Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jan 25/99) - A month after the announcement that the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act had come into effect, the Deh Cho First Nation offered a reminder that it wants nothing to do with it.

The act changes the rules for land and water use in the entire western Arctic except for the Inuvialuit settlement region. DCFN says its territory should be among the list of exceptions.

Grand Chief Michael Nadli said the act infringes on the rights of the Deh Cho people to control their land.

"It's almost as if the federal government thinks we have ceded, surrendered and extinguished our aboriginal treaty rights, similar to what the claimant areas have done, but we haven't," said Nadli.

At a leadership assembly held Jan. 11-15 at the Hay River Reserve, the DCFN resolved to proceed with establishing a resource management authority. The new body would play the same role in the Deh Cho as the boards established by the act.

The part of the act that creates the main regulatory body for the region -- the Mackenzie Valley Land and Water Board -- does not come into effect until next year.

Nadli said DCFN participation in the development of the act was limited to two presentations to federal officials in which the DCFN opposed the act.

Nadli said Deh Cho communities believe the resource management authority is a better way to regulate development in the region.

"The communities want development on their own terms," said Nadli.

DIAND's NWT regional office was not aware of the DCFN resolution until told by a reporter Thursday.

Regional director of operations Floyd Adlem said the DCFN resource management authority appears to be designed to serve the purpose the act was designed for.

Adlem said the formation of the authority is positive in that it will "help us with our consultation in the Deh Cho Region."

But Adlem said it didn't seem as though the authority could work as it was proposed under the provisions of the act.