Camsell Portage

There are places were people have lived that are among the last and best spots on Earth, places that speak of remoteness, peace and calm. Camsell Portage is just such a community. Though it is not located at the end of the earth, Camsell is so far removed from the hustle and bustle of the contemporary rat race that one would be hard put to find a more serene and tranquil community.

Located on the North shore of Lake Athabasca one of the 25 largest freshwater lakes on earth, Camsell is a unique Dene community. It has less than fifty resident souls who live a traditional life much as their forbears did by eking out an existence off the land by way of fish, game and fur. Anthropologists know that the Dene people have occupied the Camsell area for centuries and that the Dene found the seasonal resources such as the Beverly Caribou Herd and the fish of Lake Athabaska, surrounding this small spot of the north, to be all that was necessary to carry on a lifestyle that was complete and sufficient.

Though it may be hard for some to understand the community's reason for being, those who were born and have lived there, can list the good reasons for its continued renewal other than the edible resources of nature. The Boreal forest, the freshest water, Northern air and a land unsurpassed in its beauty.

A "Fly-In" community with a one-room school Camsell Portage enjoys the blessings of nature and avoids most of society's pitfalls.

Visit us and know of what we speak!

Camsell Portage links

KCDC

Northern Affairs

Caribou Migration Range

M. Joe Mercredi

Aboriginal Faces of Saskatchewan