A portage is an overland route used when transporting a boat or its cargo from one waterway to another or to bypass watery obstacles, such as rapids and waterfalls. The word portage comes from the French verb porter, to carry. Birchbark canoes were designed to be light and portable because of the many portages found on the northern landscape. Canoes were sometimes cached near portages for use the following spring; their remains are frequently discovered in these areas.

Portages are an important part of canoe travel in Dogrib country. The rocky landscape of the Canadian Shield lends itself to many puddle-and-drop waterways, so much so that some trails have as many as fifty or sixty portages.