Sahtu lands protected
Richard Gleeson
Northern News Services
Deline (Mar 26/01) - For at least five years there will be no new development on two areas of land sacred to the Sahtu Dene.
At a ceremony in Deline Friday Heritage Minister Sheila Copps announced the 5,500 square kilometres that make up Grizzly Bear Mountain and Scented Grass Hills will be excepted from new development for the next five years. The process is formally known as a land withdrawal.
The areas are part of the Sahtu land claim and the geographical area known as the Great Bear plain. Grizzly Bear Mountain juts out into Great Bear Lake 110 kilometres northeast of Deline. Scented Grass Hills, also a peninsula, is 90 kilometres east of the community.
Raymond Taniton, a former chief and long time supporter of the protection of these areas, said they are still well-used by people of the community.
"They go to the same campgrounds," Taniton said. "There's teepees, burial sites, cabins, tent frames. There's a lot of good areas for animals. There are stumps cut by our ancestors. There are trails they used.
"It's a good place to spend your time. You can stand on shore and fish, build a little fire and just relax."
Each spring, before the ice goes out, parents and their children form a snowmobile convoy to visit Grizzly Bear Mountain. People trap in the areas in winter and hunt there in summer.
Taniton is now responsible for producing a conservation and preservation plan, that will include documenting the cultural significance of the areas.
The importance of the areas to the identity of the Sahtu Dene was emphasized by Copps, Western Arctic MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Premier Stephen Kakfwi and Chief Leroy Andre at Friday's ceremony.
"We are making sure that these historical and treasured lands will forever play an important role in the lives of your grandchildren's children," said Copps.
Chief Andre called the day a "historical event" in the life of the community.
Andre said the natural landscape his people have relied on for thousands of years is critical to the Sahtu Dene sense of identity, that stories alone are not enough.
"We need to live it, we need to breathe it," Andre said.
The land withdrawal is the first made under the NWT Protected Areas Strategy. The areas were declared National Historic Sites in 1998. That designation provides no protection from development, said Bill Carpenter.
The executive director of the Northwest Territories chapter of the World Wildlife Fund has been one of the driving forces behind the the strategy.
"In her speech, (Copps) said it would be part of the National Parks System, which means they will use legislation (to provide permanent protection)," said Carpenter."Two of her staff came up to me afterward and said, 'There, she finally said it."
Josie Weninger of Parks Canada said the areas may be the first designated National parks on the basis of their cultural significance.
