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Friend Requests in the Canadian Outback
By Chris Epting

Within just a couple of hours after pulling in the fish, a lot of it was being smoked outside over a traditional fire while the Walleye was almost immediately filleted and fried up for lunch. As I sat there eating my fish, I noticed that Anna was on her iPhone by the window, where you could actually get a bit of service. I asked her what she was looking at on her phone. She showed me the picture of the fish she had posted on Facebook.

“57 likes,” she smiled. “This is a great way for us to show the outside world how we live here.”

When you visit any well-developed tourist destination, for the most part you know what to expect. If you’ve done your homework, then you probably approach this type of visit with certain expectations. Not that surprises can’t occur or new discoveries and adventures won’t emerge, but in general, you know what you’re getting into.

Another more recent phenomenon when mapping out an excursion or getaway is to research whether there will be any kind of cellular service or internet connection. Cynics may scoff at that idea, holding on to the notion that getting away truly means getting away. But we live in a world today where it becomes harder and harder to truly cut off all communication. Many require at least some sort of electronic tether to home or office.

“What’s the service like out there?” I asked our pilot, as our 19-year-old daughter and I boarded a plane from Montreal to a little speck on the map a few hundred miles north called Chibougamou. 

He chuckled and said, “Spotty, if anything.”

Well that’s okay. At least we knew. That’s the thing: if you’re not expecting it, then at least you know you will be out of touch for some period of time and you can plan against it.

On this trip to a newly emerging tourist destination, however, I learned that those technological concerns do not just apply to the traveler.

Home of the Cree

Eeyou Istchee is the traditional territory and homeland of the Cree of northern Quebec. Situated in the James Bay area, the Cree Nation is comprised of 15,000 people in nine communities spread out over 350,000 square kilometers. Up until now, they have not been accustomed to receiving many visitors. The Cree Outfitting and Tourism Association (COTA) was established by the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (JBNQA) in 1975, one of Canada's first modern land claims settlements. COTA’s mission is to implement a vision for a world-class sustainable tourism industry and support high quality tourism products and services. In 2007, COTA created Eeyou Istchee Tourism as a separate organization to play the role of a regional tourism association as defined by the Quebec government.

And they know how to present themselves in print: “Eeyou Istchee stands apart from other travel destinations thanks to its beauty, varied land and waterscapes, and broad range of year-round activities. Eeyou Istchee is boreal forests, rugged coasts, crystal clear freshwater lakes, tundra, taiga, vast wilderness, and magical Northern Lights - which all come together for an unparalleled travel and vacation experience.”

Along with a flair for descriptive prose, their stated goals are simple:

Position and promote Eeyou Istchee Baie-James as a leading destination for travelers interested in aboriginal culture, outdoor adventure, and outfitting (hunting and fishing)

Support the development of market-ready tourism products to grow the region’s tourism industry and economy as a whole

Facilitate access to tourism information

Contribute to the improvement of tourism infrastructure

Target the development of a sustainable tourism industry for positive impacts on the region’s communities (youths, elders, cultural life)

So far though, these are mostly just noble goals. Touching down a couple of hours later on a landing strip cut out of the dense boreal forest that makes up much of the area, we were soon whisked into town and taken on a tour by an affable local, Ron Simard. Funny, engaging and loaded with local stories, Simard seems to be enjoying this, the very first tour he has given to tourists—ever.

These communities in the area are fairly new and many are fortunate to feature beautiful new museums and cultural centers. Walking around town with Simard was a nice way to start the trip. Chibougamou as a community is blessed with several packs of friendly dogs that move throughout the neighborhoods with tails wagging and plenty of affection to give.

It’s a rugged and rural community that may not be ready for thousands of visitors quite yet, but they certainly rolled it out for us and we were deeply appreciative. Over lunch, our guide said he had a question for me. “Could we become Facebook friends?”



And that’s when it hit me, that the newly emerging international language may in fact be Facebook.  Finding a spot on the dusty road where my iPhone picked up one bar, I accepted his request. We were now officially friends.

The next two nights we would be camping at an eco-tourism site about 20 km away called Nuuhchimi Wiinuu, run by David and Anna Bosum. Opened in April 2016,

Nuuhchimi Wiinuu is the definition of a family business. David and Anna are teachers, guides, and cultural instructors. Their son Thomas is company president while sons Harry and Willy handle marketing. The facilities offer visitors lodging in traditional Cree dwellings, which can host couples, families, and larger school or corporate groups. The camp generates its heat and electricity from solar panels and uses compostable toilets. Builders carefully selected the construction wood from the surrounding forest.

We would be staying in traditional Cree tents, which featured wooden platforms inside and floors carefully layered with soft, fragrant spruce boughs. These boughs created a natural insulation from the outside forces of nature (in the case of a first evening, a bone-rattling thunder and lightning storm that cracked and roared all night).



57 “Likes” for the Cree Nation Wilderness

At Nuuhchimi Wiinuu, once you are up in the morning, you are essentially guests of Anna and David in their warm, cozy cabin, plotting out what to do for the rest of the day and night. Once the weather broke and we saw that the cabin was situated on beautiful Scott Lake, we decided to accompany David in his canoe to retrieve the fishing net he’d set the night before. Up to now, I’d not had any real service out here in the dense pine forest. But on the dock, a single bar appeared on my phone. Not that I felt a need to communicate with anyone. It was just knowing that I could had I wanted to.



My daughter and I helped David (a man in his 70s that works the forest and lake from dawn ‘til dark) pull in his net, revealing a bounty of beautiful fish. One of the primary food delicacies in the spring for Crees is fish, which they smoke on a near-daily basis. The smoked fish is called “namestek” and as we’d soon learn, is just delicious.

There were pike, bass and "Okaw," also known as Walleye, the most beautiful fish in these waters. The champion of the haul was an approximately 15-pound Walleye and once we reached the dock, Anna was waiting to help bring the fish up from the boat. As my daughter and I disembarked, she had me hold the giant Walleye up for her—so she could take a picture on her iPhone.






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