Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 9, 2008

HAY RIVER - If politics is all about dealing with people, Roy Fabian's time as a chief may have been a good warm up for his latest endeavour.

The former leader of K'atlodeeche First Nation began operating the 60th Parallel Territorial Park and Visitor Centre in mid-May under a contract with the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Fabian won a three-year contract through Eagle Eye Concepts, a private company he formed two years ago to offer workshops and training focused on Dene culture.

Fabian and his wife are now living in a trailer at the border while he manages the visitor centre and park, which are open seven days a week from May 15 to Sept. 15.

News/North visited the 60th Parallel on June 3 and sat down with Fabian to talk about his new role.

News/North: How important is this information centre for NWT tourism and for tourists?

Roy Fabian: Well, it's kind of the entry point for the Northwest Territories. So this is the first place that they see in the Northwest Territories. When they come in here, we try to make sure that they get a good impression of the Northwest Territories.

N/N: Do you have a sense of responsibility that, for all these people coming north, you're going to be the first person they talk to?

R.F.: Yes. I think that's a big responsibility, because you're representing the North. That's a big thing to try to make people feel really welcomed. For me, I always ask the question, where are you headed? If they're going south, that's fine. If they're going north, they say they're going to Yellowknife or Hay River or Fort Smith or to the Mackenzie River to go fishing. Wherever it is, I know all these places. I just start having a conversation with them.

N/N: You've travelled all over the NWT and you know a lot about the NWT, but did you have to study up a little more to answer people's questions?

R.F.: I've lived in Yellowknife. I've lived in Fort Smith. I live in Hay River. I've lived in Fort Providence. I'm very aware of what goes on. I've travelled all our existing highways at least once a year. I've been to probably every community on the highways at least two or three times a year. I know people by name and people know me. When people hear I'm operating here, they even make a special stop just to say hello when they're going down south.

N/N: What does your job involve?

R.F.: It's just mostly public relations. You greet tourists and visitors as they come in. Plus, there's maintenance, like ground maintenance, and maintaining the washrooms and the campground.

N/N: Are you going to be here each day managing this park and information centre?

R.F.: I have another employee. Whenever I'm not here, he handles it.

N/N: Has the tourism season started yet?

R.F.: Already we've had a lot of tourists coming through. I think it's mostly fishing that's drawing a lot of people now. There are a lot of people from northern Alberta that are coming to go fishing.

N/N: Have you started to meet tourists from all over the world yet?

R.F.: We've had people from Germany, people from Denmark and people from Norway so far. We've had people from Texas, Arkansas and Florida. The first weekend we were here a group of people came through from Arkansas. They stopped in and that day we were having a little opening ceremony and we put out some food. The people that catered for me made moose stew. Boy, they were really happy to get some traditional food. They were quite impressed with what they saw here.

N/N: Do you get the sense from people who stop in here that crossing into the Northwest Territories is a special event for them?

R.F.: One couple was so excited. For them, coming North is a big deal. It's a big thing. They couldn't wait to get going. They were from Florida. The feeling I get is that they're going someplace that they've never been before. I have people come through here that were here before and they come back because they really enjoyed the North and they just want to see more of it so they come back.

N/N: Are there common questions that people have?

R.F.: The big one is the fishing. How's the fishing up here? Where's the best place to fish? The other one is probably where is the ferry? They're building that bridge, so there's lots of material and human resources coming through. Some of them stop here. Like this morning, two trucks stopped here and they were carrying barges for work on the crossing.

N/N: Have you heard any strange or unusual questions?

R.F.: Not really. This morning, a guy came through and asked me what nationality I was. Because he was from the States, I tried to connect. So I told him I'm a Dene and I said we're distant relatives to the Navajo people. He was quite surprised with that. Then, he said, 'You speak English very well.' I said, 'Yes, I'm an educated Dene person.'

N/N: Are there going to be any changes here at the centre?

R.F.: One of the things that we're going to be doing is some cultural programs. Right now, we are still getting things going and putting up a teepee. Hopefully, once the teepee gets up, then we can put up a schedule and say we're going to have a presentation on such and such a topic, like on Saturday we're going to be doing bannock making demonstrations. We've got celebrations for Canada Day and Aboriginal Day. We're just trying to do more cultural stuff. We're going to have nature walks. There are a couple of nature trails. I'm hoping to do some drumming demonstrations. At certain times, we're going to be doing certain things with Northern Dene artists. They are artists that can do beadwork or whatever. They can come and demonstrate their work and at the same time, they get a chance to sell. There's also another time when I am hoping we'll be able to show what the North is about. Like, have different organizations come and set up a booth or something for the afternoon and just tell people about who they are. I'm calling it Northern Presentations. If anybody is interested and they want to show who they are to tourists, they can come and we can set up a little thing for them either in the teepee or something and talk about what they do for tourists.

N/N: Is it fun working here?

R.F.: I'm enjoying it. It's nice to get away from the hustle and bustle. It's quiet. We got the Internet and things like that, so there are things to occupy myself. I also do a lot of writing. I get up and start my day at 6. So by the time I'm finished work at 8 o'clock at night, I'm pretty tired. Usually, I have something to eat and go to sleep.

N/N: How is this new job different from being chief?

R.F.: It's completely different. It's much more relaxing. People are friendly. You have to be respectful. I guess a lot of times when you're in the position of a chief you got to respect people and sometimes you don't get it back. That's always the tough part in politics. Although you're trying to respect people, they don't respect you back. There's a lot of verbal abuse. This is different, completely different. People look at you for information and they show a lot of respect. That is the difference. The other difference between being chief and this job here is that people, when they're finished talking to you, they thank you.