Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Kakisa (Aug 25/00) - "I'm grateful to be given the opportunity to be the voice for the Dene people."

That's how the CBC's Peter Hope describes his role as a broadcaster. Raised in Fort Simpson, where Slavey was his first language, Hope is now trying to impart those words on the next generation.

"Definitely my job is generally passing on the language. For me it's very important how you say things, how you explain things," he said from the Kakisa band office, where he just wrapped up a noon hour broadcast. "I encourage younger people to use their language, to be open and listen. The times are a changing. We're not telling you to go back to the lean-to, just be open minded and use what you've got to improve your future."

Hope had started out his broadcast career with CKLB in Yellowknife. After seven years there, where he rose to the position of program director, Hope found he wasn't using his first language enough. The move to CBC in 1994 allowed him to do more journalism and converse in Slavey. He can be heard weekday afternoons hosting South Slavey programming.

He's also mobile, travelling to Deh Cho communities for various events. Technology allows him to travel light, carrying just a lap-top computer and another small case of broadcasting equipment. As long as there's a telephone jack handy, he can plug in and be ready to go. For programming purposes, he's faxed a copy of the line-up, which is broken down into minutes and seconds.

"The beauty of technology," Hope said of his new equipment is that "you can actually communicate back and forth with the person at the station. They can tell you you've got 30 seconds left until the song is over. It's a lot easier."

With several dialects within the Deh Cho region, Hope admitted that he has to concentrate on what the interviewee is saying. However, he can speak all the dialects himself, he noted.

Nobody speaks better Slavey than the elders. Hope says he tries to learn from them.

"My guiding force in the Deh Cho is the elders. It makes me feel good when an elder says, 'Mahsi,' and shakes my hand," he said.

Whenever he gets a chance to get away from the station in Yellowknife and return to the region, it feels like coming home, he remarked.

"It's like being part of the family," he said, adding that people often remind him of funny things he said on air. For instance, while trying to describe a pancake in Slavey, he called it a "flabby bannock."

You can't be serious all the time," he said. "I enjoy doing what I'm doing."