At Bromfield, the name “Wabun” has come to hold meaning for many students. Though only a small percentage of students actually attend this rugged Canadian canoeing camp, many have heard all about Wabun at one point or another, as anecdotes from campers have found their way into almost any conversation.

“Information about Wabun is spread almost entirely through word of mouth,” said Bromfield senior Helen Kilian, who has attended the camp every summer since fourth grade.

For those unfamiliar with the name, Wabun is a summer camp located in the Lake Temagami region in Ontario, where each year several Harvard students spend their summers camping and canoeing throughout the rivers and lakes of northern Ontario. The camp runs in three- and six-week sessions, and campers ages 10 to 18 participate in various canoe trips, based on their age and experience. The peak of the Wabun experience is “the bay trip,” a six-week, 1,000-mile trip across northern Ontario, ending in Hudson or James Bay.

“Wabun’s not your average summer camp,” said Will Blackwell, a Bromfield junior who has been attending Wabun for five years. “It’s the only camp I’ve heard of where people are dedicated enough to get tattoos of the logo. To the people who go there, it’s literally a separate life.”

Harvard’s connection to Wabun extends back through the generations of the Nocka and Finnegan families. The Nocka children who attended this summer make the fourth generation of their family to be involved with the camp, as their great-grandfather was a founder of Wabun back in 1933. Mark and Steve Finnegan, brothers who were Wabun campers in the 1970s, also passed along the Wabun tradition to their children, all of whom have attended the camp. Word of the camp spread from these Harvard families to others, such as Helen Kilian and Scott and Will Blackwell, all of whom attended Wabun this summer, along with Katherine, Conor, Katie, and Mikey Finnegan, and Peter, William, and Heidi Nocka.

Wabun also makes an effort to maintain not only these family traditions but also those of the past, through the exclusion of technology as well as through the use of wood and canvas canoes, wanigan boxes, canvas duffel bags, and leather tumplines.

“My favorite thing about Wabun is being able to enjoy life at a relaxed pace with no electronics or high-tech devices like cell phones and computers,” said Katherine Finnegan, who has attended Wabun for five years.

Katherine’s cousin Mark Finnegan expressed similar sentiments.

“What you experience at Wabun isn’t just an unbelievable amount of fun or the strength and endurance to work all day, but a real sense of accomplishment,” he said. “Not many people can say that they have traveled more than 1,000 miles in six weeks under their own power. The lack of electronics and objects that entertain also guides you toward a different type of entertainment—you invent games and hang out and interact in an entirely different way.”

“I think most anybody can get something out of living in the natural world,” said Will Blackwell. “Wabun is just one way to experience it. After traveling through the wild for a summer, when I get back, it helps me see through a lot of the hypocrisy and absurdity of the society we live in. To me it’s a good way to get back to reality.”

However, Blackwell also acknowledges “Wabun is definitely not for everyone.”

When asked about aspects of the camp they don’t like, campers respond almost unanimously: bugs and rain. Conor Finnegan explained, “When you go to Wabun, you love it and you hate it. There are times when you just don’t want to go on…portaging in the rain when you are up to your knees in muskeg and there is a blanket of mosquitoes and black flies all over your arms, neck, and legs.”

But, said Blackwell, “[It’s] all part of the experience. It wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t have to deal with the less pleasant parts of living in the woods. After a while, you learn to adapt and be happy even while you’re uncomfortable.”

The Harvard campers also all agree on how much they have taken away from their experiences at Wabun.

Said Scott Blackwell, a Wabun camper of two years, “I’ve learned numerous skills from Wabun, mostly having to do with camping and canoeing, but the overall experience of Wabun is indescribable. For me, it’s like nothing else I’ve ever done.”

“I’ve learned so much about canoe-tripping, how to run a rapid without flipping your canoe and how to have fun with who and what is around you,” reflected Conor Finnegan. “And also about what I can accomplish physically and mentally in the environment I have to face.”

The older campers, especially, point out how much they have learned from Wabun in addition to the canoeing and camping.

“Wabun has been the most influential aspect of my life, even trumping a move to a private school,” said Mark Finnegan. “Wabun taught most of all about working as a group. You learn to overcome each and every task that is thrown at you… My bay trip year taught us more than I had ever imagined, but the best thing we learned was to work as a single unit. We didn’t start carrying loads across a portage unless each canoe was unloaded. As we got better and better at portaging, our days became shorter, and we began to steadily get ahead of schedule. At one point we were 11 days ahead of our itinerary. It’s all about teamwork.”

“Wabun’s helped me gain a lot of independence, self-reliance, and the ability to work hard for things I want to accomplish,” said Will Blackwell. “It’s taught me how to improve myself, work as a part of a team, and help out other people. I’ve also gained a huge respect for the power of the natural world to change things, adapt, support life, and sometimes kill.”

The majority of Harvard students who attended Wabun this summer were quick to affirm that they will attend again next summer, some returning as campers and others as staff. “The bay trip is so intense and amazing, I feel like I have to do another one,” said Will Blackwell. “After that, I’m going to staff at Wabun for as long as I can.”