SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - It's going to be a big year for education in the North.

Dechinta: Bush University Centre for Research and Learning will accept its first students for a three-course pilot semester this summer.

"The response has been quite overwhelming," says Yellowknife resident Kyla Kakfwi Scott, Dechinta's co-ordinator. "Half a dozen people have contacted me wondering how they could apply and we haven't even advertised the program at all."

She says it's exciting that it is finally happening.

"The idea of a university in the North has been kicking around as long as the early '70s. By no means is it a new idea," said Kakfwi Scott.

Northerners have long been aware that their land, people and cultures have been, for the most part, studied by southerners living in the south.

"It's frustrating for people who live here to constantly be hearing about themselves as reflected by how other people view them," she said.

The teachers at Dechinta - which means "bush" in the Dene languages - will teach from a Northern perspective. Every course will be co-taught by a visiting university professor and also by a Northern expert.

"In the North there's lots of people who don't have that kind of academic education, but nonetheless have an enormous amount of knowledge to share," she said.

Knowledge isn't limited to formal learning and that will also be reflected in the types of students accepted.

"If you don't have a high school diploma it's not going to be something that's going to prevent you from participating," Kakfwi Scott said.

The university will be based at Blachford Lake Lodge, about 95 km southeast of Yellowknife.

"This was a site that was both off the grid and away from town, but still offers amenities like a big indoor meeting space. We're able to not only house a lot of students there, but also their families," said Kakfwi Scott.

That's another key element of Dechinta - students' children are encouraged to attend and schooling will be provided for them as well.

For the Dechinta students themselves, they will take intensive university-accredited courses taught on the land.

"The component of having the land is central to the experience," says Erin Freeland Ballantyne, a member of the university's advisory circle. "You don't finish and go home at four o'clock. You're living in a community and doing things like getting firewood to heat up the sauna or picking berries while you're talking about sustainable communities and governments. It's really hands-on."

Depending on funding, the first full semester will likely be offered in fall 2010 or spring 2011, says Kakfwi Scott.

First, the three-week pilot semester will run this June. The courses will include Northern governance, a 40-year history of the Dene Nation and a Weledeh language program.

Kakfwi Scott said they are still working on an agreement to have the courses accredited through the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta.

Sixteen students will be accepted for the pilot. A full semester course would involve approximately 25 students and 10 children, according to Kakfwi Scott.

Including visiting professors, elders and Northern experts, the maximum that can be housed at the site is 45 people.

The length of each full semester will likely vary, as will the courses offered. Though the courses will be credited with several different southern universities, a typical course is 39 hours, which could be done intensively in a week.

A full semester is likely to run about 12 weeks, said Kakfwi Scott.

Dechinta received "a big pocket of funding" from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) as well as the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation in January 2009. It gave them traction, said Kakfwi Scott.

However, they're still looking for help. The hope is for students attending Dechinta to receive full scholarships.

"We're currently in the process of seeking partnerships and long-term supporters to make this program sustainable," says Freeland Ballantyne.

Dechinta is just the beginning, she said. Eventually the hope is that entire degrees could be granted in the North. Dechinta would be part of that, but it would be done through various partnerships, she says.

"It won't be a bricks and mortar institution only," says Freeland Ballantyne. "It will be a very Northern vision of what northern university education looks like."