Since 2005 archeologist Tom Andrews and colleagues have been piecing together how hunters in the area adapted over many generations, studying bits of tools grabbed from melting snowy patches in western Northwest Territories along the Yukon boundary. Patches of ice are slowly receding each year, likely due to global warming, revealing perfectly preserved relics of the past.

"It's very exciting," states Andrews. "It's very rare that we get to find artifacts that are so well preserved."

Andrews has worked closely with aboriginal people in the region, including the Tulita Dene band. Leon Andrew, a band member and brother of the chief, says he's astounded to watch perfectly formed pieces emerge from the ice.

"We hear all kinds of traditional stories, but we have no method of backing it up. Now we have some details about arrowhead making, etc., and can actually see how the stones are made," says Leon. "It kind of opens up our history."