Yellowknife (Sep 03/04) - Former premier Stephen Kakfwi said he will use his new position with the World Wildlife Fund to push for promised federal dollars to protect aboriginal sacred sites.

Kakfwi, who spoke at the Dene National Assembly at the Yellowknife River, Wednesday, said the federal government still owes on the $9 million it promised in 1997 to fund the Protected Areas Strategy.

The program has been since used to designate several areas across the NWT as heritage sites, including the Horne Plateau and Scented Grass Hills on the western shore of Great Bear Lake.

Kakfwi told delegates he will be pressing the matter when he meets with federal representatives this fall.

"This is unfinished business from the '70s," said Kakfwi. "If we don't take a stand now, when are we going to do it?"

He said besides protecting heritage sites, the federal government must also ensure aboriginal governments receive resource royalties from mining activities in the North.

The main reason he supported the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline project while he was premier, he said, was to make sure aboriginal peoples have to the power to choose their destiny.