Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

NNSL (Apr 12/99) - Amid the music and songs of celebration that marked the recent launch of Nunavut were 17 drums played in protest -- a protest that may yet lead to understanding.

Caribou-skin drums echoed on Parliament Hill on March 25, as 50 Manitoba Dene protested the threat to their land and treaty rights they say Nunavut represents.

The drumming and singing by the representatives of the Sayisi Dene Nation, the Northlands Dene Nation, the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs attracted a crowd and eventually lured Jane Stewart, minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, out to speak to the protesters.

The rally was the latest in a series of actions over the past 15 years by the Sayisi Dene Nation of Tadoule Lake, Man., and Lac Brochet's Northlands First Nation. At the centre of the dispute is some 80,000 square kilometres of Denesuline-claimed traditional lands north of the 60th parallel and within the boundaries of Nunavut. The Manitoba Dene argue the Nunavut Act tramples on their rights, and the rights of all Dene groups bordering the new territory. The legal suit, Samuel vs. The Queen, has been launched over the issue.

"Neither Canada nor the Inuit of Nunavut have taken steps to ensure that our treaty and constitutional rights will be honoured and protected in Nunavut," said Sayisi Dene Chief Ila Bussidor.

Michael Anderson, of the Keewatinowi Okimakanak's Winnipeg office, said last week that the Dene have had difficulty pinning down a succession of ministers on the matter or finding a way to legally guarantee the Manitoba Dene their rights.

But Anderson also reported that positive signs emerged from the Ottawa protest, and Northlands Chief John Dantouze said Stewart agreed to an April 29 meeting in Winnipeg.

"She's willing to talk, and that's a major step because she has never before discussed our rights North of 60," he said.

Dantouze also said that his people continue to hunt, trap and fish on Nunavut land without obstruction, but that the uncertain situation warrants clarification. He said he hopes discussions will also take place directly with the Iqaluit leadership.

At the time of the protest, Nunavut Premier-elect Paul Okalik had verbally assured the Manitoba Dene their rights would be upheld, and his press secretary, Annette Bourgeois, confirmed this Tuesday.

She said the ongoing court case would decide the matter, but added that from the government's point of view, the Nunavut Act doesn't infringe on Manitoba Dene rights, and compared their situation to the Cree living on the James Bay islands.

"There hasn't been any changes in our position on this, and there won't be," she said.

Anderson said the 50 Dene had travelled by bus to Ottawa and drummed all day on Parliament Hill. He said the scene was quite moving as the booming of the drums bounced off the buildings' facades and could be heard for blocks throughout the downtown core.

Anderson said the protest drew the attraction of government workers, tourists, television personality David Suzuki and even Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew, who he said recognized the drumming.

"The whole point of the day was to ask Canada to honour its treaty to the Dene," he said.

Dene Nation Chief Bill Erasmus was not available for comment.