Dene Assembly opens with grand celebration
While the opening ceremonies began July 25, the actual meetings began the morning of July 26
Joseph Tunney
Northern News Services
Thursday, July 28, 2016
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The 46th annual Dene National Assembly began the evening of July 25 with people from all over the Northwest Territories coming to Fort Simpson to partake in the celebrations.
Gerald Antoine, chief of the Liidlii Kue First Nation, opens the Dene National Assembly July 22 with a speech and a greeting to everyone who travelled to Fort Simpson to attend. - Joseph Tunney/NNSL photo
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The arbor was filled with spectators as Gerald Antoine, chief of the Liidlii Kue First Nation, opened up the week's events with a greeting.
While at first the meeting seemed to be plagued with interruptions- a car alarm going off, a faulty stereo system and low-flying airplane-the message of the evening came through.
"Welcome to the Deh Cho," Antoine said. "We're all family and we're all related."
According to the Dene Nation's website, the point of the assembly is to be a place "where the leaders come to make their voices heard and commemorate the struggle for retaining sovereignty and advancing Dene concerns."
Last year Bill Erasmus was re-elected as Chief of the Dene Nation at the assembly in Deline.
The first event of the opening ceremony was the traditional fire feeding ceremony, where people drop tobacco or food into the fire.
According to Antoine, this tradition goes back thousands of years and is supposed to give food and nourishment to the dead.
"Our ancestors that went ahead of us need food," he said.
The fire is supposed to be lit the entire time the assembly is gathered, so anyone who wants to pray may do so.
After the fire feeding ceremony, Will Lambert and his son Dustin Lambert performed a series of dances, while dressed in traditional garments.
While at first the two danced alone, soon people felt encouraged enough to go up and dance with them around the fire.
The group dance around the fire soon led into the final event of the evening, the drum dance.
As a line of men beat on their traditional drums, people formed a circle around the burning fire to dance.
As the evening progressed the circle of dancers around the fire grew as more and more people arrived from out of town.
The opening ceremonies began at 7 p.m. and finished at midnight with the drum dances going right to the end.
"I loved it," said Ron Antoine, one of the traditional drummers about the evening's events.
The actually meetings began the next day, July 26, at 9:30 a.m. and were hosted at the Thomas Simpson Secondary School.
