Some might hesitate to swim in Man Drowned Himself Lake, close to 60 kilometres north of Deline, or walk along Old Lady鈥檚 Ghost Creek across from Wrigley鈥檚 new town at midnight in October when the evenings grow longer.
Not everyone knows the stories behind the traditional names of places around the NWT, but those who ask around can often still find an elder who knows them. Often, these names represent pieces of the history of the peoples who live nearby, and have been passed down orally for hundreds of years.
Deline鈥檚 Morris Neyelle says he heard the story behind Man Drowned Himself Lake, a few kilometres east of Lost Hill Lake, from an elder.
鈥淗e said it鈥檚 a very old story,鈥� says Neyelle.
鈥淲hat I heard was, there were two brothers that had went across that lake even though their boat wasn鈥檛 in good condition,鈥� says Neyelle. 鈥淚t was a birch bark canoe.
鈥淭hey were cursed with medicine power. On their way back, even though they really didn鈥檛 have to cross the lake, they crossed it and that鈥檚 where (the boat) collapsed on them and they both drowned. They were probably from around this area, somewhere.鈥�
Neyelle says he hasn鈥檛 been to the lake himself, but people often use it for their traplines, and it has good fishing.
Wrigley elder Gabe Hardisty says Old Lady鈥檚 Ghost Creek was given its name close to 90 years ago. Among other creeks with more simple names 鈥� Mountain People, Wrigley, Smith鈥檚, Hudson 鈥� this one stands out.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a burial, sacred site,鈥� he said, where an old lady had been buried at the time.
But, it wasn鈥檛 a spooky incident that gave the site its name.
鈥淭hey buried her there,鈥� said Hardisty. 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 know what to call that creek so they just named it after her, I guess鈥擮ld Lady鈥檚 Ghost Creek.鈥�
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