper in 2015. On that day, Woods chalked up Marmot’s fifth fastest hill climb (source: Strava GPS).

“I got to compete against Peter Sagan who was world champion.,” he said. “It was a great opportunity to see how I stacked up.”

Local vendors are invited to see how their wares stack up for the extra visitors taking in the tour. The LOC is still interested in hearing from locals selling food and crafts or setting up an information booth for a non-profit.

//RACING ENTHUSIASTS ARE IN LYCRA HEAVEN DURING THE TOA FESTIVAL // BC

“We understand that it’s a busy time of year and it’s hard for businesses to pull away and send staff to the festival, but we already have a few vendors that did quite well two years ago,” said Nadon. “It’s a business

Marmot Hill Climb: Top times THE JASPER STAGE OF THE ATB TOUR OF ALBERTA CULMINATES IN A 13 KILOMETRE, 2,100 METRE GRIND FROM THE ASTORIA RIVER TO MARMOT BASIN’S LOWER CHALET. As expected, when the Tour of Alberta came through Jasper National Park in 2015, local hill climb records were obliterated as the pros—even after doing three fast-paced laps around the Highway 93/93A loop—sprinted up the final switchbacks.

2015 TOA riders claimed the 35 fastest times up the Marmot Basin Road.

But not all of the top times are from people getting paid to ride. Following are some notable ascents from visiting pros, as well as local cyclists who consider the Marmot climb part of their home turf. All data comes from Strava, a GPS-based activity monitoring app. Not all cyclists use Strava.

◊ FASTEST TIME: ADAM YATES (27:05) ◊ Fastest Canadian: Michael Woods (27:26) ◊ Fastest non-TOA participant: Spencer Smitheman (38:16) ◊ Fastest Jasperite: Matt Staneland (38:51) ◊ 2nd Jasperite: Derek Anderson (38:54) ◊ Fastest female Jasperite: Meg Staneland (44:35) ◊ 2nd female Jasperite: Kara Hagedorn (46:21) ◊ Fastest NHL player: Andrew Ference (46:09) ◊ Fastest LOC member: Marta Rode (40:06) ◊ Fastest LOC member not on an e-bike: Brian Rode (54:20) opportunity, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Race day volunteers are still being welcomed aboard, too. If you would like to get involved on Friday, September 1, volunteer registration forms are available at www. tourofalberta.ca/volunteer. The vendor application form is at www. jasper-alberta.com. Both forms are also on the event’s Facebook page, as is all parking and closure info. megan warren//meg@thejasperlocal.com With files from bob covey

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tuesday, august 15, 2017 // issue 103 // the jasper local// page B2

Local community//

Residency requirements for home-based business owners anything but black and white A Jasper woman whose eligible residency requirements were questioned by park officials is sharing her story to show that qualifying to live in Jasper is anything but black and white.

Photographer Ashley Kennedy is busy these days. As a wedding and family photographer, her summers book up quick. And for the last few years, business has been booming; Kennedy’s services have become ever more sought out.

One day this past spring, however, Kennedy got a call that wasn’t a potential client. It was her property

“That felt a little bit insulting because I’ve been building this business.” manager. He was calling to inform her that Parks Canada was not approving her eligible residency requirements— her “need to reside.”

“I was confused,” Kennedy said. “But I had a business license. I thought I’d be able to clear the situation up with a quick phone call.”

Not so. Parks Canada administrators told Kennedy that according to the National Parks Lease and License of

Occupation Regulations, an eligible resident is anybody whose primary employment is within the park. Homebased businesses like hers, however, did not apply. Could she not open up a commercial space, they asked? Could she not take a second job?

“That felt a little bit insulting because I’ve been building this business,” Kennedy said.

No, she couldn’t afford commercial space—nor did she need it. And taking another job was not in the cards, either.

To that, the official said her hands were tied.

“She said that the issue was black and white and there was nothing she could do,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy was unclear. How did she manage to get approved for tenancy in the first place, she asked? Other than the photography business getting more established, her employment situation hadn’t changed in the three years since she started it. The answer that came surprised her yet again.

“They said ‘well, you were married at the time, weren’t you?’”

The official was referring to the fact that according to the same rules, spouses of eligible residents meet the need-toreside requirements. How this person knew that Kennedy had separated from her husband was unclear (and felt somewhat intrusive), however, Kennedy was now fearful that the business she had built to support her family would suddenly be considered illegitimate.

