Dechinta looks for new students
Research Centre holds its first recruitment drive
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, December 12, 2013
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
An NWT bush university is looking to expand its presence in the territory and recruit new participants.
Jessie McKenzie, left, learns how to properly set a fish net of Blachford Lake with elder professors Therese and Modeste Sangris during a summer intensive session at the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning. - photo courtesy of Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning
|
Fort Simpson was the third and final stop on the Dechinta Centre for Research and Learning's South Slave and Deh Cho recruitment tour.
On Dec. 5, Eugene Boulanger, Dechinta's director of strategic partnerships and planning and Mandee McDonald, the land-based team leader and recruitment officer, spoke with 10 people who attended an evening session at the recreation centre.
It's a priority for Dechinta to get into the communities and give people faces to associate with the centre, Boulanger said. This was the centre's first recruitment tour. The goal is to register as many people as possible for the winter/spring semester that will start on March 16, with an application deadline of Feb. 1 to help inform planning, he said.
Although the idea for a Dene bush school has been around since the 1960s, Dechinta was only conceived in 2009 and ran its pilot semester in 2010. This year, the centre will be running two semesters, each between six to seven weeks long, as well as a summer intensive session.
"It's for anyone who's interested in critical Northern issues," Boulanger said about Dechinta.
Those issues include self-governance, resource development and extraction, climate change, negotiations and devolution. Every semester, the Dechinta core course on community governance, research and writing in native studies is offered along with four other courses. Those courses can include sustainable communities, indigenous community health and Dene Chanie, a course on traditional leadership.
For each course, students receive three credits with the University of Alberta's native studies department.
All courses are held at Blachford Lake Eco-Lodge 150 kilometres east of Yellowknife, which is only accessible by plane or snowmobile and dog team in the winter. Learning from the land, while living in a community, is a core part of the Dechinta experience.
Between six to 10 people participate in each semester, said Boulanger. Two elder professors are on-site for the semester while other instructors cycle through.
Dechinta alumni have gone onto undergrad and graduate programs across Canada, as well as back to their communities to work in places like their band office. Some graduates also work at the Legislative Assembly, Boulanger said.
Kristen Tanche, who attended the recruitment tour session in Fort Simpson, is one of the alumni from the Deh Cho.
"It was the most amazing experience I've ever had," she said about her semester at Dechinta in the fall of 2012.
Tanche said she was drawn to the opportunity to earn post-secondary credits, while living on the land and experiencing Dene teachings from Therese and Modeste Sangris, people who grew up on the land. The students also learned from each other and shared their culture and skills, she said.
For Tanche, the semester involved a lot of firsts, including the first time she skinned a moose and portioned the meat. The courses were also academically challenging and included intensive reading, essays, assignments and self-reflective writing, she said.
Tanche recommends the program to anyone who is interested in it.
Although there is a cost to attend, financial restrictions shouldn't stop people from applying, said Boulanger. Dechinta staff will help potential students secure funding and scholarships,
