By Ranjit Inamdar (Occidental College)
Six action-packed weeks in a remote place called Atlin, in British Columbia, Canada with a group I did not know. Looking back I am glad I took an impulsive decision and stuck to it, despite conversations with friends and family who thought I was going into the “woods.” In January of this year, I began scouting for summer programs and courses. I knew I wanted to spend my summertime pursuing something in wildlife biology, possibly in one of the National Parks. There are many groups that go to National Parks to study conservation, but when I came across Round River’s conservation program and spoke with Doug, I decided to take a chance and travel to a far-flung place called Atlin, to study Natural History, Conservation Biology and Field Methods with a totally new group of people!
I can say without hesitation: It has been an adventurous six weeks with lots of memories with my two instructors and five fellow students. It turned out to be one of the best decisions I have ever made.
I am Ranjit Inamdar, the fifth and final member of Taku 2015 group. My cultural heritage binds me to Kenya and India, but I am a native Houstonian. My passion for wildlife started at a very young age when my parents took me annually to visit my grandparents and aunt in Nairobi. On those trips, we would visit Masai Mara a game reserve in Kenya. Even though I visited the Mara year after year, the magic of the wildlife there and the mystery of the vast remote savannah plains never bored me and has only deepened as the years have gone by. I am lucky that this interest fortunately has culminated for me. I am a rising junior at Occidental College and I am studying Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.
Now, enough about me and let me describe the last weeks of our summer program, which mainly consisted of Grinnelling (keeping a field journal) about our amazing adventures on the Nakina River, studying for the practical exam on the local flora and fauna, starting our papers on mine surveys, ungulate surveys, marmot populations, as well as studying for exams on various topics covered for the entire six weeks. This was also a chance to recuperate from the arduous hike to and from the Nakina River, and attend the Inland Tlingit celebration in Teslin and an overnight trip to Consolation Creek.
Waking up at 8 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday is not ideal, but since we had the rare opportunity of attending the Ha Kus Teyea Inland Tlingit celebration in Teslin, Yukon, I was all in for this chance. Driving for almost two hours along the dirt roads near Atlin and on the notable Alaska Highway, we arrived at this cultural celebration right on time. While some of us listened to a lecture about Tlingit culture and heritage, others would participate in public workshops that included smoking salmon, cedar bentwood box making, Raven’s tail weaving, and cedar bark weaving. Alongside this, we also watched the decorated Inland Tlingit canoe races, which featured a chief’s race, women, men and mixed races.
Ready. Set. Go. Canoe races during the Ha Kus Teyea celebration in Teslin.
These phenomenal hands-on experiences gave us first-hand glimpses of Tlingit culture. Moving through the rest of the afternoon we browsed through the Tlingit art stalls, immensely enjoying the cultural atmosphere. The day finally shifted to night, and several dance performances were showcased. While they were all impressive, the dance group called Git Hoan, based in Seattle though made up of mostly Tsimshian, Haida, and Tlingit dancers, stole the show. Their numerous colorful and elaborate, yet intricately carved masks of ravens, wolves, eagles, and other animals, coupled with their rhythmic fast-paced and complex dances kept us enthralled.
Where Amazing happens. This intricately carved mask of a wolf head was one of many masks seen from the fast paced Git Hoan dance group.
As if this dance was not enough: the last one, performed by the Taku Kwaan Dancers (who performed at the 2010 Winter Olympic games in Vancouver), allowed the audience to participate by donating money to the celebration. Crouching like a wolf, our arms up, we all participated in this once-in-life-time-experience, which was the perfect ending to an already exceptional day. Exhausted from the thrill of watching the dances, after feasting on fresh salmon once again, and wandering through the vendors, we returned home to Atlin around 1 am.
It was worth it! Left to Right: Celine Rytz, Dylan Bland, Grace Stonecipher, Ranjit Inamdar, Hannah Eiseman, George Voigt, and Susie Dain-Owens pose in front of a carved Tlingit wolf statue after an entertaining day in Teslin.
This exciting weekend concluded with a quick one-night excursion to the lush sub-alpine landscape of Consolation Creek, which is about two hours northeast of the quaint town of Atlin. The moment we arrived at camp, we saw a large male caribou with long enormous antlers. Along with this sighting, we saw more caribou, including a female with a calf on the opposite ridge overlooking our campsite.
For the rest of the night, the crew welcomed a hearty dinner of tortillas, beans, and rice and listened to Susie read aloud an essay, The Abstract Wild: A Rant, by Jack Turner. While we all huddled around the campfire in the cold and piercing wind, clasping our mugs filled with hot chocolate, we finished up by discussing the meaning of wilderness. On that note, we went to bed early in preparation for the long hike that awaited us the next day.
Walking through thick rain, stopping every now and then to ask Suise or Hannah about a particular flower in preparation for the practical exam for the following week, and gazing out into the tundra in the hope of spotting a caribou grazing, we reached a crystal blue alpine lake at about 1,650m in elevation. Soaked and cold, the group congregated together to discuss the next leg of the journey. Ultimately, we decided to go up a nearby ridge, where we cautiously stepped over sleek rocks and traversed through groundcover mainly consisting of now slippery lichens.
After about a half an hour of uphill hiking, we finally reached the summit that offered us a spectacular panoramic view of the surrounding snow capped mountains and rocky ridges. About four hours later, we arrived back in Atlin, after which we prepared a delicious meal of chili and cornbread. Over dinner, Ed Anderson, a Taku River Tlingit community member, engaged us in discussion about the residential school system, which was part of the Canadian government’s attempt to assimilate First Nations People (through the Indian Act). Ed’s impressive and heart-wrenching talk gave us insights into the brutality of the schoolmasters towards the innocent children. Additionally, Ed talked about life lessons that he paralleled with his interest in playing the guitar.
A first part of the next and final week was spent taking our final exam, finishing up species account (we each documented the characteristics observed of one flower, one mammal, and one bird over the course of the program), and finalizing our scientific papers. The completion of our practical exam, a “celebration of learning” as Hannah called it, concluded with an easy going uphill hike to the summit of Pillman Hill overlooking Como Lake and Atlin Lake, with the spectacular backdrop of glaciers and snow-capped mountains, and a surrounding dense boreal forest.
Relief. After being done with the practical exam, the group hiked up Pillman Hill.
Later in the week, we wrote our reflective essay atop a windy, cold ridge near the El Dorado Trail, where we watched about 35 mountain goats in the distance grazing, and two healthy caribou in a riparian zone. For dinner that night,our last night in Atlin, we cooked bacon-cheeseburgers with salad. As a finale, we gathered around a camp fire at Warm Bay, cracking jokes and reminiscing about our six-week summer-adventure.
Finally, I would like to thank Susie, Hannah, and Julia for being inspiring team leaders, and teachers, and sharing their knowledge about conservation, natural history, wildlife biology and ecology as related to the Taku and the surrounding region. Doug’s presence on the Nakina River also made it an exceptional and unique experience. I would also like to give a huge shout out to my four other fellow students for sharing this experience with me and making a lifetime of memories. Thanks Round River for a memorable summer.