SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Much of former Justice Thomas Berger life's work has centred around making sure indigenous people have a say in how development happens on their traditional lands.
Perhaps most famously, he spearheaded the Berger Inquiry in 1975. In response to plans to build an energy corridor up the Mackenzie Valley in the 70s, he travelled to 30 communities throughout the NWT and Yukon between 1975 and 1977, interviewing the people who call the valley home and collecting their perspectives in their own languages.
After listening to their voices, he argued "on environmental grounds, no pipeline be built and no energy corridor be established across the Northern Yukon" and that development not proceed until land claims are settled, thus establishing a new precedent in Canada's relationship with its indigenous population.
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of his history-making work, the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife is hosting Thunder in our Voices, a multimedia exhibit which includes original sound recordings and photographs from the inquiry, originally collected by Drew Ann Wake, a journalist who travelled with Berger.
The exhibit will also include memories from the original participants and a new generation of youth to comment on the inquiry's legacy. Yellowknife high school students will also have a chance to meet and speak with Berger.
"I believe we should all know something about our own history, including the history of our own region," said Berger, speaking from Vancouver by phone Feb. 27 before making the trip north.
"The MacKenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry was an important event in the history of the MacKenzie Valley and the Western Arctic. I only say that because the recommendations that were made were adopted by the Government of Canada."
Berger's recommendations at the time included settling aboriginal land claims and establishing a wilderness park in northern Yukon to protect caribou.
He says people often forget the second volume of his report, which said once land claims were settled and measures taken to protect the environment, a pipeline could be built.
A Mackenzie Valley pipeline still remains a possibility, with federal approval granted in 2011.
Reflecting on what's changed since the inquiry, Berger said aboriginal people have a stronger legal claim in Canada now.
"Their rights have been entrenched and clarified and so I think that puts them on more of an equal footing with industry than was the case 40 years ago," he said, adding he thinks Canada's diversity is its strength.
"We have demonstrated that English and French-speaking people can live together, that aboriginal and non-aboriginal people can live together and that a multitude of people from all over the world from every race and creed can prosper here," said Berger.
"Canada is a wealthy, well-educated country. We have the rule of law. We have parliamentary institutions. It seems to me that we are in the midst of demonstrating that you can build a country that isn't dependant on some common ethnic bond, that it can live by an ideal of diversity where everyone agrees to uphold the basic principles by which we live.
"If we can't do that in Canada, if we were to descend into ethnic and racial, religious squabbling, it would be a shame. If we can't do this in Canada, there isn't much hope that it can be done anywhere."
He said the work of establishing a new relationship with aboriginal people continues.
"If we can make that work, we will have done something very worthwhile in the 21st century," said Berger.
The exhibit opens Tuesday and will be on display until April 30.
The Northern Heritage Centre also maintains an online resource of materials related to the Berger Inquiry, including recordings, photographs and video.