PHOTOGRAPHER ASHLEY KENNEDY (WITH SON ARLO), HAS A BUSINESS WHICH HAS MADE OFFICIALS RETHINK PARKS CANADA’S ELIGIBLE RESIDENCY RULES. // B COVEY

She has a six-year-old son. Although she and her husband are separated, they still have a family together.

“Despite it being a bit different than when I first applied for my business license, I still have a family here,” she said.

And so she made her case. She explained her circumstances—that her business is viable, that it serves a lot of people, that her son was born and raised here, that she contributes to her community. The official heard her out and told Kennedy she’d get back to her.

“I get the reason for the rule, but I thought if they looked further into my case I would have thought they’d say ‘this person is contributing to the community,’” she said.

Fortunately, for Kennedy, after

some deliberation, Parks Canada administrators told Kennedy that her circumstances merited accommodation in Jasper. Parks Canada would approve her lease with her landlord. Her homebased business was deemed legitimate.

“In the end, they were receptive in hearing me out,” Kennedy said.

But Kennedy is understandably nervous for the next time she has to sign a lease—and for others who may be in a similar situation.

“I don’t really consider it resolved,” Kennedy said. “An exception was made for me but the issue still exists.”

Parks Canada officials did not respond to The Jasper Local’s questions by press time. bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

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page b3+B4 // the jasper local // issue 103 // tuesday, august 15, 2017

FEATURE // STORY AND PHOTOS BY BOB COVEY

DRAMA THE ST

JASPER PAR CLUB SEES RE

Mitch Foster has gone back to back.

Last year’s lowest scorer at the annual Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge Club Championship this year eked out a narrow win against long ball hitter Travis Chorley and edged out his playing partners, Nick Cloutier and Laurie Roger, during the club’s cornerstone event August 12-13.

Last year Foster was lights out, going low with two sub-par rounds and annihilating the field by 14 strokes. This year was a different story, however, as Foster had to hang on down the stretch to hold onto his slim lead.

“Last year I got all the bounces,” he said while celebrating with fellow members on the 19th hole.

“This year I actually had to play golf.”

Foster was paired with Cloutier and Roger, after Roger posted Saturday’s low round—despite making quad-par on 18. As they teed off on Sunday, Foster was one stroke behind Roger while Cloutier

was two back.

When Roger dropped an eagle on the par five 10th, it looked like he might make another push for the championship (he’s won four). Cloutier, too, was playing steady golf. However, Foster fought both of them off, scrambling for pars late in the round when his driver wouldn’t settle down.

“That was the best 74 I’ve shot,” he said.

TROPHY HUNTERS // L-R: DICK TANK, (LOW NE (LOW GROSS, JRS), PEGGY PAUKSTAT (LOW GR MITCH FOSTER (LOW GROSS, MEN). JPL’S GREG

Cloutier agreed. He said watching Foster hustle for par after his tee shots on 16 and 17 went wild was a thing of beauty.

“Those were some of the best pars I’ve seen in a long time,” he laughed.

While wet weather was anticipated, the rain eased up by the time junior members Elvis Slack, Kelan Pollard and Drew Tank teed off on the second day of the 92nd Jasper Park Golf Club Championship. Fifty one members (Chad Henderson had to withdraw after taking a spill on his bike

// FORMER CLUB CHAMP LAURIE ROGER TOOK AN EASY PAR ON THE 36TH HOLE AFTER SHOOTING SATURDAYS’S LOW ROUND. // BC

post-round on Sat the field. Pollard the juniors, while and Karen Huculak had a tight battle for 27 holes until Paukstat opened up a threestroke victory on the final nine to give her the ladies club champ

“It was exciting,” Professional Tahl “Karen and Peggy neck for most of t

//ON 18, TRAVIS CHORLEY THREW A DART FROM ABOUT 160 YAR DURING THE FINAL ROUND. HIS TWO-UNDER 69 COULDN’T UND

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A DOWN TRETCH

RK LODGE GOLF EPEAT CHAMPION

ON HIS 2ND AT 18, MITCH FOSTER JUST HAD TO PUT IT ON THE GREEN AND NOT THREE PUTT TO TAKE THE 2017 JPL GOLF CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP. // BC

ET, MENS), ELVIS SLACK (LOW NET, JRS), KELAN POLLARD ROSS, LADIES), ANA LEA BERENGUER (LOW NET, LADIES) & GG LOWN AND TAHLON SWEENIE IN BACK. // BC

turday) made up took low score for e Peggy Paukstat

SPORTSWOMANSHIP// THE LADIES FINAL FOURSOME KEEPING IT CLASSY AFTER WEATHER COOPERATED FOR THE 92ND JASPER PARK LODGE GOLF CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP. 52 GOLFERS TEED UP, 51 FINISHED. HEAL UP, CHAD H.//BC

When Foster, Cloutier and Roger hit their tee shots on 18, rumour around the clubhouse was that they were also neck and neck, but Foster knew better. After getting himself out of trouble on the previous two holes— and missing two short putts on the two holes before that—he knew if he put his second shot in the centre of the green, he’d have a good chance at the championship.

