Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

Fort Resolution (Aug 04/00) - Deh Cho Grand Chief Michael Nadli was in Fort Resolution last week to represent his region at the 30th annual Dene National Assembly.

The Deh Cho and the Akaitcho are the only two regions that are still official members of the Dene Nation because the Gwich'in, Sahtu, and Dogrib (Treaty 11) pulled out in 1993 to pursue their own land claim settlements.

Nadli said even though they are moving ahead with their own Deh Cho Process with the federal government, his region is still at the table supporting the Dene Nation because of the political contacts the organization has.

"I think we need some help in the whole area of lobbying and the Dene Nation has built key links to the GNWT, the federal government and the Assembly of First Nations," said Nadli.

"One thing that should be examined is how often those linked are utilized. The Dene Nation seems to be putting a lot of emphasis on resource revenue sharing while there is a whole gambit of issues regarding governance, economic, and social development that they need to be working on."

He said as the organization moves into the new millennium, they will need to diversify their approach.

"The Dene Nation should play a stronger role in ensuring the federal government and GNWT are more involved in a number of issues that are important to the Dene people," said Nadli.

"Our small communities are working on big ideas and despite the separate regional initiatives that have been undertaken, we're going to need help."

Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus, who was re-elected to another three-year term at the assembly, said comments from the attending delegates indicated very clearly that his organization must come up with a new mandate, constitution and bylaws as a first order of business.

"There's a lot of work that's required and I think now if we get the communities together, we can come up with the changes that the people want," said Erasmus.

"The organization has stood the test of time over 30 years. It has had its growing pains but I think people have learned that they want to work with us and they want the Dene Nation to continue."