climate change

Fishing
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Fishing

Hail Bravehearts

Cast your nets into the seas and prepare for the harvest that mankind has consumed for thousands of years. Fish. Fish a plenty from the great store of the waters, direct to your platters. A grocer, a farmer, a store of great variety, of fish and ocean dwellers, that serve as your dinner, your lunch, your breakfast, your snacks.
Cast your line into the water with baited hook and wait for the unsuspecting prey to catch your lure. Cunning and careful, not to divulge yourself, so that the wary prey will not suspect your presence and a trap. Fishing, for sport, for markets, but always for dinner, the catch of the day is your daily choice. All over the world, the waters feed the hungry. A seemingly endless supply of food.

http://www.overfishing.org will it last forever?

The trawlers raise anchor and set sail. The consumer lines the ailes in the grocery store, waiting for the verdict of today’s perils. A stormy sea, turbulent waters, murky depths and dark, brown waters. The nets were cast and the catch is there, but sparse today, as fishing for the multi-millions, the billions is an exertion for fishermen and oceans alike. The markets are waiting, the consumer still hungry, their bellies empty and their wallets ready. There are markets galore, and wealth to purchase, but the vanishing species determines the day. Not that fish today. Last seen, a year ago, and still that product evades us. Well, something else then.
Still the smiles as the purchase is made, not their favorite, but a food source still. Some spices and some creative cooking will prevail.
But what of the species that vanished. How far off shore to find it?
The fishermen traveled throughout the usual territory, but to no avail. Where did they go? There are only seven billion of us feeding from the oceans. Did we eat it all?

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-overfishing/ overfishing of the worlds oceans

The demands upon the oceans are exhaustive. Another net thrown in to sea. Another chance of pay and prosperity. Lines go out, a sportsman’s day. A fun and thrilling adventure, to fish the oceans and catch that handsome, mighty prey.
The fun, the daring, the challenge, the adventure and then, of course, the delicacy, served to you, for dinner.
For thousands of years, mankind has fished and loved the waters that serve up so much delight. A wonderful day, a wonderful life, to fill you larder from the grocery store of the sea.
Countless recipes, countless cooks, endless lines and nets and traps and variety. Cookbooks and chefs, diners and beachcombers, all of us, all the world, fishing the oceans for food.
Will it last forever?
The oil spills contaminate the water. Pollution and waste drift throughout the sea. Fish consume indigestible product and their breeding grounds are lost to development.
We love the sea. We love the beaches. We play and rest and nourish ourselves by the ocean waters. We look for shells and play in the sand, on the water, in the water, the waves, so much fun and so much life. The waters give us food, play, sport, relaxation, holidays, work and pay. The oceans, so much to live for, our dependency and our nourishment. Survival?

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

Cavell Meadows
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Cavell Meadows

The Meadows have finally opened. It ‘s late for this year, being the second week in July, and we braved the sweltering heat wave at 35 degrees, just for another peek at the outstanding Cavell Meadows.
It’s 8:30 am and already the warmth of the day is upon us.  A few vehicles are already in the parking lot and some early tourists have focused their cameras on a site, way  up the side of the mountain. Way up, only a speck of white, is a lone mountain goat. We view his early morning activity through the borrowed cameras of the tourists. Their good fortune for this photo opportunity is far better than mine, since their equipment will give them that superb, possibly once in a lifetime  shot,  that my cellphone camera can’t manage.

Packing light sometimes has its downfalls and this is one of those times. I’m grateful to the tourists for giving me the opportunity to view the goat through their lenses and to see the wonderful photo that they have been able to take.

We continue on our way.  The runoff from the Angel glacier is streaming in torrents into the lake below.  The heat of the day, already melting the skirt of this Angel, and we wonder how much longer we will be seeing this beautiful sight.  We make our way up into the meadows, so full of colour, it’s a spectacular sight.  Although this is an annual hike, we never tire of the splendor that awaits us in this easily accessible alpine terrain.   The wildflowers are unbelievable.  Heath and arnicas, paintbrush and avens, they stretch on and on and on, with a backdrop of mountains and the beautiful hanging  Angel Glacier.

Our destination, is the climb to the summit of the meadows.  A rough path of scree and a scramble at the top, that make the already steady climb, more challenging at the top. We’ve planned for a seven hour day, with time for photos and a relaxing lunch when we reach the summit.  The steady uphill hike, takes us through outstanding alpine meadow, to the well worn, rocky path above.   Then on to the scramble at the finish which will take most of the morning.  The views become more and more fabulous and the marmots come out to play.  Today, they are not shy.  They don’t hurry away.  Instead, they pose for photos and watch us with curiosity.  We are one of the first visitors to the meadows today, and since it’s so hot, one of the few.

