Yellowknife (Nov 20/06) - "Help me out as much as you want if I've got a problem, okay?"

Dogrib elder George Blondin, 83, was getting ready to introduce his new book to a Yellowknife audience, and he was looking for a safety net- in this case Fort Smith author Richard Van Camp, who was seated close by, manning a laptop.

George Blondin fields questions from the audience as Fort Smith author Richard Van Camp looks on during the launch of his third book, Trail of the Spirit: The Mysteries of Medicine Power Revealed. - Adam Johnson/NNSL photo

In recent weeks, the well-known elder and author has been keeping a low profile: he stopped writing his long-running column for News/North, citing health concerns. Two problems, he said, were his vision and his hearing - but mostly the latter.

Regardless, Blondin marched forward, introducing Trail of the Spirit: The Mysteries of Medicine Power Revealed to those in attendance.

"Nobody has ever tried to define what medicine power is," he said.

"It's so complicated. How did people survive with just a bow and arrow? Because they had medicine power."

He said the book includes a series of Dene stories, as well as modern examples of how medicine power has helped the Dene people.

"But I'm not going to stand and tell you a story - I'll never stop," he said to a round of laughter, as he took a seat.

"I get carried away."

"These are the stories that Mr. Blondin always wanted to tell," Van Camp said, giving an introduction of his own.

"This book proves once and for all that medicine power is with us today."

Van Camp said the book took some 13 years to write and a considerable time to edit. "It's hard to keep up with a living treasure," is how he put it.

Afterwards, George's son, Ted, said the elder had manuscripts for two new books written as well. "One is an autobiography and the other is about how the government has operated in the NWT since 1921."

He said he hoped to combine the two manuscripts into a single story, as the two histories, both of the government, and that of the one-time Dene council vice- president, were so intertwined.

"It's a true to life account of someone who has moved from the Stone Age to the Space Age," he said. "I think it would be a great story."

Also speaking of the future, George's sister, Muriel Betsina, said she plans to write a book herself, to tell the stories of aboriginal women in the North. She said this comes, in part, from George's insistence.

"He said, 'You're 62 years-old, you have to write something.'"