detail from: KRK Art dizajn

IN THE LAND OF THE AURORA

The war is about to start in Yugoslavia, protest rallies are being organized, numerous parties are promoting their programs, and the people are increasingly restless. Regular employees have fewer and fewer jobs, and those who did not have any before see no way out of feeding their children, and they hardly think about their education. And those who had their own private jobs see that they cannot hope for anything better. Those who had close relatives abroad have either already moved to them or are packing their bags to do so as soon as possible.

Dragan and Mila, with their boys Danijel and Damir, have only their sister Danica, married to a Croat Ante, who lives in Canada, far in the north in the city of Yellowknife, which in Serbian means "Yellowknife". The boys laughed at the name of the city when Danica stayed with them in Novi Sad. When Dragan mentioned to them that it might be smart to write to Ante and Danica about the possibility of them providing them with shelter in the yellow knife, the boys were delighted. They were happy about the possibility of moving to the land of the Indians, they imagined them as they had seen in Western films. And about three months passed when they received a reply from Danica that she and Ante were willing to sponsor them, i.e. enable them to obtain immigrant visas for Canada. Dragan and Mila were no longer interested in what the winters were like there, or what they would do. Dragan trusted in his master's abilities, and the only important thing was to avoid war and keep the children alive, and everyone would learn the language by now, they would somehow manage. True, Danica and Ante could not promise them anything in advance regarding employment. They had agreed not to tell anyone about their intentions yet. Mila was still working, and she was diligent at work and tried to ensure that no one around her noticed that she would soon be leaving them. The boys sometimes made up stories about the Yellow Knife Indians for their friends, which they found unclear and enigmatic, so they did not conclude from this that they were leaving. Dragan only wrote a letter to his good friend Simon, who had already moved to Toronto. They waited to get their Canadian immigration visas and pack their suitcases.

After moving to Canada, they arrived in Calgary, where they were temporarily placed. There they first began to orient themselves and get used to the approaching winter. In the distance, the mountain peaks of the northern Cordilleras could be seen, from which cold winds blew. They did not know the language, and Dragan soon began to get nervous, he wanted to start doing something. The boys had not yet started school, and they knew English better than their parents, they learned it at school. They soon began to find friends in the neighborhood and they had a great time. They all wanted to get to know the surrounding area, so they went for walks together on the nearby streets and went to the shops. As the days got colder, they had to buy warmer clothes. And it wasn’t long before Ante and Danica told them to get ready for the trip north. The road to Yellowknife, “Yellowknife,” as the boys preferred to call it, was about two and a half thousand kilometers. Ante rented Dragan a rather old car, they got a road map and were given an explanation of which roads to take. They packed their things in the trunk, prepared dry food for three days, and the four of them got into the car, filled the tank, and set off into the unknown. While they were still traveling on the roads of Alberta, they got used to the traffic signs and drove at a speed according to the signs and the given regulations. Dragan tried not to commit any violations because he was driving with an international license, which Canadian regulations only tolerate for a short time. They only stopped where they got gas, and there they usually had coffee and everyone did their physiological needs. The first day went quite well, in good spirits. They noticed that as they went further north, the trees along the way were getting smaller. Damir explained to them that this was due to the increasingly cold winter, as they had learned in school. The two of them, Damir and Daniel, told jokes to amuse their parents.

Their first overnight stop was at a roadside motel near Whitecourt, north of Edmonton, off Highway 43. Dragan drove tirelessly the first day, looking forward to starting work soon. And as they drove further north, the boys felt themselves becoming more and more reclusive. Mila was mostly silent. She knew they were going at her sister’s urging, so she felt a certain responsibility if they didn’t like the place they were coming to.

