Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Kakisa (Aug 25/00) - Deh Cho elders took a big step towards asserting themselves last week at the assembly in Kakisa.

And Fort Simpson elder Leo Norwegian says they knew exactly what they were doing.

"One of the elders said, 'Let's not start small,'" Norwegian revealed of the caucus among a dozen elders last Wednesday morning.

"One person said, 'Someday when we go, that knowledge is going to be buried with us. Let's show them the way."

By making a recommendation for grand chief, that's as deep an impact as they could make. The recommendation, Norwegian pointed out, was not a decree.

"We didn't come back to the table and say, 'OK, this is how it's going to be," he said. "We're not trying to hurt anybody."

Although there was some dissent, Norwegian said he feels it's a small minority who are at odds with the elders' wishes.

"We accept that as elders. Those people don't understand what we're trying to say," he said. "It's going to be hot for a little while, but they'll look back and see it (was the right decision) ... The biggest struggle is a power struggle and money. If there was no money involved it wouldn't be that way. But we're not thinking about money, we're thinking about our people and traditional knowledge."

The elders have survived hard times and are most knowledgeable about the friendship treaty of 1921, said Norwegian, who is a spokesman for the Deh Cho elders.

"We don't think we're smarter than other people. This is the way, the old Dene way," he said. "There's still more (recommendations) to come, so they better be prepared. They better think before saying anything."

Elder Daniel Sonfrere expressed concerns about how the landscape is changing too much, too fast.

"Our country is not the same as it was 100 years ago. We've lost a lot of game, even berries," he said, naming moose and raspberries as examples. "We have to be careful. We can't depend on those grocery stores. We have to have our own fish, our own meat."