When ancient caribou feces were discovered melting out of ice patches in the southern Yukon a few years ago, scientists were amazed by the quantities being found. While it is known that there used to be more caribou in the southern Yukon than there are today, it is hard to even imagine how many caribou it would take to produce layers of poop that are 30 centimetres thick in places.

For First Nations in the southern Yukon, these findings just confirmed the stories being told by their elders. "When these discoveries were made it was no surprise to our elders. They said we always knew that the caribou were there," says Diane Strand, the heritage resource officer with the Champagne-Aishihik First Nation.

"They said that the mountains had moved with caribou. It looked as though the mountains were moving when the caribou came over or crossed them."

Strand is the granddaughter of Annie Ned, who used to tell a story about the caribou that is quoted in the book Life Lived Like a Story. It begins: "There used to be lots of caribou even in my time. When caribou came it was just like horses. You could hear it... [hooves] ...making noise on the ice."

The ice patches are located in the traditional territories of three First Nations -- Kwanlin Dun, Champagne and Aishihik and Carcross-Tagish. For their members, these discoveries go far beyond proving that there used to be a lot of caribou in the southern Yukon. Their ancestors hunted these animals, and the weapons they used for the job are also melting out of the ice.

For archeologists, some of these finds are highly significant, and are casting new light on how and when different weapons were developed. For First Nations the discoveries go far beyond detached scientific interest.

"This environment was very harsh for us and you had to be an extremely adept hunter to survive in it," says Strand. "When you are holding a tool and think about the workmanship that went into it, and the skill that it took to use it, it gives you a sense of pride.

"It gives you a sense of connection to the land, to who you are and where you have come from. It is easier to go forward with that sense of pride."

For Strand and others, part of moving forward means seizing the opportunities now so close at hand to interest their youth in science. Scientists from many different fields are doing research associated with the ice patches, and First Nations youth are getting chances to explore what topics interest them.

Last August, 18 First Nation students took part in a science camp held at Kusawa Lake, which is close to the first ice-patch site that was discovered. Guest scientists talked about an array of research projects taking place in the southern Yukon, ranging from sheep biology to glaciology, but a visit to the Thandlat site was the highlight of the week.

Monica Primozic, the science camp organizer, said that all the students were scouring the ground, hunting for artifacts, and one did find a stone point. The students also had a chance to make their own weapons, and absorb some scientific principles in the process.

Lawrence Joe showed them how to make and use atlatls, the throwing boards used before bow and arrows were developed. When feathers were added to the shafts, they flew further and straighter than they had without them. This is just the sort of critical leap in technology that their ancestors would have made thousands of years ago.

Primozic says that the visit was a powerful experience for all the students. "Being up on top of that mountain where their ancestors used to be was very special; they were just in awe of the whole thing," she says.

Members of all three First Nations made the trip to the ice patch; in all 52 people shuttled up to the site by helicopter. Diane Strand says that the ice patch discoveries have brought home how much they are all one people.

"There were no borders or lines between First Nations in the past, and we are still all Southern Tutchone. For me personally that point alone is quite significant."

Strand says that visiting Thandlat made her want to know more about these common ancestors. "You start to wonder who these people were, and what they looked like. Those are the sorts of things that we would like the kids to connect to at the science camp by listening to the scientists and learning from them and picking up the artifacts. There is so much that this place can offer us."

Both Primozic and Strand agree that the science camp was a huge success, and hope that it will become an annual event. "There is a lot of science that is happening within our traditional territory, and hopefully we will have some scientists come out of all this," says Strand.

Diane Strand can be reached at dstrand-cafn@yknet.yk.ca. For more information on ice patch research, see columns 198 and 200.