Denendeh elders decide on their future
Glen Vienneau
Northern News Services
Dettah (Dec 18/00) - Elders from five NWT regions who gathered for in Dettah last week spoke of a new vision for their communities.
"The priority seems to be the loss of our language," said Jean Marie Broda, executive director for the Dene Cultural Institute.
"We need to start building our language and ensure that it is brought into the schools, and taught in the families so it does not die," she said.
The institute organized the Dec. 12 to 14 conference. The DCI is governed by the Denendeh Elders Council and funded by the Elders Restoring Balance project for the Aboriginal Healing Foundation.
"We need to listen to our elders, they carry our stories, our legends, our histories, they carry everything of who we are as people of Denendeh," said Broda.
It is an important role for Vicky Desjarlais of Lutselk'e, who represents the Akaitcho region.
But it is difficult task for elders to pass their message to young people who do not speak their language, she said.
"The thing they should learn first of all is their language and speak it," Desjarlais said.
For Leo Norwegian of Fort Simpson, who represents the Deh Cho region, language is connected to the survival of the Dene culture.
"Our culture, our land and our langauge are all connected," he said.
Culture is also threatened by hasty development agreements, he said.
"Some people just want to come in and cut all the trees and take the trees and out of there with money in their pockets and that's it,"
He is concerned about the impact of the MacKenzie valley pipeline and the role First Nations might play.
"Let's do the right thing without damaging anything or without hurting anybody," said Norwegian.
Although he wants his people to be cautious, he believes development can be of benefit. He wants the young generation to work and make a living.
"If they want to do something (developers), talk to us and then we'll tell them what we think."
Before any agreements, he would like the grand chief and council to review the issues.
At the grand chief level, more resources are available to deal with development issues. They can hire people for the job if needed, such as a lawyer, he said.
Also, he would like to bring the traditions that made elders responsible for choosing their band chiefs and grand-chiefs.
