Enterprise asks DCFN for membership

by Arthur Milnes
Northern News Services

ENTERPRISE (Jan 23/98) - Though they might be small, residents of Enterprise made a request last week that could mean they'll be remembered in the history books for a long time to come.

On Friday, a delegation from the tiny settlement of 78 went before Deh Cho First Nations winter leadership meeting in Hay River.

Their mission? Asking the DCFN leadership if their almost completely non-aboriginal settlement could become a member of the DCFN.

"Here we are, a non-aboriginal community, who want to join your aboriginal government because we share the same principles," settlement adviser Richard Cadieux told the DCFN leadership. "We developed a culture what has withstood all assaults from the outside."

Residents of the settlement voted unanimously in a November referendum to endorse the proposal, the delegation said.

For the DCFN, the move sends a significant message to the federal government. In their presentation, settlement officials also said they support and are willing to live under the rules of the De Cho Proposal.

In Ottawa, Prof. Olive Dickinson, a renowned aboriginal historian, author of the ground-breaking book, Canada's First Nations: A History of Founding Peoples, and the recipient of last year's National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Lifetime Achievement, said she didn't think something like this has ever happened before.

"I never have heard of that," she said. "It's unusual, that's for sure ... The possibilities in politics are endless."

Enterprise is currently in a battle with the town of Hay River, which is trying to annex the settlement.

The Enterprise representatives said they and their citizens are completely opposed to being swallowed up by the nearby town. And they resent what they call a lack of communication from Hay River and GNWT officials concerning the issue.

Hay River Mayor Jack Rowe was travelling and could not be reached for comment while a call to the town's chief administrative officer from the xxxDrum was not returned.

For their part, DCFN leaders seemed touched by the request from the tiny community.

"I think it is very significant that a non-aboriginal community would realize that (they and) the Deh Cho First Nations have common goals," DCFN Grand Chief Michael Nadli said Friday. "I'm pretty sure it will go through."

Chief Joacham Bonnetrouge of Fort Providence agreed.

"For me, it's quite an honor to be recognized by another community that is considered mainly European," he said.

Some elders at the Hay River meeting said word of a move has long been part of Dene oral history. Long ago, they said, elders agreed that if people live long enough on the land, they become part of the land, like the Dene.

For now, Enterprise has been granted observer status at all upcoming DCFN meetings. Next summer, the question will be decided at the annual DCFN assembly.

Since Friday, the Drum has been unable to find a historical reference of such a request ever coming from a non-aboriginal people to aboriginal people before.