Only when the last tree has died, the last river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money" A typical truism (one of many) imparted to me almost eighteen years ago by a very good friend. His name was Jacob Crowriver (Crowriver in translation) and he was to me almost eighteen years ago by a very good friend. His name was Jacob Crowriver (Crowriver in translation) and he was . His name was Jacob a First Nation Canadian aborigine, a professional loner and the best tracker, survivalist, dog handler and boots-on-the-ground naturalist I’ve ever known….and all without a single academic qualification to his name! a First
As it happens, I wrote down literally dozens of Jacobs ‘pearls’ of wisdom in my diary during the eight months I lived with him in the old wood cabin he built himself (around age twenty) the eight months I lived with him in the old wood cabin he built himself (around age twenty) wood far out in the Canadian wilderness some fifty-five miles from his nearest neighbour.
Mind you, I also suspected that he tended to lay the old native philosophy thing on a bit thick sometimes simply because I did tend to write a lot of it down!
tended to lay simply because I did tend to write a lot of it down! I worked in Canada for ten months altogether, mostly in the Yukon. Anyway, happy days.
Sadly, I learned only today (1st February, 2013) that Jacob passed away shortly before Christmas
passed away shortly before Christmas following a brief illness. He never revealed his exact age (possibly, he didn’t know it himself), but he must have been in his eighties by the time he died….Yet, I am not altogether sad for him because he told me once that he was looking forward to the moment when, after his death, his Spirit would soar above the forests, the rivers, the muskeg and the mountains of his beloved Yukon. Those self-same forests, rivers, muskeg and mountains that he not only loved with such passion, but which he campaigned so relentlessly to protect throughout his adult life. following a brief illness.
Jacob was a true Canadian Aborigine in every sense….A remarkable man….A man completely at one with Nature and a man truly at peace within himself.
It’s fair to say that I learned an incredible amount about the Natural World from Jacob and about all aspects of tracking and trailing in the wilderness….“Tracking”, he once said, “is the original forensic science” and, needless to say, his attention to the minutest of details made him the most meticulous observer of sign I’ve ever known. He missed absolutely nothing and expected me to emulate him at all times even though it soon became clear to both of us that I would never equal him or even come close!
For all too brief a time, he was my friend, my colleague and my mentor and I shall always be grateful for the months we spent together and the knowledge he imparted to me.
I have many photographs of my time in the Yukon, but they are all in slide form….and I have more than 40,000 slides dating back to the late 1960s! However, I shall try to find a decent picture of Jacob (he was fiercely camera-shy and I took just a few candid shots of him), then I’ll get it printed if I can and upload a digital version here.
