God's Explorers

A Television Documentary by Susan Cardinal

Building Trust Filming in the North Boot Camp

In spite of the pain that exists now between the Oblates and the Dene, the early missionaries made a lasting spiritual connection with the people as they traveled the Mackenzie River by canoe spreading the gospel.

One of the most astonishing stories is of 90 year-old Joá Boots, who met his first missionary as a small child in 1916. The missionary arrived in a leaky birch bark canoe with only a big raw potato that he was rationing for his food. He taught Joá and his family how to say the rosary and sing Ave Maria. Most of what Joá knows about the Gospel is self-taught because the early missionaries were always on the move, never staying in one place for too long. Joá’s love for God and Jesus is strong and pure, unaffected by organized religion or the legacy of the schools. The documentary captures the extraordinary shrine that Joá has built over the years, where he worships in his own devoted way.

But getting to Joá , or even getting his permission to be interviewed for television was an extraordinary challenge. Although Joá is well known by all the Dene, he lives in a remote camp along the Mackenzie. He doesn’t speak English. He has no phone. Cardinal heard about Joá through Senator Nick Sibbeston, a long time friend of Joá ’s. Sibbeston agreed to take Cardinal to meet him.

In preparation, the Senator and his wife went to Joá ’s camp the night before to tell him in Slavey (a Dene dialect) that a television crew would be coming to ask him about Jesus and the early missionaries. They all hoped he would agree to have a conversation. There’s never any guarantee.

But first the crew had to get there. Cardinal remembers the directions from Fort Simpson to Joá’s camp: "drive to the river – take the ferry. You have to wave at them and they’ll come and get you if they’re on the other side. Then drive for awhile – go over a bridge and then look for a gravel road – but if it’s too wet, you might get stuck." This all turned out to be astonishingly accurate – and the crew found Joá Boots’ camp without getting stuck.

Cardinal glows as she describes the magical experience. Joá did the interview sitting outside with Nick Sibbeston acting as translator. It was made clear if he was going to do the interview, his wife Rosie and his brother Vidor should join in. They hauled out chairs for Rosie and Vidor to sit on. They couldn’t understand a word except when Joá answered – in Slavey. But they seemed delighted to be part of it. Cardinal says Joá had a great time hosting the crew and telling his stories. He and Rosie dished up some fresh moose stew for lunch – so fresh that he was able to show them the carcass hanging in the shed. Along with strong tea and bannock, the crew was completely content.

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God's Explorers premiered on 

History Television Canada 

Wednesday, January 2, 2002

9PM ET/PT 

"The Church was loved by the people. The Church was powerful. But we hit the Titanic with modern society"

Bishop Denis Croteau, omi

Bishop of the Mackenzie Valley in "God's Explorers"

omi - Oblates of Mary Immaculate

God's Explorers' funding agencies and broadcasters