The climb through the rocky scramble is difficult at times, but the finish greets us with an expansive view of the valley on the other side.  We can see the Whirlpool River, Leach Lake and a long stretch of the Athabasca River.  Unfortunately, the haze of wild fires burning in the south, cloud our view, so the landmarks aren’t as distinct as they usually are.  We peer into the valley below.  There are many snow patches, which is a good sign.  Usually caribou inhabit lands like these.  They like the snow patches to cool their bodies on hot days.  No sign of any.  That is, not until a pair of biologists on the grizzly bear study, join us at the top, and the keen eyes of one of them, spots a caribou and her calf in the valley below.  I pull out my binoculars and hand them around for everyone to have a look.  We linger for about twenty minutes, watching these animals, listed as a threatened species,  until  finally she moves out onto the snow patch with her calf, and lays down beside a large rock.

http://www.mountaincaribou.ca/content/recovery-plan

Mission accomplished.  We have the sighting that we wanted, but not the photo. Impressed and satisfied, we make out descent, through the glorious meadow and back to the nearly empty parking lot.

Now on to the next most splendid venture, the lake.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

A Great Escape
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A Great Escape

Good Day Bravehearts

The splendid great wild, with its remote and awesome places. Here, in a world class national park, a UNESCO world heritage site, we live and play and hike to our hearts content. The world of opportunity knocks and we respond with enthusiasm, for the endless adventure in hiking the great wild.
This week, we travel into a remote and little known mountain pass, high up in the alpine. where the curiosity of remote, wild adventure takes us. Ever cautious, we prepare for all weather, rain suites, first aid kits, water ,sunscreen, food, insect repellent, hat, gloves, binoculars and cameras, maps and gps.   It can be cold in the alpine, with changeable weather and here it can be blistering hot, or freezing rain, sometimes turning to hail or snow. We all pack bear spray.
It’s been a good year for bears. Many sightings of females with two and three cubs and the powerful grizzly bear has made her presence well known, with frequent sightings and photo chances of her and her healthy offspring. The alpine is a favorite place of the grizzly and we don’t want to startle one, so our group is large and loud. It’s better to be safe, with large numbers, so the resident predator hears us coming.

The climb is steep and the footing is uneven.  We spent three hours hiking to this remote place, high up into the alpine for a view of the glaciers on another mountain range.  The intermittent showers cooled us and the climb was not as difficult as it sometimes is.

http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/jasper/index.aspx  Jasper National Park

Our fathers fought for this great land.  A magnificent mountain range in a far off place.  They fought for  freedom, for prosperity, for a better world and here, in a remote and little known mountain pass, we enjoy and praise the brilliance of that choice.  To protect the land, to save it for future generations, relatively untouched, preserved and intact.  A home for the wild and an escape for us.

We are early in this years adventure.  The spring was late and the wild flowers are not yet as showy as they will be.  But also, we have left the great bear behind us, to forage in the valleys until the alpine will give them a meal.  They will be here soon.

Today, the pass is for us, with only the calls of the birds and the rushing water, the insects and the wind.

The far off glacier is the head waters of our rivers and the source of our daily water supply.   Protected high up in a mountain top, the glacier lies in its own protected domain.  Remote enough, that it is rarely visited and high enough that is remains intact.  The grand great wild, providing fresh drinking water for us and the planet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AF05-slHnNk  Fukushima

These rare, protected places, great mountain ranges like the Rocky Mountain National Parks are home to the awesome wild, the glaciers and the beautiful flowers. The power of the earth lies in these special protected places, where only the fortunate few can roam.  Our drinking water, our air supply, our dark sky,  our much needed connection to the natural world.

