Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (June 03/05) - If a robin chirps for a long time it's going to rain. When a beaver slaps its tail, danger is present.

These are a few of the many lessons Mary Jane Cazon learned as a girl while living in the bush with her parents, Boniface and Dora Nayally.

Mary Jane Cazon, Dene language specialist at Bompas elementary school in Fort Simpson, arranges some organic material such as wild carrots, fireweed, wild onions, acorns, red willow and birch bark in her classroom.

She grew up in the Blackwater Lake area north of Wrigley until age seven when she left for school in Fort Simpson.

She remembers these and other pearls of wisdom shared by not only her parents but elders in the area, often in the form of lengthy stories.

"You had to listen to pretty much everything that was said," she recalled.

Although today's students are often far removed from the land, they are enthusiastic in her classroom, where the walls are lined with Slavey characters, stretched hides, snowshoes and a fish net.

Each spring and fall, she takes the eager youngsters across the Mackenzie River to the cultural camp where they are taught to snare and skin rabbits, set fish nets, identify wild plants (some of which have medicinal powers), tan hides, make bannock and dry meat, and pay the land with tobacco.

Student Marlena Tsetso, 12, said the lessons Cazon provides are important "in case you get stuck in the wild."

She added that she enjoys going to culture camp to pick berries.

Connor Gaule, also 12, said he enjoys cleaning fish.

"It's important to learn about your heritage," he said.

Cazon and her husband, Gilbert, take their four children out to Notana Lake, an hour and a half southeast of Fort Simpson, during the Christmas holidays nearly every year. They also speak Slavey to them. Not every child gets that reinforcement at home, and the 30 minutes of class time alone isn't enough to keep the Dene language strong, she conceded.

She has decided to introduce students to elders at the long-term care facility so they can practise their elementary Slavey skills.

"It's amazing how fast they pick it up," Cazon said. "They're really curious about how we used to live a long time ago."

Different society

Today's generation lives in a much different society - one of video games, computers, MP3 players, television, skateboards and BMX bikes - but it's important that they never forget their Dene roots, said Cazon. They should know how to respect and take care of the land, she explained. They must realize that everything has a purpose, even the tiniest bug.

"You're taught that you come from the land and when you pass on you go back to the land," she said.