Ɂedacho Tué (Artillery Lake)

An early morning at Ɂedacho Tłaze (Timber Bay) on Ɂedacho Tué (Artillery Lake), 2023. Photo: LKDFN Traditional Knowledge Archive.

Ɂedacho Tué, like the Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area as a whole, straddles the treeline. The southwestern shore is boreal forest; the rest of the lake is surrounded by tundra.
 
Ɂedacho Tué is part of the Lockhart River system. The Lockhart begins at Nıdítagh Túé (Mackay Lake), eventually flowing into Hak’ós Tué Ts’ën Tł’azı (Charlton Bay) on Tu Nedhé (Great Slave Lake). Ɂedacho Tué is connected to Ts’ąkuı Theda (Lady of the Falls) by the Lockhart River.

Map of Lockhart River Basin, 1925. Compiled, drawn and printed at the Topographical Survey of Canada.

Zepp Casaway. Photo: Rene Fumoleau

In the old days, according to Zepp Casaway, Ɂedacho Tué was called Tsátué (Beaver Lake) because there was a giant beaver living there. The location of the beaver’s lodge, Tsá Kın, midway up the lake remains an important spiritual site for Łutsël K’é Dene. When we travel on the lake, we stop there to make offerings.

Tsá Kın (Beaver Lodge). Photo: Jess Dunkin

There are other important sites in and around Ɂedacho Tué, including Dzén Kı́n (Muskrat Lodge), which is across the lake from Tsá Kın (Beaver Lodge). According to Madelaine Catholique, the giant muskrat who calls this lodge home is still alive today.
 
Hachoghe’s shovel is at the south end of Ɂedacho Tué. Hachoghe was a powerful person--known to other Dene as Yamǫ́rıa and Yamǫǫ̀zha--that protected the people from the giant animals, including the giant beavers. Hachoghe used a shovel to dig into Tsá Kın, only to have the beaver escape. Hachoghe threw his shovel at the fleeing beaver. The handle of his shovel turned to stone and is still visible today.

Dzén Kı́n (Muskrat Lodge). Photo: LKDFN Traditional Knowledge Archive

Returning to Łutsël K’é from the tundra on Hakéth Hoɂé (Pike’s Portage). Photo: Iris Catholique

​Travelling from the East Arm of Tu Nedhé, generations of Dënesųłıné have followed Hakéth Hoɂé (Pike’s Portage) to Ɂedacho Tué to hunt ɂetthën (caribou). Stone arrowheads dating to 3000 BCE have been found near Ɂedacho Tué.
 
In the old days, our people usually made this journey in the fall time to meet the migrating ɂetthën. Changing migration patterns and new technology mean that Łutsël K’é Dene now travel this same route through the winter.

Large lakes, like Ɂedacho Tué, Nıdítagh Túé, and Tła Gaı Tué (Aylmer Lake), are a barrier for migrating ɂetthën, so the animals seek out narrow places where they can easily cross. Ɂetthën are good swimmers; their dense coats help them float. We call these narrow points or crossings eda in Dënesųłıné yatıé. So Artillery Lake is known in our language as Ɂedacho Tué, meaning the lake of the big caribou crossing.

Madelaine Catholique preparing caribou dry meat at Ɂedacho Tué, 1995. Photo: Rene Fumoleau

Ɂedacho Tué has two important eda for ɂetthën: one at the north end of the lake and one at the south end. Historically, Łutsël K’é Dene families gathered near the southern crossing in the fall time because they knew that large numbers of ɂetthën would pass here then. In the old days, our people harvested ɂetthën as they crossed the lake with canoes and spears. There are also rocks on the tundra side of Ɂedacho Tué they would use as cover so they could hunt ɂetthën using bow and arrow.

During the harvest, fresh meat would be shared among all those in camp. Meat would also be dried and cached for the winter. ​

Herman Gahdële was raised on the land by his grandparents. One of his earliest memories is from a fall harvest on the shores of Ɂedacho Tué:

​"When I was three or four, we were camped on the other side of the lake. It was fall time. A big group of caribou started crossing in three lines; caribou always travel in straight lines. When they came out of the water, they shook and I could see the rainbow in the water coming off their back.
 
In the fall time, we would harvest caribou and then put the meat on the shore and cover it with snow and water until it was frozen. That would keep it for times like March when there was no meat. That meat was just like fresh meat."

In the old days, Łutsël K’é Dene travelled to Ɂedacho Tué for the fall migration before moving on. In the early part of the twentieth century, some families built cabins near Ɂedacho Tłaze (Timber Bay) and lived here year-round. Recognizing that human actions can impact ɂetthën behaviour, our people made sure the cabins were built inland from the crossing, just as they would never pitch a tent near to a crossing.

One of the cabins at Ɂedacho Tłaze (Timber Bay). Photo: LKDFN Traditional Knowledge Archive

LKDFN cabin at Ɂedacho Tłaze. Photo: Pat Kane

Ni Hat’ni Dene, the Indigenous guardians of Thaidene Nëné, and community members have observed that ɂetthën rarely pass by Ɂedacho Tué now, just as they no longer come to Łutsël K’é. Even though the caribou haven’t been coming to Ɂedacho Tué lately, the lake remains an important stop on winter journeys to other places in hazúghe (barrenlands), and visits by community members to the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation’s cabin at Ɂedacho Tłaze are common year-round.