Here is where we live and play and praise the foresight of brilliant people who saved this land for us to enjoy.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes

 

It’s Only a Tree
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It’s Only a Tree

Good Day Bravehearts

The forests of our country are a milestone of preservation. Intact lands, intact lives, intact preservation. The delicate balance of satisfying the needs of competing interests while we grow and prosper, but still fulfill the needs of the great land. The earth cannot survive without the large expanse of lands and environmental protection has called us all to be watchful of the contamination and ruin of the earth. Another mountain of preservation destroyed, another hard fought victory to win. It only takes a few minutes to destroy, what has taken a milenium of earth years to build. A forest, brought down by over harvesting. The balance of the environment overturned. The delicate marshes and the songs of the birds, happily existing in the structure of an ecosystem, so uniquely contrived and so exquisitely orchestrated. The balance of life in the land of the great wild.
The fabulous wild, where the predators roam and quietly, stealthily stalk their prey. A harvest of the weak to strengthen the strong, and to cull the over abundance of grazing and browsing prey. The forest needs the predator, to save it’s new growth, and to take a stand for the preservation of large landscapes.
The balance is superb! The forest thrives and the lives of the living, fill their world with the earth songs of their making.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BickMFHAZR0 The Most Amazing Thing About Trees.

The joy of the wild as it sings the song of the earth to us, the great human. Save us! Only in saving the great wild, will the human be able to save themselves. The preservation of the forest, for our own clean air, for oxygen, for shade, and the protection of the soil. The trees are a necessity. Food, shade, warmth, air, environmental protection and decoration. The varieties are immense and all so different. Large and small with canopies for shade, or strength for wind protection. A tree, such a common plant, so needed and so fragile.
Our houses, from their wood. Furnishings, flooring, cabinetry, whole fields of study from the common tree. Carpentry, logging, forestry, massive business enterprise and international trade. Wealth from wood, paper from by product, our logging industry employs thousands.
Hail to the almighty human, for ingenuity and invention. Your awesome minds and clever imaginations save you there, but lack of foresight is the curse of the human.
Oh brilliant ones, you cannot stop your thinking. The wide expanse of knowledge becomes you and the perpetual motion of time turning to wealth propels you. No poverty there. A world without end. It has to be.
So, brave hearts, as the world turns and another day is upon us, the call from the wild is more urgent and compelling.
Come! calls the great land. Visit and explore. Come to the luxury, to the beauty, to the serenity of the wild! Come to the adventure, to explore and discover. The earth sings, oh great human, don’t be the last.

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
July 1, 2014

The Water Highway
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The Water Highway

Good day Bravehearts

Feel the rush of the wind as it sweeps across the land, bringing the scents of summer fragrance to fill your mind. The aromatherapy of the earth. Pine, juniper, spring meadows and wild grasses. The smell of the forest with mosses and flowers. The cool shade of trees and the rich, enticing landscape. Venture forth, oh brave ones, the wild calls you.
The dance and play of rushing streams, the life force of rivers, and the clean, superb, land, with it’s sport and leisure. The health of the nation lies in this landscape. So much to do, in sport, in leisure, in adventure and in education. Out into the great land, for health and fitness, for rest and for meditation.
The wild! Every day adventure for the uncommon lives of the people of this country.
The rushing rivers cast their spell. The voyage by raft will take you into the great unknown. A wild river, a rushing torrent, a wet and wild and chilly adventure. The current sweeps you into the middle, to rapids and whirlpools and eddies. The diving and swirling craft dips and heaves as the pounding water floods its sides and plunges it into holes and narrowly past rocks and waterfalls.
Fun!
The whitewater raft ride of todays enjoyment is a link to the waterways of yesteryear. David Thompson, with his raft piled high with furs, transported his earnings through the Canadian waterway highways. A nation of river exploration. A nation of wilderness exploration. A nation of markets and trade.

http://www.cbc.ca/sevenwonders/ canoe

The waterways were the highways of trade. Plied for transportation, for convenience, for travel and for adventure. The past time of canoing and boating serves us well, as we venture deeper and deeper into the heart of the land.
Summer! The pristine blue lakes of summer fun. The cooling, quenching waters of joy! The days of lazy dreaming in beaches of sand and grass, the pearls of seashells washed ashore, the endless waves, lapping the shore. The joys of clean, cool water as is soothes the hot and tired body. Fresh water for swimming. Clean water, for a cool summer swim.
The water. A gateway into the heart of the land and a pathway to endless summer fun. Ply the waters with your sturdy craft, maneuver into the surging current. Your paddle dips to the rhythm of your partners beat and the drums of your heartbeat set the pace. Onward. Onward. The constant motion moving the craft. The skills of your paddling, pushing you on. The lakes, the rivers, the water trade routes. A past time of pleasure, where yesterday meets us. The voyage of discovery to new lands, new people, new trade and new wealth.

http://www.birchbarkcanoe.net/video-canoe.htm

A home of opportunity waiting for discovery.
The ancient art of boats and river travel, of discovery of land and people. We travel with our forefathers in a journey that never ends, to a destination that stretches on. We fill our days with summer fun, in a land of sweeping landscapes and the water. The water highway.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
June 29, 2014

