Tara Kearsey
Northern News Services

Rae-Edzo (Aug 14/00) - To outsiders, they're nothing special -- tipis that you'd expect in a First Nation community.

But for the Dogrib First Nations, the caribou hide lodges that were unveiled during their annual assembly last week represent an important link to their past.

Replicas of two of the traditional dwellings were officially unveiled before hundreds of spectators Aug. 9 outside Elizabeth MacKenzie Elementary School.

For Dogrib Grand Chief Joe Rabesca, it was a momentous occasion.

"This is something that I've never seen," said Rabesca.

"We had heard about it, but I didn't believe it until I was in Yellowknife and I saw it."

The lodges are the only two of their type in the Northwest Territories.

Hand-made by elders from Rae-Edzo and Wha Ti, they are copies of a 100-year-old caribou hide lodge the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre borrowed from the University of Ottawa.

More than 70 tanned hides were used to re-create the lodges, most of them collected by students of Elizabeth MacKenzie school during the annual caribou hunt earlier this year.

One lodge will be located at Chief Jimmy Bruno School and the other will become a permanent exhibit at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Education, Culture and Employment Minister Jake Ootes attended the ceremony to accept the lodge for the museum.

"There's going to be a lot of history behind it once they bring it to the museum in Yellowknife ... people from all over the world will see it and know where it came from and what it represents," said Rabesca.

The project will also benefit future generations of Dogrib people.

Students will learn how the lodges were made, as the entire process was filmed for use in the Dogrib school system.

"It will no doubt inspire many generations to take pride in their heritage, culture and knowledge that has been passed on by their elders," said Ootes.

The project was a partnership between the Dogrib Community Services Board, the Dogrib Treaty 11 Council and the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.