Dancers, drummers, games: northern hospitality for Will and Kate in Yellowknife
Posted July 5, 2011 2:49 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
YELLOWKNIFE – Thousands of onlookers cheered enthusiastically as Prince William paid tribute to the great beauty of Canada’s North on Tuesday.
“It’s great to be north of 60,” William said as his wife Kate sat beside him on a stage built on the shore of Yellowknife’s Frame Lake. The reference was to the line of latitude marking the southern boundary of the Northwest Territories.
“This place is what Canada is all about — vast, open beauty, tough, resilient, friendly peoples, true nature, true humanity,” the prince said as the lake rippled in the background.
Speaking in English with a smattering of French, he told the crowd that he and his wife had only been in the North for a short time — they arrived Monday evening — but had already developed an appreciation for the North.
“We’ve already sensed the extraordinary potential of this region and the irrepressible spirit of adventure that marks the people of the territories and defines the land. We are so excited to be here.”
The crowd roared its approval as he concluded with a thank you in the Dene tongue.
The couple watched aboriginal dancers in fur-trimmed parkas perform to the rhythmic beat of native drums. The royals then walked along the barriers holding the crowd back, the sound of drums still filling the air. They stopped along the way to shake hands and chat as some spectators jostled for a key spot.
Some held signs. One woman’s read: “I can still marry Harry,” a reference to William’s still-single brother. Her phone number was below.
One little girl at the front was dressed in the red, white and blue of the British flag.
Longtime royal-watcher Ryan Fowler was excited.
“I follow them a lot,” the 63-year-old said. “When they come up here to Yellowknife, they don’t have the heavy security. You are able to get closer to them. It is more of a hands-on type of thing.”
One of the highlights of the northern events was to be a street hockey game where the prince was expected to pick up a stick and play.
Branden Wood, one of the goalies looking forward to facing the prince, warned he wasn’t going to give William any softies.
“No way, I want to do my best,” the 13-year-old said.
The couple was also to fly by float plane to nearby Blachford Lake, where they were supposed to take to the water in a canoe.
On Wednesday, the royal couple was planning to stop in the fire-damaged Alberta town of Slave Lake before a 24-hour private break at an undisclosed location.
They are to conclude their tour in Calgary at the end of the week.
