DENINU KU'E/FORT RESOLUTION
Some people in Fort Resolution are not happy that more development is taking place on Mission Island, which they view as sacred land.

Sharon Lafferty, resident of Fort Resolution, objects to new cabins erected on Mission Island, where the Roman Catholic Church first established a mission in 1852. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

"Mission Island has always been regarded as spiritual and sacred land because of all of the prayers we have been doing at Mission Island for the last hundred years the community has been gathering there," said Sharon Lafferty, an activist member of Deninu Ku'e First Nation (DKFN).

Earlier this month, the band's Deninu Ku'e Development Corporation moved four cabins to Mission Island, which was where the Roman Catholic Church first established a mission in 1852.

Lafferty launched a petition on Nov. 6 calling on the band to stop development until it holds a community meeting, and she had collected 30 signatures - mostly from elders - as of Nov. 9.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't develop it," she said. "I think it should be the community that decides."

However, she noted, "I don't think people would approve it."

Lafferty believes the land should only be used for religious and cultural activities. She worries the new cabins could lead to many more on Mission Island.

DKFN Chief Louis Balsillie has no plan to call a community meeting.

"I don't see an issue," he said.

Balsillie also said he is "puzzled" by claims that Mission Island is sacred land.

"I would like to know what they mean by sacred. Sacred in what way?" he said.

The new cabins do not affect the large cross, four gravesites or old house that remain from the mission days, said Balsillie.

"What we're doing at the island I think is good," he said, noting DKFN recently won an award from the territorial government for its annual culture camp on the island.

Stephen Cuthbert, general manager of Deninu Ku'e Development Corporation, explained it accessed $250,000 in funding for the cabin project from the Department of Industry, Tourism and Investment.

Aside from offering cabins to community residents, Cuthbert said the cabins could draw tourists all the way to Fort Resolution instead of stopping at Little Buffalo River Territorial Park, about 20 km to the west on Highway 6.

"If you had a campground here, people would have to at least drive through the community," he said. "Maybe they're going to stop for a little gas or maybe they're going to go out and get some groceries from here. Whereas in Little Buffalo River, they might not ever even come to Fort Resolution, even though they're this close."

The uninsulated cabins would be for rent only during the summer tourist season.

One more cabin may be added this winter, and a cultural centre may be added in the future if more funding can be obtained.

The cabins were built in Fort Resolution from trees knocked down to widen the road to the boat landing on the Slave River and from building a fireguard, Cuthbert added.

One of the elders concerned about the cabins on Mission Island is Lizzie Beaulieu.

"I don't think it's a very good idea," she said. "We've asked the chief not to do things like that before, because that's part of the mission."

Beaulieu, who is a well-known parishioner at St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, believes Mission Island is sacred.

"They did have a mission there and the elders used to pray, and there are people that are buried there, too," she noted. "I don't want any cabins there."

Several years ago, some elders in Fort Resolution also objected to a joint DKFN and Fort Resolution Metis Council project to upgrade a road around Mission Island.

Both Lafferty and Beaulieu have no problem with the annual culture camp held by the First Nation on Mission Island.

Balsillie noted that, with the four new cabins, there are now five cabins on the island owned by the band, along with one private cabin. A few years ago, DKFN relocated a small cabin to Mission Island for use during Culture Week activities.

Wilfred Simon started building the private cabin several years ago and hopes to have it completed in 2015.

Simon said he built the cabin there because he wanted a place that was spiritually significant where he could get close to the Lord, pray and read the Bible.

Despite that, he said, "It's not a sacred area."

Simon said it's not sacred to aboriginal people like the Lady of the Falls.

"This was never made a sacred area by our people," he said of Mission Island. "It was made a sacred area by a church."

Simon believes most people in Fort Resolution have no problems with cabins on Mission Island, which is on the shore of Great Slave Lake.

The site is about six kilometres away from Fort Resolution along an unpaved road. Although still an island in name, the channel that once separated Mission Island from the mainland has been filled in for many years.

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