The second day they traveled through a real wilderness. There were almost no settlements, only gas stations at given distances. On both sides of Route 35 there were countless lakes, in fact, only forests and lakes alternated. Nature seemed beautiful in terms of cleanliness, and since there was no major traffic, the air seemed clean and fresh. The second day passed in silence, everyone was already feeling tired, and they had another day of driving ahead of them. In the evening they crossed the border crossing into the Northwestern Territory. The tourist crossing is officially open from May 15 to September 15, and since Dragan and Mila with the boys entered on the penultimate day of August, they were accepted there as they accept all tourists here, offering them free coffee, maps and necessary instructions. There they also got a place to stay and information that the boys managed to agree on. Dragan was already quite tired so he hurried to go to bed early that night. In the morning they saw that they were in the Twin Falls Gorge, and not far from there, according to the map they got at the border crossing at the sixtieth parallel, there were also the Alexandra and Louis Falls, Lady Evelyn and the Slave River, Kakisa and Rodnaipf rivers, all somehow within the Fort Simpson Territorial Park. Truly naturally beautiful places, destined for numerous tourists. These areas are inhabited exclusively by the Dan Indians, who mainly hunt and fish, and those Indians who live along the Hey River have also been involved in selling furs since ancient times. After they had refreshed themselves and walked around the area, they got back into the old car, filled it with gas, and headed north toward the town of Rae-Edzo. It was their third consecutive day of continuous driving, and it seemed like an eternity to them, as if they would never reach that "yellow knife." Along the way, they passed through forests and lakes, and the land that could be seen in the clearings was mostly rocky, sometimes overgrown with grass. In the afternoon, they stopped in the town of Rae to rest, from where they still had about 110 km to drive.

The houses of the Den Indians are mostly log cabins arranged in rows, in a way, they are their streets. Dragan drove the car along several streets and noticed that almost all of them are along Slave Lake on the peninsula-shaped terrain. He parked in front of the only store, where Dragan bought himself beer and juices for the others, and for food he took packaged sandwiches. They stayed there for about an hour, and then continued on their last route. And as soon as they had gone ten kilometers from Rey, they saw a bear about thirty meters from the road. They slowed down so that everyone could see it.

At the entrance to the town of Yellowknife on the left is Long Lake, and in the town itself there are several more: Fox, Jackfish, Frame, Niven, Range and several smaller nameless ones. The town is truly full of lakes, and Long Lake is the main one with a sandy beach.

Already tired and stiff from sitting in the car for too long, they arrived at Ante and Danica's apartment, who treated them to refreshments, and then the story of the trip began. Danica was interested in her relatives and the situation in Novi Sad, Dragan talked about the trip from Calgary, and then about the beginning of the war, while Ante was mostly silent. The boys were also silent, they were raised not to interrupt the conversations of their elders, unless someone asked them something. That evening the guests went to bed early, knowing that they would have many obligations to attend to from the very next day.

From September 1st, autumn begins in Yellowknife, and so does the school year, and everyone has to register as new residents of the city. Danica took them to register wherever they needed to, and then she took them all to the K’alemi Dene School and led them through the main streets for orientation. The city of Yellowknife is the capital of the North-Western Territory, with a population of about 20,000, and its economy is mainly focused on the extraction and processing of gold and diamonds. Hence, it has recently been called the "Diamond of the North". The temperatures here have already dropped to just a few degrees above zero, so you should dress appropriately. A bit unusual for the time of year, but this is the far north of Canada. You should have started getting used to it from day one.

During the first week, Dragan and Mila managed to enroll the boys in school, and then they began looking for jobs for them. They also asked about the possibilities of learning English and learned that as newly arrived immigrants they were entitled to free tuition.

Ante completely surprised them. Dragan expected him to help him find a job, but Ante left him to fend for himself. And Dragan didn't know the city, he didn't know the language, he wandered from door to door, explaining with a few words and gestures that he was looking for work. Everywhere they shrugged their shoulders and thanked him. He returned home dejected, worried about how he would lead his children on their journey through life. He usually found Ante sprawled on the couch watching television and smoking. He even liked to drink. Sometimes he would offer Dragan a drink, just so he had a reason for his own glass. Mila and her sister worked at home and the two of them had a lot to talk about. Luckily, the boys had already started school and they were quickly integrating into the society of their age. They also knew English quite well, so they could already follow the lessons. And since they had brought good background knowledge from Novi Sad, they quickly adapted to the school curriculum.

