Melissa Antony has a way of finding her way into the eye of media doing things of interest.
While still in Yorkton Antony co-authored the book Pimatisiwin Wawiyekamaw: A History of Jacob Bear and the Round Lake Mission with Sharon Bear.
Life in Canada’s north has proven to be something of a muse for Melissa Antony.
Antony, who grew up at the Lake of the Prairies and attended high school in Yorkton, moved to Yellowknife, NT in November 2019.
It was in Yellowknife Antony became involved in theDead North Film Festival, with the entry 'Frozen In Time'.
And now, Antony and new new husband are planning an expedition across Canada's north.
“The goal of the expedition is to cross 1300km over three-months across one of the last great wilderness on horseback, northern BC, also known as the Serengeti of the North,” Antony told Yorkton This Week.
The route will start at the Alaska highway 208km north of Fort St John, crossing the continental divide, passing through the Rocky Mountain Trench with stopovers in Fort Ware (Kwadacha First Nation), moving westward through the Spatsizi Plateau to reach Iskut (Iskut First Nation), Telegraph Creek (Tahltan First Nation), then shifting northward following the old Telegraph trail, finishing in Atlin.
“The route covers rugged, challenging terrain in vast wilderness promising exhilarating encounters with an abundance of wildlife as well as unpredictable weather,” said Antony.
The trip will not be an easy one.
“The planned expedition will require a great deal of mental and physical strength, passing through difficult and diverse terrain including two mountain ranges, large rivers, boreal forest, plateaus, five provincial parks: Rocky Mountain Provincial Park, Kwadacha Wilderness Provincial Park, Finlay Russell Provincial Park, Tatlatui Provincial Park, Spatsizi Provincial Park, and passing alongside the Lloyd George Icefield all on horseback while documenting the incredible abundance of wildlife, reflecting on the unique characteristics of this ecosystem,” explained Antony.
The effort will be worth it to raise some awareness, offered Antony.
“The expedition is meant to highlight the importance of untouched wilderness, adventure and exploration in Canada,” she said. “With an anthropologist among the team, we will produce a film, photographic documentation as well as a book boasting the incredible, untouched wilderness and abundant wildlife in addition to the technical and physical challenges of the adventure.
“We hope to inspire fellow Canadians to carry out their own eco-tourism adventures and recognize the significance of conservation and sustaining protected spaces in Canada for native flora and fauna to thrive. Our team, with a female lead, also an environmental and visual anthropologist, will focus on documenting the expedition with film and photography; the other expedition member, an avid, experienced adventurer will provide insights into the technical aspects of horse packing and expedition travel. Traveling across this challenging terrain with unpredictable weather and vast wilderness via horseback will hopefully remind of the history of settlement and development in Canada and inspire the current, as well as future generations, to consider the impacts of our ecological footprint on the environment.”
Antony said we must be more aware of our world if we are to have a future.
“As I learned in my time working with the local Indigenous Elders for the Yorkton Tribal Council, we should be thinking seven generations ahead,” she said. “What will this planet look like for future generations? For my son? I think many of us have learned from the ongoing pandemic that we are blessed here in Canada with the beautiful nature that surrounds us. Most of us have the opportunity to get out for walks, to go skiing and are not locked up in tiny apartments in metropolitan centreslike much of the rest of the world. It is important to not take for granted the beautiful and vast environment that we live in and our goal is to promote conservation and the significance of untouched nature.
“We have also reached out to the Indigenous Nations whose traditional territory we will be crossing. Their perspectives, knowledge and insight of this region will also be included in the film and book as a product of the adventure.”
The trip is planned to commence in June 2021.
The expedition members include Melissa and Vincent Antony.
Vincent and Melissa, both outdoor adventure enthusiasts, met in Yellowknife. They wed in August 2020 and recently moved to Whitehorse. They have ambitions of opening an outfitting business in the Yukon in 2022.
Prior to meeting, Vincent and Melissa embarked on many adventures of their own covering vast territories and learning to navigate on horseback, with kayaks, canoes, bicycles, by foot, ski and dogsled.”
Melissa dedicated 12 years to her studies overseas to become a Cultural and Environmental Anthropologist. She crossed Poland, Germany and Scotland on bicycle, canoed several rivers in northern Canada and is eager to continue to explore the world.
Vincent is an adventurer at heart. He has traveled to most continents and regularly goes on multi-month wilderness adventures. He has completed a number of great solo expeditions including horse packing across Southern Chile, canoeing from BC to Nunavut, cross-country skiing across the Great Slave Lake, sea kayaking around Tasmania, Kodiak Archipelago and Canada's high Arctic, dog sledding on the Great Slake Lake East Arm, hiking across Lapland, the Southern Alps. He also completed the Canol Trail and even traveled in the Simpson Desert by camel.
The expedition will not come without extensive funding.
“We always knew that the trip would be costly,” said Melissa Antony. “My husband lost his job due to COVID-19 and has been unemployed since March 2020. This has made our plans to embark on this adventure more insecure. We will need funding to cover the costs and applying for grants and reaching out for funding may be the only means of accomplishing this goal.”
One funding source could be the Royal Canadian Geographic Society which “funds expeditions that they believe enhance the appreciation, understanding and knowledge of the physical, environmental and cultural geography of Canada,” said Antony, who said she hopes their plan has merit. “In particular, I believe it is important to see women carrying out such expeditions.
“We are unsure of how many expeditions are vying for the funding but we do believe that we have a capable and experienced team that will contribute to geographical literacy and exploration in Canada.”
Both Melissa and Vincent write blogs about their adventures that interested readers can follow. Melissa’s blog is titled: fromberlintothisbushlife.comand Vincent’s blog, only available in French is: “http://cochinvincent.blogspot.com
The public can help the effort.
“Our application is due on Jan. 7, and the Royal Canadian Geographic Society will determine which expeditions will be rewarded funding,” said Melissa. Community Outreach and communications is part of the proposal requirements so we are hoping that people will subscribe to our Website: https://www.serengetiofthenorth.comand follow our Facebook page: “Serengeti of the North: A Canadian Expedition”.
“The more support we have, the better our chances are of winning the competition.”
There is also a funding effort at https://www.gofundme.com/manage/serengeti-of-the-north-a-canadian-expedition
