The Tɫ’áado Portage

BY: GEORGE KODAKIN

I am going to tell a story about how the portage trail from Tɫảado to Turílį was made, and how it was used. We don’t know who made the trail because the trail was made a long time before us. Johnny Hoe, who was

Ɂehtsée Yéhdaza’s father, and his relatives must have been the people who made the trail because they always lived in the area. The portage from Tɫ’áado to Turílį is so straight that we often wonder how they did it. The trail passes two lakes which we call Edéredelé. These two lakes are perfectly in line with the portage trail. After most of our elders passed away the portage trail was widened by Caterpillars and big trucks when Hughie Arden brought supplies to Fort Franklin from the other end of the lake.

At that time Ɂehtsée Yéhtsée had a cabin at Tɫ’áado He and his relatives also made a portage trail from Tɫ’áado to Lac St. Therese. Our forefathers had us in mind because today we still travel their trails to hunt and fish. The portage from Tɫ’áado to Turílį is not used in the summer because it is almost impossible to walk due to the ground being very soft moss. When people portage around Grizzly Bear Mountain in the summertime they use the trail from TɫįoɁehdá to Kwets’éhtɫ’á. The trail is made for summer portages. The trail from Tɫ’áado to Turílį is for winter portaging.