Terry Halifax
Northern News Services

Deline (Nov 29/99) - Leroy Andre is the new chief for the Deline Dene Band.

The 31-year-old chief has plenty of new ideas to help his people prosper, but relies on the wisdom of the local elders to guide his decisions.

"All of our direction comes from our elders, they see the big picture," Andre said.

"The older, past chiefs have instilled a lot of things in us. They teach us young leaders how to make decisions properly."

The married father of five has kept himself busy with college, work and family.

"It's been seven years since I've had a real holiday," Andre admitted.

Andre has worked with parks and the protected areas strategy. He said the aboriginals had a lot to contribute to the planning, because of their connection to the land.

"Non-Dene people might look at a piece of land as having little or no value, while we see it as a big mosaic, full of legends and stories," he said. "What Europeans value is a lot different than what Dene people value."

The young chief is leader of a very young population. Andre worries about the future of the young Dene.

"We have 60 per cent of our population under the age of 30," he said.

"Morale is down among our young people. We have a lot of problems with alcoholism and unemployment."

He blames the government for many of the problems related to Deline's young people.

"The government has created a lot of these problems and the dependency on social programs," he said.

"Income support is supposed to get people off social programs and into the work force," Andre said.

He says empty housing units in Deline become too expensive to live in, when the residents get work.

"The minute they step over that line, they lose 60 per cent of their gross income to rent," he said.

"A lot of people say, 'I'm better off on social assistance.'"