YELLOWKNIFE - A biography of the late Dene elder Helen Tobie was launched June 25 at the Diavik Diamond Mines office in Yellowknife.

Faith Tobie-Norn was at the book launch for her grandmother Helen Tobie's biography. Here she is shown with her father, Rodney Norn. - Laura Power/NNSL photo

Diavik, along with the Yellowknives Dene and the Participation Agreement Implementation Agreement committee, publish elders' biographies in an effort to record and preserve their lives and stories.

Helen Tobie, the subject of this year's publication, was born in Dettah in 1942. When she died last October, she had shared her stories on 24 tapes for translation and publication,

Phil Mercredi, participation representative between Yellowknives Dene and Diavik, said Tobie was a respected figure in her community.

"She was like the ambassador to the nation... because of her traditional knowledge and her openness to any people and all people," he said.

"She used a lot of humour to get her message across, and that message was of friendship."

The book, which talks about traditional events in Tobie's life in her own words, is written in both Dogrib and English. Mercredi said the translations, done by Mary Rose Sundberg, were a challenge because of differences in language structure.

He said he feels it is very important these days to keep interviewing elders for the purpose of publication.

"There's concern by the community members and leaders that our elders are getting older, and that the numbers of elders in the community are becoming less... we feel a need to enhance this annual publication by doing as many interviews as we can," he said.

Mercredi said Tobie had met with a number of national and international leaders throughout her life, including national aboriginal leaders, prime ministers and the Queen.

Two of her sisters, Alizette Liza Drybones and Louise MacKenzie, were also present at the book launch and had more personal sentiments about the book. Drybones, who is now the eldest of her surviving sisters, said she learned a lot from her sister.

"My sister Helen, she was eldest and she was the one that took care of the whole family while my mom was (doing traditional work)."

More family members were present, including a couple of grandchildren and a great nephew. Mercredi said it is important to pass along the knowledge and stories of elders to the younger generation.

"These books are really important for chronology of events in the Dene community and for education the young people on specific events in the elders' lives, because once they're lost, we can't repeat these traditional events."