Fort Severn shooters win top national honours

Five Junior Canadian Rangers from Fort Severn won top honours representing Ontario at a national Junior Ranger marksmanship competition.
Their team came third out of 10 teams representing some of the best Junior Ranger shooters from across Canada’s north.
The Fort Severn team members, who all received medals, were Sinclair Childsforever, 16, Tamara Nayotchekeesic, 13, Andrea Kekekaspan, 13, Laurinda Miles, 12, and Christa Koostachin, 13.
Childsforever, who was shooting in his first competition, came second to a 17-year-old Junior Ranger from Labrador with years of competitive shooting experience.
“Sinclair did extremely well,” said Capt. Caryl Fletcher, the officer commanding the 600 Junior Rangers in northern Ontario. “He can really shoot. He lost by only one point.”
Nayotchekeesic also scored high points, taking fifth place in the individual standings.
Fifty Junior Rangers participated in the marksmanship competition. They came from as far north as Ulukhaktok, an Inuit hamlet in the Northwest Territories. They were selected from 3,500 Junior Rangers in 127 remote and isolated communities across the north.
They competed with Daisy air rifles, shooting at a distance of 10 metres, while in standing and prone positions on the ground, at a variety of targets, including standard paper targets, falling plates and miniature animals.
“Yeah, it was fun,” said Childsforever. “I had a good time here. The army has made me a better shot.”
“This is a vast improvement for the Junior Rangers in northern Ontario,” Fletcher said. “We (haven’t) won anything at the two previous national competitions.”
In addition to shooting, the Junior Rangers enjoyed outings to a shopping mall in nearby Barrie, where they watched a 3D movie at a cinema, toured a military museum, went bowling, visited the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto and saw a farm where many of them saw their first cow and horse.
“Everything they did for many of them was something they’ve never done before and, considering where they live, may never do again,” Fletcher said. “The focus was the shooting competition but the true value of the event, in my opinion, was the total mix of different cultures and different life styles they found when they met people from other parts of the north. It was a wonderful experience for them.”
A second team of Junior Rangers from Sachigo Lake also represented Ontario in the competition. Its members were Willow Beardy, Joshua Muckle, Migisi Munroe, Drew Tait and Myron Tait. The team did well but was hampered by the loss of Myron Tait who became sick at the last moment.
Canadian Ranger escorts for the two teams were Master Cpl. Maybelline Mathews from Fort Severn and Cpl. Judy Meekis from Sachigo Lake. The shooting range safety officers for the competition were Sgt. Jacob Anderson of Kitchenuhmaykoosib, Master Cpls. Savannah Neotapin and Stanley Stephens from Constance Lake, and Ranger Jacob Anderson of Kasabonika Lake.
Sgt. Peter Moon is the public affairs ranger for 3rd Canadian Ranger Patrol Group at Canadian Forces Base Borden. See www.canadianrangers.ca.