Khaii Luk Tshik

The mouth of this creek is one of the major trailheads for the route between the Mackenzie River and the large interior lake Khaii Luk (Travaillant Lake), an important fish lake for the Gwichya Gwich’in. In the days when schooners were used along the Mackenzie River, Gabe Andre remembers his father taking his schooner out of the river here in the fall using a capstan and storing it over the winter on higher ground up the creek, out of reach of spring ice moving on the Mackenzie River. Dale Clark’s father, Wm. (Billy) Clark, was the first person to build a permanent camp here in the late 1920s. He lived here with his family and ran an independent trading post from 1927-1939. People trapping in this area would come and trade here because it was more convenient than travelling to Arctic Red River. Bill McNeely, bought Billy Clark’s camp in 1942, after selling his camp at Tree River to Hyacinthe Andre. Mr. McNeely ran a trading post at Travaillant Creek from 1942-1956 and then he and his family moved to Fort Good Hope. Bill McNeely’s wife Daria was from Arctic Red River. More recently, Maureen Clark of Tsiigehtchic, has been building a frame house here for use by the Clark family as well as travellers and local hunters.