Breathe
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Breathe

Good morning, you awesome human

Breathe! Do you feel it? The breath you take, filling your lungs with life giving oxygen. No small miracle to dismiss or ignore, the life giving oxygen passes through your airways into your lungs and saves you once more. Breathe! The powerful breath of life giving force that sustains you.
They say that there is less oxygen in the world today. That the force of the natural world has declined and that the air that we breathe is no longer as fresh and nutritious as it once was. Air, with nutrient rich oxygen that fills our bodies and blood stream with it’s vital life force. Air, that rejuvenates our brains and fills the mind with nutrient rich oxygen. Air, so commonplace, so taken for granted, so needed and precious. Air, a simple natural substance that we die for.
In the world, the deforestration of the forest has hacked its way to less wildlife habitat, less jungle and forest, less vegetation and less air. Air pollution contaminates the air we breathe and causes disease.
The great planet, with its intricate web of life, looses it’s diversity as species cry in mortal danger from habitat loss and planetary destruction.
The polluted waterways suffocate the aquatic species that call it their home. The raging torrents of rain, fill the lakes and contaminate the soil with polluted droplets of water. The rich bio-diversity of the planet declines and the numbers of species fall to dismally low levels. The awesome, creative planet is plundered, and it’s richness of life forms perish, in the assault of human over population. 7 billion. 7 billion, and rising.

http://www.wizetime.com/trees-it-takes-22-trees-to-produce-enough-oxygen-for-you-to-breath/

The great forests that swept the massive landscape are harvested and vanish in the wake of plunder. Plunder for wood, for clearing the land, for penetrating the tangle of un passable vegetation. The forest lies at the brink of its own starvation. Fewer trees, less vegetation, the wild flowers nod their brilliant heads and their abundance declines with over picking and habitat loss. Fewer flowers, less fragrance, less colour and life in the forest. Another trampled flower, too delicate to withstand the weight of an intruder. Trampled, crushed, gone.
The brilliant earth, cast it’s creativity as far as the eye can see. Streams and mountains, forest and plains, the painstaking effort to fill the planet with life and wonder.

http://www.arborday.org/trees/benefits.cfm what is a tree worth?

Awesome planet, of wonder and life, your forests thrive with the wealth of the living. Trees for oxygen, animals to protect the wild places, flowers for the beauty of the earth. So powerful! The creative energy of the earth is the life force that saves us. Awesome planet, so wonderful to behold.
Still, the needs of the human are high. More hunger, more habitation, more pollution, more space for us. The forest can’t sustain the needs of the human. Too many bodies, too many stomachs to fill, too many lungs for air.
What is a tree worth, in dollars and sense? For the amount of air that we breath in a lifetime? So commonplace, not a penny to charge and worth more than all of the money that your bank accounts can provide.
Air. Clean, unpolluted air is provided to you, by the great planet, free of charge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1M894GH4q4 movie The Right to Breathe.

Air, oh awesome human. Fresh, clean air. It’s to die for.

written by Dr Louise Hayes
June 13, 2014

Spring Beauty
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Spring Beauty

Good morning Brave hearts

The slow passing of winter, when the earth sheds its cover of the protecting layer of snow, to reveal the tiny shoots of green below. The generation of life, of another season of promise, of hope that the earth will care for us again and fulfill its duty to feed us.
Dutiful planet, the demands of mankind are high. Climate change encroaches and what once was, has become the unknown. Weather patterns interupt our plans, the cycle of change is no longer so predictable. The earth is moving more slowly to sheds its winter garments and to thaw its freezing soils. Tiny seeds, put into the ground, promise of a food source for healthy living. The garden is the source of organic vegetables, fruit bearing trees and shrubs providing healthy, nutritious food. The garden is the source of food production, of an escape to the quiet of your own making. Centuries old man has cultivated his garden for food, pleasure, entertainment and quiet. The garden is a joy! That one small plot of well tended, well cared for space, is an enhancement to our lives.
The joy of the green grass, the tiny buds of leaves and flowers, getting ready to bedazzle us with their showy finery. A jewel of precious colour, the flower competes for the attention of the pollinators. Showy cloaks of marvelous design, fabulous colour, an array of height, size and fragrance. A dazzling performance of non stop delight, as the earth introduces its beautiful performers. Early spring flowers, nodding and waving, in the cool spring breezes, greet us with colour and charm. The earth sends us its shoots of promise and the early flowers, dance and wave and greet us with their nodding heads.
“Hail mankind!” calls the planet. “The spring is late, but it is here! Behold, my dazzling beauties, with their freshly painted gowns, their sensual perfumes and their welcoming waving. I’ve sent my early troops to provide a paradise for you. A paradise of colour, fragrance and spring music.”
“Hail mankind, sighs the aging planet, spring has come! For I am weary and aging, but I still live and love and reproduce, and send my offspring to the surface for your comfort and joy!”
“Yes!”, calls the planet, “I will save you again!”
The deep chill of winter is passing and the warmth of the sun has cast its heat to the earth and the land creeps out from under it’s warm, winters’ blanket. The hibernating animals come forth, seeking the fresh spring air and the fresh new produce. Food! Organic, nutritious food, for the hungry wildlife, prepared and served by the planet. Organic delights of greening grasses, new shoots of tender spring growth. The great wild is coming forth, and it is with relief that we count their presence.
The calling birds sing and flock to us, their melody of song ringing in our ears. Fortunate human, to hear the music of the planet, to taste the wonderful produce of the garden. Spring is upon us and the joy of living resounds throughout the world.

