The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: December eighteenth, enjoying Winterlude with the Cree.

The minute settlement of Moosonee, Ontario lies on the tip of James Bay some 600 miles due north of Toronto. The nearly 200,000 square miles of low, boggy forests that define the edge of James and Hudson Bays is one of the largest wetlands left on Earth. A few human settlements cling to the shorelines, but the rest is a realm where golden eagles, moose, wolves, foxes, caribou and lynx run free.

For 3000 years, this was also the territory of the Moose Cree, a nomadic people who roamed the vast lowland by foot, snowshoe and canoe, following the seasons and, with skill and reverence, hunting the game than sustained them. That life changed forever with the arrival of the Hudson Bay Company, along with Europe's traditional plagues of firearms, alcohol and tuberculosis. Two generations after first contact, the Moose Cree population had plummeted by 90 percent. Survivors did so by keeping their distance and clinging to traditional ways.

Though adapted to modern technologies such as snowmobiles, computers and cell phones, their descendants still maintain a distinct cultural identity, one aspect of which is a playful, almost physical need to laugh loud and often. Another is the welcoming of strangers.

Phil Sutherland, for example, invites hearty cross-country skiers to come along on weeklong expeditions. He and two of his Cree cousins escort them through the winter wilderness, living as their ancestors did in tepees and experiencing the elemental simplicity of eternal nature and ancient ways. There's nothing virtual about it.

The Cree ski is detailed in this issue of the magazine, National Geographic Traveler, a supporter of our program. You can register for a free, sample copy on our home page. FMI For information about cross country skiing with the Moose Cree, Tuckamor Tours 819-326-3602 or www.tuckamor.com

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