LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
The Sahtu region Dene have staked a claim of their own amid the oil and gas rush in the Central Mackenzie Valley.
As a number of major energy companies begin exploration programs on more than $630 million in financial commitments in the Sahtu region's Canol shale play, the First Nations chiefs have bought the Mackenzie Valley Hotel in the regional centre of Norman Wells and renamed the popular destination the Sahtu Dene Inn.
"We saw lots of activity going on so we decided to look around to see if we could get into some sort of investment. And the hotel was a good one that we looked at and they were interested in selling, so we decided to go ahead and buy it," said Vice-Grand Chief Wilfred McNeely Jr. from Fort Good Hope.
The Sahtu Dene Inn is the first purchase of the Sahtu Dene Council, which works toward the advancement of training and education opportunities for the Sahtu bands.
"There's no business wholly-owned by the bands. All the four bands in the Sahtu own this hotel in the Sahtu, equally," McNeely Jr. said.
"I'm hoping they feel proud that they own a building in the Sahtu. It's a long time overdue."
The investment is also being applauded by government and industry.
"It's always been one of the goals of our Norman Wells operation to continuously increase the participation, employment opportunities as well as business opportunities for local aboriginal people because, in our mind, that's just an approach that makes sense for everybody," said Imperial Oil Resources spokesperson Pius Rolheiser.
In addition to its Norman Wells conventional oil field, Imperial and Exxon Mobil are among the companies holding leases in the Canol shale formation.
A number of companies have already began drilling wells at the play, and activity is expected to increase in the coming years, which bodes well for the Sahtu Dene Inn and other businesses and services in the region.
"The business plan looks good, so it should be successful," said McNeely Jr. "It will be successful."
Located near the airport, the Sahtu Dene Inn can accommodate up to 33 people.
The hotel's kitchen, which is currently closed during the transition, will continue to serve Chinese food, pizza and other Canadian cuisine, next month.
Former owner Jane Han and her family has been hired to run the kitchen.