www/thesustainabilityplanforfood.com

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
May 6, 2014

It’s Spring
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It’s Spring

Good morning, you awesome human.

Behold this awesome day,filled with sunshine and warmth. The earth greets us with fresh sprouts of life and the greening of the planet. Awesome planet, the spring flowers shine in the daylight and show off their radiant colour.
Easy past times of searching the hillsides for new blooms. That precious crocus with it’s showy head, nodding it’s hello to the warm, spring sunshine. Elk grazing by the roadside, their shaggy manes and shedding bodies, changing their coats to cooler, summer wear.
The greening grass and budding willows, chirping birds with nesting instincts. The rolling seasons of timeless change, to be counted upon, to be welcomed.
Spring again! The aging planet, turns it’s view to the sun and again, the warmth of the bright star, fills the earth with the magic of life. Again, the revolution of time, the passing of winter, the shedding of the covers of snow and ice. Out of hibernation comes the bears, the earth and water melt and the ponds begin to sing.
Happy are we! cries out the new life. We live again!
Relief comes to us with the cold winter’s passing. Long days of healthy sunshine. Heat in the air and the hard, cold ground, turns soft and green.
The joy of spring, it’s beauty calling, welcoming the precious life that winter hides. The smiling animals with their handsome offspring, happy humans shedding winter coats for lighter, summer wear.
The Earth sighs, it’s creation emerging. The power of life, still in its hands.
Spring! So perfect and so real. Counting the numbers of returning birds, listening to their joyful call. Life! They sing! To live! To stretch their wings and fly again, and nest and breed and hatch and raise their brood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O85o-W9rZJs nesting birds.

Happy spring! A joyous time of gratitude. The creative earth will send its energy into the seeds and we will rejoice in a harvest.
The balance of life, the evolution of the seasons, from seeds to plantings to the garden giving us food. So commonplace, but still, so astounding. A garden, fresh produce. Food.
Healthy food, organic food. Brought to your table by your own time and care. Nutritious food, from careful planting, careful tending and careful picking. The wholesome goodness of natural product, fresh and uncontaminated.
So commonplace, but healthy food is still a pressing concern. As our population rises and our natural space diminishes, the time honoured garden rises in stature. The much needed land for food sustainability, dwindles under the pressure of housing needs. Garden plots, container gardening, edible shrubs and fruit bearing trees. Behold, the garden, you awesome human. Dig into the ground and plant your magic. Not to toil and sweat, but to nurture and care. To add to productivity, to increase the yield and to sustain yourselves in healthy produce.
To your good health!

Written by Dr. Louise Hayes
April 27, 2014

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A Day for World Wildlife

Hail brave hearts
Peace amongst you on this day of celebration. A day for the earth to sing its songs of gladness and to fill our hearts with joy.
This is a day for us to take action against the plunder of the environment, against the devastation of habitat loss and against the vanishing land and the precious wild lives that it contains. The earth sings its songs of gladness for all of the lives it creates, for all of the creatures that inhabit this globe and live in the balance of the natural world. A predator, a prey, a tree or a flower, all are victims of habitat loss and environmental destruction. They are victims of pollution, of over development, of starvation and poaching. The wide variety of life forms becomes more and more limited as sensitive species perish from over harvesting, starvation, habitat loss and over development. They call out their names as they vanish into the archives. Lists of animals and plant life, gone forever into the unknown world of perished species.

