For My Children's Future
Stella Mackienzo, Deline Elder

Stella Mackeinzo is a remarkable bush woman. She was originally from the Dah Hoga Got’ine (Huge River Clan). When her late husband Dolphus was alive, she would spend most of her time out on the land with him. Theirs was a nomadic life. All summer long they would camp in one area for awhile, and then move on. In the winter, they would travel by skidoo to fish lakes, or go caribou hunting in Dogrib (Ts’uot’ine) country, or to their cabin near Cloud Bay - in those days, there were no caribou near Deline. With the return of migratory birds, they would go back out to their cabin for spring hunt. They would also set fishhooks through the ice for catching trout.

Since the passing away of her husband, Stella has had to continue her land-based way of life alone. She spends as much time as she can at her cabin at Tékásho (meaning Huge Grayling), close to Cloud Bay.

Sometimes she is able to take her children with her. She says, “Their father died very young, but he had intended to teach them bush skills. I believe that children have to be motivated by working with their hands. My older children are working, so they can’t go out with me much. But whenever I’ve taken them out, they really enjoy themselves. They love bush life. They now know how to hunt.”