“Those were some of the best pars I’ve seen in a long time.”

pionship.

said JPL Golf lon Sweenie. y were neck and the two rounds.”

RDS TO THREE FEET DO SATURDAY’S 78. // BC

“I figured as long as I didn’t fourputt I’d be fine,” he said.

we were cheering for him,” Foster said. “Those were two of the most enjoyable rounds I’ve had all year.”

Along with Sweenie, Director of Golf Gregg Lown handed out the hardware to the winners.

Lown thanked the members for their participation in the club championship and shouted out Kelly Deagle for her hard work over the course of the season.

“She’s the backbone of the club,” Lown said. “And this is the club’s cornerstone event.” bob covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com

Minutes earlier, Travis Chorley threw a dart with his approach and drained the subsequent three foot birdie putt to card a two-under 69 for the day. Foster, needing par or better to keep his lead safe, took a low iron to 10 feet and confidently slid home the putt for a three, as well.

“Mitch is a great putter,” Cloutier said. “He’s a solid player.”

Foster, too, had only good things to say about his playing partners. While the group was competitive, they were rooting for each other nonetheless.

“Any time anyone had a chance for a deuce [two on a par three]

// melanie NICK CLOUTIER, WHO ENDED patchell // UP +5 FOR THE TOURNEY WATCHES A BIRDIE JUST MISS ON 18. // BC info@thejasperlocal.com

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page B5 // the jasper local // issue 103 // tuesday, august 15, 2017

Local fishing //

Weed ‘em out: Talbot Lake offers prime pike-stalking waters Talbot Lake is ultra-clear, shallow, and full of fish.

the weeds. It might surprise you how many pike are hanging around in those shoreline weeds!

Located 30 kilometres east of Jasper, Talbot offers the ideal day trip for a fishing adventure of the toothy kind.

And while the park is chalk-full of opportunities to catch all manner of trout, Talbot represents the only readily accessible body of water where pike are abundant. Mile 9 Lake has pike as well, but this lake has been closed to fishing for some time and it is unlikely that Mile 9 will reopen to angling in the foreseeable future.

The shoreline weed pike can keep a person busy all day long, but there are more places that hold pike and I’ve found that if you seek out the deeper water, which is relatively rare on Talbot, there will be pike there too. Deep water in this case is more than eight feet deep, and if that deep water has some weed bed attached to it, well, there are likely to be pike setting up shop there all day long.

Talbot though, has tremendous pike fishing for those willing to cast a line, and the great part about fishing here is how agreeable the pike are to biting your hook.

I’ve caught pike everywhere on this lake, and they’ve hit plugs, spoons, spinners, and even small floating frog lures. Even fishing a small bead head fly intended for catching the enormous lake whitefish of Talbot has yielded pike. Hunting Talbot’s huge whitefish is a different story altogether, however, and will be the focus of some future article.

My favourite way to fish Talbot is from a boat. The POLARIZED LENSES HELP SPOT PIKE AT TALBOT// F NODDIN mobility and the ability to effortlessly move up and down shorelines, probing a lure into every potential I go to because it is fun. There are a lot of pike nook and cranny, means more lures in front of more there, and generally they are happy to bite a hook. fish. That said, I have also had good success chasing I often see the fish before I cast to them, and every pike from shore. That entire weedy shoreline which now and then I’ll catch a better fish. There are parallels the highway has pike. I toss weedless some really big pike in Talbot, but in general, the spoons out from the shore and I am fully prepared to fishery is more about numbers and the quality of wade in and go after a tangled hook or a fish tangled the experience. Most pike at Talbot are of average in the weeds if needed. Waders can help with this, size, so if you catch a fish over six pounds, make but I have also waded wet on hot summer days. On sure you get a photo. A fishing trip to Talbot ranks most days it’s pretty easy to catch good numbers of very high simply because when I’m fishing there pike, whether I’m in a boat or on shore. While the I’m surrounded by mountains, and it’s a very cool entire lake has pike, I find myself almost always place to wet a line. Bring a friend and the fun factor travelling to the east side of the boat launch. There’s doubles, which is why you will see me and friends a lot more structure in this direction—points, weed back on Talbot this summer. lines, islands and such. As a result, I Fred Noddin calls Edmonton home, where he works as an aquatics biologist. He recently earned his MSc in Ecology at the University feel I catch more fish of Alberta, and has spent the last decade involved in the study of there.

