DELINE/FORT FRANKLIN - Deline played host to a unique weather monitoring workshop in early December.

Local elders Leon Modeste, Alphonse Takazo, Alfred Taniton, Andrew John Kenny and Charlie Neyelle along with Dr. Eyad Atallah and PhD student Melissa Gervais from McGill University worked with students from Aurora College and Ehtseo Ayha School to learn about weather monitoring and climate change in the Great Bear Lake area.

The workshop, held Dec. 6 to 10, combined the traditional knowledge of the elders with scientific research to provide students with a new perspective on weather monitoring. It was sponsored by the Deline Renewable Resources Council as part of its International Polar Year Program.

Students were able to go back and look at the scientific data and pick out seasons and years that the elders had told them stories about. They could see in the scientific data confirmation that what the elders are saying is true: Winters are really getting warmer.

"The students learned a lot about the weather and the changes in the climate," student Brendan Yukon said. "We were working with new people, visiting scientists. These are things we need to know. I see it is very important not only for us, but for all people."

The students also learned that while they study four seasons at school, there are actually five seasons to the Dene people. In addition to Xae (Winter), Auk'e (Spring), Eihbe (Summer) and Xat'a (Fall), the Dene also have a season called Hidohxae (early spring). It's usually at the end of March or early April when the sun is starting to get stronger and the snow is beginning to melt, but they can still go out on the ice.

Groups of students studied the climate of the different seasons using both scientific knowledge and traditional perspectives. Elders worked with each group to share their knowledge. At the end of the week the students held an open house where they shared what they learned about the seasons with community members. Elders and scientists also spent an afternoon working with high school science classes.

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