About ten days after they arrived in Yellowknife, Dragan stopped by Kalemi Den School and managed to explain to the principal that his boys had started school there, and when the principal realized who he was talking about, he suggested to Dragan that, if he wanted, he could clean the classrooms in the evenings. Dragan could hardly wait for it, but he needed to have his own cleaning supplies. They brought some money for food and necessities, but they decided to buy equipment and just in case. And so he and Mila set off together. By nature, they are both hardworking and honest, so on the first day they finished cleaning the entire school by midnight, which was much faster than the previous cleaners who reported working all night. The principal liked them too. He told them they could continue, and if they were able, he would recommend them to his colleague, the principal of another school. They both continued to work in the evenings until after midnight, and they came home tired but satisfied. During the day they had responsibilities such as sorting out status issues, purchasing food, and preparing meals. The boys had started well, and it was worth giving them courage for a new life. Ante looks at them and is amazed at how they managed to find their way around the new environment on their own, where they didn’t know anyone and didn’t speak the language. He tells them how it took him much longer, even though they were offered jobs when he arrived. It was a relief for him, he didn’t have to help them with anything. He only found them an apartment in their neighborhood, but Dragan and Mila had to pay for it from the beginning. From the first of October, Dragan and Mila moved into their apartment with Daniel and Damir and started their own life in the far north in the "Diamond of the North". They bought used furniture, mostly at the "Garage Sale", and sometimes they took some pieces from the street in front of houses where they left them for free. That's how it had to be at first. In October, it was already very cold in Yellowknife, winter was approaching, the first snow had already started to fall. Not far from the building in which they rented the apartment is the old part of town where the first gold mine was, now abandoned, and old miners' houses, log cabins, still remain. A few hundred meters away is Great Slave Lake, the tenth largest in the world and the deepest on the North American continent. There are many shacks on the lake, and the residents who live in them do not pay city taxes.

Daniel and Damir quickly fit into the class and have already made friends, including Nikan and Tamar from their classes. Both were Indians of the local Den tribe. When they first came to visit Dragan and Mila, Damir began teaching them to play European football. Daniel became interested in the Dogrib language, the language of the Den Indians, which could be studied optionally at their school, which Nikan and Tamar liked. When Nikan and Tamar invited Daniel and Damir to come to their house, they gladly accepted and informed their parents about it. Dragan and Mila quickly gained trust in the Indians and accepted their children as their own.

During the month of December, daylight hours in Yellowknife lasted only about six and a half hours, and temperatures dropped below -45°C. At that time, north of the Arctic Circle, the sun does not rise at all for 30 days, from December 5 to January 5, and in the summer, for 57 days, from May 24 to July 24, it never sets. At that time, in the far north, residents and tourists enjoy the "midnight sun". One evening, while Dragan and Mila were hastily preparing the classrooms of the "Kalemi Den" school, the school principal came by and, seeing them doing the job conscientiously, suggested that they could also take the Catholic School (Yellowknife Catholic School), where his colleague is the principal and he had already mentioned Dragan and Mila to him.

When Mila and Dragan heard this, they immediately accepted and agreed that each of them would clean one school, and whoever finished first would come to the other to help and so that they could return home together at night. They soon collected the necessary equipment and set to work. They didn't have to worry about the boys because they were well-behaved and old enough to take care of themselves. They studied well and were both excellent. And it wouldn't be long before these two principals offered to take over the other schools (Sir John Franklin High School; St. Patrick High School & Mildred Hull School). Dragan and Mila suddenly found themselves in a predicament. They couldn't refuse, and they couldn't do it on their own anymore. So they decided to register a cleaning company and hire a few more people. They hired a total of six of them, two in each additional school. Ante Malte didn't have a heart attack when he heard that Dragan and Mila had found jobs and hired six other people just six months after arriving in Yellowknife. He envied them.

Their first year in Yellowknife flew by, almost without noticing how fast they were working non-stop, the boys successfully completed each of their grades, Daniel in eleventh and Damir in ninth. Dragan and Mila had already started earning well and were thinking about investing. They also started taking English classes during the winter semester and had already completed their first year, so they got along better with their employees and school administrations. Mila worked as an economist in accounting in Novi Sad, so she easily adapted to running her own business in Yellowknife. Damir proved to be a good football player at school, so the principal nominated him for the next school vacation to go north to teach school-age boys, which he was delighted about and certainly encouraged his parents. That summer, Damir's class had an organized excursion, during which they visited Cameron Falls and Prelude Lake & Tibbitt Lake, beautiful places with well-maintained trails for visitors. Then they continued north to the Mackenzie River delta, which flows into the Beaufort Sea, the Arctic Ocean. The teachers showed the students and convinced them that Canada is rich in forest and lake resources, as well as mineral resources, especially precious metals. There are many berries growing in the forests, and where there are berries, there are also bears, so the group's guide warned the children not to go far into the woods alone.