Alberta and NWT fisheries. Fred comes to the mountains at every

If ever there were a lake where polarized glasses would be considered mandatory, Talbot is it. Polarized glasses cut the water’s surface glare, allowing the angler to spot the fish. With polarized glasses I cruise the weed line edges and look for pike. Quite often I see them pushed up right on the weed line edge, and then I’ll make my cast to them. I prefer using smaller, single-hooked spoons as the pike have a taste for them, and using a single hook makes it easier to get the lure out when I do bring a fish in. I’ve even gone so far as to purchase some weedless spoons, allowing me to cast right into

Talbot is the lake

opportunity, for the fishing, the scenery, the hiking, for the wide open spaces and for the great people. Email noddin@ualberta.ca

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tuesday, august 15, 2017 // issue 103 // the jasper local// page B6

local history //

Snaring, Alberta: Named after the Snare people About 30 km east of Jasper on the road to Hinton, there’s a point on the map designated as Snaring.

According to Ernest Mardon’s Community Names of Alberta, it’s named after the Snaring River.

This river was named as such on David Thompson’s original map about 1814.

that one of the older members had said they were more closely related to the Secwépemc (aka Shuswap First Nation) than to any other group. They spoke a language akin to Secwépemc.

According to a member of the 1845 Palliser Expedition, the Snaring River was named after the Snare Indians, also referred to as the Shuswaps, who once lived there in dugouts. They were called the Snare people because they captured animals with snares made of green hide.

They even brought down big horn sheep, deer, and moose in this manner.

attacked and slew 37 of the group.

(There are somewhat differing versions of this story and the massacre, but each version agrees that an attack occurred. Paul Kane painted a portrait of Capote Blanc who described the masscre).

were a short distance from the others and managed to escape.

After a year of wandering in the forest, the girls somehow became separated. The 15-year-old spent two more years alone, subsisting on roots, wild fruits, and porcupines (her two sisters were never seen again). As an 18-year-old, the girl was discovered by someone recorded as a “good pillar Canadian,” who took her home, fed, and cared for her. Six months later, she was restored to her tribe.

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PAUL KANE: CAPOTE BLANC // COURTESY THE PEABODY MUSEUM OF ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY 41-72-10/392

Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, the Belgian missionary who was in the region during the 1840s, believed the Snare people had originated in British Columbia and migrated east.

The Stoneys invited the Snares to sit and smoke the pipe of peace, then attacked and slew thirty seven of them.

First Nations Seeker (website) reports that an elder in the Stoney Wesley Band said that the Snares were short in stature, only about four feet, six inches tall. The Stoney referred to them as “Tamongun” or “Snaring People.” Fur trader Alexander Henry called the Snares a wretched and defenseless people.

In the 1820s, historian and author Joachim Fromhold said there were 300 members of the Snare tribe, and

Service Directory

MODERN TEEPEE CAMP AT THE SNARING OVERFLOW CAMPGROUND //JASPER YELLOWHEAD MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES // JYMA 2011. 77. 06. 16

For more about the Snare people, see: Alberta History— West Central Alberta—13,000 Years of Indian History Pt. 2, by Joachim Fromhold.

Also see The Northern Rockies Highway Guide by Fred Pollet et al.

Online visit: www. firstnationsseeker. ca/Snare

Fromhold reported that the Snares were without firearms and never made THE SNARING RIVER WAS NAMED AFTER THE SNARE INDIANS // STUART TAYLOR war on neighbours.

Unfortunately, the Strong

Wood Crees and the Swampy Assiniboines frequently made long In explaining the fear with excursions in quest of them, using which the Snare people lived, the Athabasca River as a war route. missionary de Smet told of a Stuart Taylor // 15-year-old Snare girl who was

Stuart Taylor is an amateur in the forest with her parents, Around 1840, the Snares were lured historian and member of Hinton brothers, two sisters, and another to a proposed peace treaty meeting Town Council. Let him know what family from their nation, when with the Stoneys (Assiniboines) at you think of his historical features they were set upon by a group of the mouth of the Snake Indian River or suggest another subject for him Stoneys (Assiniboine) warriors near the north end of Jasper Lake. to cover.

The Stoneys invited the Snares to sit and massacred without mercy.

Email: info@thejasperlocal.com The 15-year-old and her sisters and smoke the pipe of peace, then