http://sounds.bl.uk/Environment

Endangered wild life, rare species, animals struggling to survive in a world already so overpopulated with people that the sparse land can house no more.
Dead land, desert, rock, dead lakes, pollution, plastics, fuel, contaminants. Too much for the wild life of the world to bear. No where to find clean water to drink, no where to find fresh grass to eat. Insecticides, pesticides, poison. Contaminated food, contaminated soil, contaminated water. Forest fires, shale, rock and clearing. No where to find shelter, no where to birth this offspring. No where to live.
The sound of the earth mover rumbles in the distance. Run from the machinery of habitat destruction, fire and smoke, it sears our eyes and burns our lungs. The forest is gone, the thickets are cleared, our bellies are swollen from pregnancy, but where to go to birth this calf. What to eat, as the grasses die, where to lie down as there is no shade.
The tiny ones can run no more. Their new legs so awkward, struggle to move. Their tiny hearts and panting breath, they cannot take another step. Their weary bodies, from too much exertion, lie down and rest to sleep some more. Where to find that needed shelter, shrubs and thickets to curl up in. Hours old, the tiny ones can only rest. Run? They can’t run. Hide? Where can they hide. The warm thickets that protect their small bodies die of harvesting and disease and the babies have no where to go.
Tiny offspring, who struggle to survive, your lives are hard enough. The natural balance of predator and prey, fills your lives with fear and hardship. But now, where to birth that new offspring, where to protect that tiny life?
The starving mother lies in stillness as her body consumes that tiny embreo. No food for this offspring, it won’t be born.
One day to celebrate the salvation of the planet. A day for world wildlife and environmental protection. Hear us almighty human, as we raise our voices, for the call of the wild.
written by Dr. Louise Hayes
March 3, 2014

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Ancestory

Good morning Brave hearts!

Rise and shine! The world awaits you on this glorious day of fun filled adventure and grand survival. Hail to you, almighty human, for the far reaches of your destiny and for the clever intellect that saves you there.
Here, in the far north, resides the inventor. Clever human of specialized skills who lives in remote, but inspiring circumstances in the awesome and wondrous far north.
The inventor, who’s skills have saved them from the cold, from starvation and from isolation.
Scrape off your vehicles, run the engine, pull out the snow blower, shovel, shovel, shovel. The life in winter has it’s moments of back breaking hard work, icy sidewalks and treacherous driving. Pull out the sand, the salt, the ice melters. Let the plows pass to clean the streets. The snowy, blowy, frosty winter is upon us.
Hail bravehearts, to the brilliant lives of our forerunners. To building igloos, to building kayaks, to catching fish and to harnessing dogs. The life of the land was a hard one and the brilliant inventor survived by necessity, cunning and ingenuity.
The howling dogs greet their masters in the snowy morning. Dogs for hunting with and for pulling sleighs. Dogs that make their lives easier by transportation and pulling cargo. Dogs, harnessed to sleighs for sport, hunting, travelling and carrying. The dogs are a savior to the aboriginals of the far north. They carry far more than anyone could ever carry on a pack and travel more quickly and more efficiently. Dogs and man, an age old friendship, for dogs willingly accept habitation amongst humans and comply with training.
The dog sled was invented in approximately 800 BC by the Thule peoples of the Canadian high Arctic. Ancestors of the Inuit, the Thule people carved a niche in the far north, migrating hundreds of miles to their destination across the Canadian arctic. They traveled all the way across the continent of North America from Alaska, to new worlds on the other side, as far as Labrador. In the cold, snowy north, where game is plentiful, snowfall high and temperatures plunging to cold minus’s, these adaptive peoples resided.
The allure of the land held them captive and they lived on the abundant, prosperity of the gifts of the earth.
Clever aptitudes, building whale bone housing, covered with animal skins, or sod houses, or igloos. The inventor kept the cold at bay with warm housing made from the materials at hand.
Hail to you, oh brave hearts of the far north, for inventions that saved you, for perseverance and cleverness,for your great adaptability to a harsh and unforgiving climate in a land of awesome wonder and beauty. The ancient peoples of our nation resided in some of the harshest and most extreme climates in the world. Not mearly to survive, but to live and to thrive in dangerous and remote places.

http://www.glenbow.org/thule/?lang=en&p=outside&t=enhanced&s=3-1&mi=1

written by Dr. Louise Hayes
January 31,2014