Clint Hume, a resident of Rocky Mountain House area has learned some amazing traditional skills, and is now passing those skills onto others.

Hume has been using natural resources around him to design traditional clothing, bows and arrows and other unique items. He also teaches traditional cooking, foraging, hunting and fishing methods. Hume says he learned these things from his 80-year-old Grandpa. 

"He was a trapper since he was nine years old, and he took over the trap line when he was 12. He learned and was taught how to use the things around him in nature and the animals that he harvested, to build tools and things that he needed to survive while he was in the wilderness. And he started teaching me these things."

photo of clintPhoto courtesy of Clint Hume

Hume, teaches many different groups across Central Alberta including The FCSS, The Native Friendship Centre, McMan Family Services in Rocky, and The Junior Forest Wardens. He talks about one of his skills at making traditional bows and arrows.

"Because I primarily a Boyer, that means someone who builds a bow and arrows out of natural materials, a bow takes a long time to build and the wood has to be harvested at the right time. So showing them how to harvest sinew out of an animal, making arrows, and  making points, which is a little tricky because Alberta doesn't have a lot of really good stone for that. We use bone to make arrowheads."

Although Hume teaches mainly youth, he says that he would also teach to anyone who is interested in learning about the old ways. If you would like more information on this story contact Clint Hume at 587-733-0101