It is truly messed up.

We're in bed, sleeping... and there's a "knock, knock, knock" on the door that wakes us both up. Ruth says "one minute!", and I get up and quickly throw some clothes on. I open the door, and it's light outside. Momentarily confused, I think maybe it's morning.

There's an older teenage boy, and he says "what are you doing, sleeping?"

Yep, we were sleeping. And now I'm wondering what time it is. I close the door and go look at the clock. It's midnight. We had only been asleep for about an hour!

Of course it's light outside. It's always light outside at this time of year way up here in the north.

I opened the door and told the kid what time it was. Looking genuinely surprised, he says "No way, it can't be that late already".

I guess when it's always light out it's easy to lose track of time.

He says "I want to talk to you guys..."

Well it's not going to happen at midnight. Now, we had heard the locals in this little village are friendly, and we really would have loved to talk to the guy... but not at midnight!

I told him I'm going back to bed, and I closed the door.

In the morning, we went for a walk around town. Not much to see really, and the mosquitoes were out. We stopped in the band office and said hello and asked what there was to see. The lady said there's a short hiking trail up to the big Tsiigehchic sign (think a smaller version of the Hollywood sign!), but we would have had to go back and get the bug jackets on. So we just walked around town.

The only way to get to Tsiigehtchic is on the ferry.

The ferry does a three point route, and you have to specifically ask to get off at Tsiigehtchic.

A pickup truck camper waiting to cross the Mackenzie River on the Dempster Highway.

The Arctic Red River meets the Mackenzie at this point.

There's an old church in a pretty setting on the hill, but they built the new church right beside it, which kind of ruins the setting. There's no way to get a decent photo of it unless you're on the water.

The old church was unlocked, but the new one was locked.

A porcupine out waddling down the road right in town.

We are about to get back on the ferry.

Looking back at Tsiigehtchic. 

Not much in the way of scenery between Tsiigehtchic and Fort McPherson.

Back at Fort McPherson, we stopped in at the Co-op store where their gas pumps have the cheapest gasoline that we've found up here in the north at $1.46 CAD per liter ($4.20 USD per gallon). We filled up Sherman, and that will last us until we get back to Dawson City.

Then we went to the Fort McPherson Tent and Canvas Shop. This business was started as a government project to employ the locals back in the 1970's, and it's actually now a going concern. Tourists are allowed to visit and get a quick tour of the factory.

 Ruth in the shop.

The stuff is pricey, but I bet it lasts forever.

Inside the shop.

As we were walking out the door, a man was walking in. He looks at us and says "You must be Kevin and Ruth"!

Yep, we are.

Don and Lynn are from Picton, Ontario and they've been following our trip... literally! They were hoping they might bump into us along the way, and they did. So we had a nice chat and gave them some pointers... they are also heading up to Tuktoyaktuk.

Ruth, with Lynn and Don and their nice class B van.

We said goodbyes and we walked over to the visitors center. The two girls working there were interesting to talk to. While Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk have mostly Inuvialuit people, as you get this far south the aboriginals are the Gwich'in people.

Once again, these girls do not speak any of their native language. Another generation, and it will be gone. 

This is all a result of Canada's religion based forced assimilation policy, a government and church cooperation to "kill the Indian in a child" that took place up until 1996.

Since their first arrival in the “new world” of North America, a number of religious entities began the project of converting Aboriginal Peoples to Christianity. This undertaking grew in structure and purpose, especially between 1831 and 1996, when the governing officials of early Canada joined with Roman Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, United, and Presbyterian churches to create and operate the residential school system. This partnership came to an end when the federal government took over sole management of the schools, and then began transferring the control of First Nations education to Indian bands. The last federally-run residential school, Gordon Indian Residential School in Saskatchewan, closed in 1996.

One common objective defined this period: the aggressive assimilation of Aboriginal peoples.

And so, these girls have lost much of their culture. We looked at each other and just shook our heads. It is truly messed up.

Between 1986 and 1994, the United Church, the Catholic Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, the Anglican Church, and the Presbyterian Church issue formal apologies for their participation in the Residential School System. However, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops continues to refuse to issue a formal apology.

Now of course, Canada has also said "I'm sorry", and is throwing money at the problem because, well, that's all they can do. The damage is done.

A tepee, made by the Fort McPherson Tent and Canvas Company.

The Anglican Church in Fort McPherson.

The graveyard contains the bodies of "The Lost Patrol".

We drove Sherman over to the Fort McPherson airport which is the same spot we overnighted on our way north. 

Today, we head to Eagle Plains, a 179 km (111 mile) drive. They are still calling for rain all day tomorrow, so it's likely we're going to be stuck in Eagle Plains again the same way we were on the way north!

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