Fort Simpson (Mar 18/05) - Tonya Cazon believes traditional Dene values can play a major role in helping communities recover from alcohol abuse and the legacy of residential schools.

Fort Simpson's Tonya Cazon was honoured last week with a Wise Woman Award for her contributions to the community. - Andrew Raven/NNSL photo

"Our traditions are still relevant," she said after returning home from a ceremony at the Legislative Assembly where she was honoured with the 2005 Wise Woman Award for the Deh Cho. "I think we need to get back to those positive values."

Presented by the Status of Women Council of the NWT, the awards recognize those who have made valuable contributions to their community through volunteer and professional work.

"They are a validation of the work women do," said the 32-year-old Cazon.

Born in Yellowknife and raised in Toronto, Cazon moved to Fort Simpson in the mid-1990s.

A married mother of two, she has spent the last decade working with youth and adults to tackle social problems that face most Northern communities.

Cazon said a strong belief in aboriginal values is a pillar of her work.

"Traditional values are extremely important, especially with a lot of the influences that exist today," she said.

Communities across the NWT are still struggling with the devastating legacy of residential schools - which Cazon said is passed from one generation to the next.

Often the biggest obstacle to dealing with those issues and the problem of alcohol abuse is not money, but getting people to participate in healing, she said.

"I am not after a quick fix," she said. "I am looking for longer term solutions and those often take more work."

She heads the Brighter Futures Program with the Liidlii Kue First Nation, which examines health issues from an aboriginal perspective.

The proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline will have a major effect on communities in the Deh Cho and she said it was important for all the groups involved to understand the implications.

She plans to continue her work in the community, motivated by what she describes as the need for "change."

"Right now, many people are unable to interact socially in a healthy way," she said. "I always want to contribute and give back to society."