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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Dettah and the City of Yellowknife want to be good neighbours, so they're settling debts.

Chief Fred Sangris presented a cheque for $3,171.72 to Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem Tuesday to pay a bill from the Yellowknife Fire Department. Sangris is chief of Ndilo but presented on behalf of Dettah.

Yellowknife Mayor Gord Van Tighem accepts a cheque from Ndilo Chief Fred Sangris, representing the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. The city billed Dettah after Yellowknife firefighters responded to a call there last year. - April Robinson/NNSL photo

"We're trying to establish a good neighbour policy," said John Carter, chief executive officer of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.

Yellowknife firefighters responded to a fire in Dettah where a man set fire to his wife's home in a fit of rage last summer. He was convicted in February.

The City of Yellowknife billed Dettah because the settlement has its own volunteer fire department.

"We don't have a legal obligation, but we do have a moral obligation," said Carter. "We're paying it out of grace."

Van Tighem said the cheque represents the continuation of good relationships between the two communities.

"I'm always happy to be paid," he said with a laugh.

Now, the city will work with Dettah to come up with a process for future fire calls. The agreement will clarify when the city fire department becomes involved.

"We have to rely on the city for just about anything," Sangris said. "We need to continue working with the city."

As the band works toward self-government and treaty land entitlement negotiations, they will need to meet with the city more regularly, Van Tighem said.

The mayor attended a Dettah Easter drum dance last weekend – the first time a Yellowknife city official had been invited to the event.

Paying off the fire bill clears away any "potential irritants," Carter said.

"It's amazing how the small stuff bugs people."