The town of Yellowknife itself lies on a goldfield, which extends for about 13 kilometers in diameter around the town, and recently diamond deposits have been found, after which Yellowknife was named the "Diamond of the North". Not far from the town is the "Giant" gold mine, one of the richest mines of its kind with about 8-20 grams of gold per ton of ore, and it was closed when its reserves were exhausted. Now diamonds have become very popular. In the town, by Frame Lake, there is an attractive center (Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Center), which displays items of Native American culture and has a restaurant with buffalo specialties. Not far from that center is the provincial parliament, built in the shape of a snowflake.

It is true that the winters in Yellowknife seemed unbearable to Dragan and Mila during the first year, but they still survived and somewhat got used to it. They were sustained by their success in business. During the second year, they had already made savings, which they invested in buying a house in Calgary. At first, they rented it out, so the house paid for itself. And after the second year, when Daniel finished the twelfth grade, they decided to send him to study in Calgary, where at least he had his own apartment. His parents and younger brother visited him when their work obligations allowed.

That year, Damir was sent north by the school to train local Native American and Eskimo boys to play European football (Soccer). What no one expected, he was given a two-seater plane with a pilot for his needs. He traveled to the town of Inuvik, about 200 km north, and also stayed in the town of Tuktoyaktuk, where the boys Kori, Jaran and Maki stood out in particular. Damir spent two months in the north and enjoyed the "midnight sun". In the evenings he sat with the boys he was training, explaining the details of the game to them and enjoying watching the Northern light or Boreal. He lived and ate with the Indians and Eskimos, and it remained in his unforgettable memory as the most beautiful summer of his life. He also saw icebergs, which never melt. Returning to school, he became known in all classes, and soon in other schools, where his parents worked, and thus became famous for football in the entire city.

When Damir finished the twelfth grade, he decided to study mathematics, so his parents sent him to study in Halifax, Nova Scotia in eastern Canada. While both boys were studying and coming home during the summer holidays, Dragan and Mila got involved in their business, which they expanded and perfected. Now they personally did less physical work, and more organized and supervised the "business". And they earned more, so they decided to buy an apartment not far from Range Lake, which the boys gladly accepted. And when Daniel finished his studies at the college in Calgary, he decided to get a job and accepted an offer for a job in Fort McMurray. The city of McMurray is industrial, where oil shale is processed and is quite polluted, and Daniel rented an apartment on Prairie Loop Boulevard, which is right next to the Clearwater River. That river was really clean and you could fish in it. It flowed into the larger Athabasca River in the city itself. Daniel would spend about three years there, during which time he would get married, and then move to the city of Victoria, the capital of the Province of British Columbia, where he would complete his studies. For that occasion, Dragan and Mila bought a house there, where they themselves began to visit their son more and more often. They would soon have their first grandchild there, so Grandma Mila had a reason to stay in Victoria as long as possible. In the meantime, Damir had also finished his studies, got a job as a math teacher at a school in Calgary, moved into their house, got married, and soon bought his own.

Mila was already tired of running the cleaning company, so she left it to Dragan, and she got a job at the School Board where she did accounting. After a few years of working independently in cleaning jobs, Dragan was injured at work, his sick leave lasted about two years, and in the end, the doctors retired him. Mila worked for some time in the school administration's accounting department, and the boys were both already well-off, had their own homes and two children each. The older Daniel worked as a professor at the college where he himself studied, and the younger Damir worked as a high school math teacher. When Dragan once told his friend Simon that no one had visited them in Yellowknife for nineteen years, Simon promised him that they would visit them and bought plane tickets to Yellowknife just three days later. When visiting Yellowknife, Simon and his wife, Dragan and Mila, usually had lunch in the park next to City Hall, not far from Mila's workplace, and enjoyed the sun during the day and the northern lights in the evening. They made almost daily trips to the nearby lakes, of which there are countless in the area, and where many local residents start swimming even before the ice on them melts completely. Summers in the Northwest Territory are very short, so it is worth taking advantage of the season in time. Many tourists come to Yellowknife, most of them during the summer season, although those who enjoy the very cold northern winters also come.

And when Dragan and Mila reached twenty years of living and working very hard in Yellowknife, and they took their children on the road and earned enough that they no longer needed them, they decided that Mila should retire too, sold their apartment in Yellowknife and moved to Canmore, Alberta, where they bought a third house again together with the boys, who spend their time there in the summers during school holidays, and the grandparents enjoy themselves with their grandchildren and every evening they all sit together under the Rocky Mounties, alternately illuminated by moonlight or the northern lights.

SIMO JELAČA

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