Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Kakisa (July 08/05) - A Dehcho constitution will best reflect Dene values and principles if it is written in the South Slavey language.

That was the consensus among delegates at last week's Dehcho Assembly in Kakisa.

"It's very important that everything is drafted in Slavey," said Gladys Norwegian, a Jean Marie River band member. "If the Dehcho is aiming for the Dene perspective, then (the constitution) should have been drafted in Slavey right off the bat."

Roy Fabian, chief of the Hay River reserve, was even more vociferous.

"The elders are telling us they want it done in Dene," Fabian shouted.

He and other delegates conceded that it will come at greater expense and take more time to draft the document in Slavey. There are few people who are literate in the language, which will make it an ever greater challenge, but one that must be met, according to Fabian.

He added that the Dene's oral tradition shouldn't be overlooked either. Stories and legends were the backbone of the original Dene constitution, which was formed over thousands of years on the land, he said. To expect the next charter to be completed in another three to four months is simply asking too much, he argued.

"Let's take our time," he said. "We need to be flexible."

Delegates ratified a resolution to draft the constitution in Slavey. A team, made up of selected candidates, will be established to co-ordinate community consultations on the document and a workshop to gather direction from elders. The constitution will be reviewed at the winter leadership meeting and again at a special assembly in 2006.

Talk surrounding the constitution took up nearly a day and a half of the four-day assembly agenda. Ethel Lamothe, a Fort Simpson delegate, questioned the hired non-Dene negotiators' abilities to truly represent the Dene. Aboriginal people must make themselves heard, she said.

"We as an assembly should be more forceful," she said. "We should give more direction."

"They (the negotiations team) are negotiating for us, not themselves; that's something we've got to make absolutely clear."

In response to concerns raised that people from the south may someday outnumber the Dene and Metis in the Dehcho, chief negotiator George Erasmus assured the delegates that they will maintain at least 50 per cent of seats on regional and community councils. In addition, only Dene and Metis can be chief or grand chief, he noted.

Imagine how different life in Yellowknife would be if the mayor and at least 50 per cent of city councillors were aboriginal over the past 50 years, Erasmus said.