The St’at’imc and ‘Tsilcot’in Nations have invited the Wilderness Committee to blaze new and repair old trails leading into a sacred valley in the heart of the Chilcotin Mountains north of the gold mining town, Gold Bridge. The sacred valley is called Graveyard, and it is the site of the last battle that occurred between the rival First Nations some 200 years ago.

The Nations met in Graveyard Valley three years ago, officially “buried the hatchet”, and documented the affair via a Wilderness Committee funded film. The Wilderness Committee was honoured to be asked to work on this sacred trail because it is a testament to the strength of the positive relationship we have forged over many years of hard work with the St’at’imc and ‘Tsilcot’in Nations.

The awkward part of this trail work is that it is located in an extremely remote area and necessitates careful and thoughtful planning……and a huge amount of behind the scenes work. Luckily, the Wilderness Committee has been introduced this year to the wonderful world of WWOOF (World Wide Opportunity on Organic Farms). WWOOF is a very popular way for citizens of the world to take “working holidays”, mostly in North America. Due to its popularity, WWOOF has expanded beyond organic farms to include all kinds of “not-for-profit” sustainable development initiatives.

Fifty WWOOFERS have been accepted by the Wilderness Committee in 2009 to work on our numerous “aboriginal farm and trail” projects. When asked to spend weeks in the remote backcountry of the Chilcotin Mountains working on a new trail into Graveyard Valley with several native guides, the WWOOFERS jumped at the opportunity. They spent 2 weeks “in the bush” and have just completed a 40 km long trail linking a traditional native ceremonial pithouse to Graveyard Valley. The trail showcases all that the Chilcotin Mountains have to offer including a gorgeous 20 km above tree-line ridge walk, dry ponderosa forests, and lush old growth valley bottom fir. Visitors to the ceremonial pithouse, trail, and graveyard valley are welcome, but are asked to check in first to get approval form the respective Nations’. No trail maps are available to the public so that the trail and pithouse can be preserved principally for use by First Nation Youth “spirit quests”.

Andy Miller