Northern Pipeline
The federal government hopes cash and land will lure the only Native group challenging a $7 billlion proposed pipeline in the Western Arctic.
Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice says the Deh Cho First Nation would also receive surface and mineral titles if it settles a land claim covering 40 per cent of the planned route for the Mackenzie Valley project.
Prentice would not disclose other details or how much the offer is worth, except to say the deal is ``fair.'' But he was quick to repeat past assertions that the Conservatives plan to move ahead with the pipeline whether or not the Deh Cho are onside.
The 4500 Deh Cho Dene are the only major holdouts to decline joining the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.
Alberta looks at expanding Native justice program
A native justice program that emphasizes healing has been so successful for one Alberta First Nation that the province is considering it for other reserves.
It's unlikely that any other Native justice approach in the country has been more successful at turning Aboriginals away from drug and alcohol abuse and the crimes that go with it, said Ernie Walter, outgoing chief justice of Alberta's provincial court.
``If you look at the system across the country, there aren't a huge number of real successes. I believe that (Judge) Peter Ayotte has done something very special here,'' said Walter.
Ayotte, fellow judge Ray Bradley, Crown prosecutor Wes Dunfield and Native Elders established the program about 10 years ago for the Alexis First Nation, 80 kilometres northwest of Edmonton. Walter is now working with the Alberta Justice Department on expanding the Alexis model.
When an offender comes before the court in Alexis, Ayotte and the other three provincial court judges who help administer the program usually refer the accused to a justice committee made up of 12 to 16 Alexis community leaders.
If the offender is willing to admit to the crime and wants a life change, the justice committee will set up a rehabilitation program. The process has transformed many lives and led to fewer criminal cases at Alexis, Dunfield said.
Billiards table used by Riel heading back home to SK
A billiards table once used by Louis Riel that later sat for years in a federal prison is destined for a new home at a Métis museum.
The mahogany table, which Riel played on in the days leading up to the Northwest Rebellion in 1885, was reportedly taken with other spoils of war by the Canadian military from a saloon in Saskatchewan owned by Riel's right-hand man, Gabriel Dumont.
Somehow, the table ended up at Stony Mountain Institution and the adjacent Rockwood Institution in Manitoba until the late 1980s and has sat in storage at a Parks Canada warehouse in Winnipeg ever since.
Nelson House votes in favor of joint venture with Manitoba Hydro
Aboriginal people in Nelson House, Manitoba have voted in favour of a joint venture with Manitoba Hydro to build the $1 billion Wuskwatim generating station.
Sixty-three per cent of voters said yes to investing in the 200-megawatt project. Seventy per cent per cent of the band's eligible voters cast ballots in the referendum.
The band will now invest $28 million, plus a $56 million loan from Manitoba Hydro, to get a one-third share of the project.
The dam, which still needs provincial approval, will be built on the Burntwood River in the band's resource-management area.
Although no profits are guaranteed, the band could receive between $1 million and $3 million in profits annually starting in 2010 while it pays off loans to finance its portion of the project.
2006 International Dene Languages Conferences continues important work
By Dene Skylar
Conference participants (left to right) Julius Park, Neyooxet,
Margaret Thom, Elder Mary Heron, Sabet Biscaye.
The 2006 International Dene Languages Conference was held in Yellowknife, NT from June 12-15. The Dene cover a geographic area from Canada’s Beaufort-Delta through northern and interior Alaska, throughout the Yukon, Northwest Territories, parts of B.C, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Washington, California, Arizona and northern Mexico so it was fitting that many well respected Elders, educators, and Dene language instructors from the USA and Canada participated in this important international conference.
The conference was hosted by the Yamozha Kue Society (formerly called Dene Cultural Institute) and the University of Victoria, Department of Linguistics. A broad range of topics important to the preservation, honoring, respect and links to a healthy society through Dene language learning were presented. Some of the important Dene language presentations highlighted the hard work that is going into preserving the Dene languages. “Dene as a Second Language curriculum and materials” presented by Yamozha Kue Society noted the challenges and opportunities of language retention.
It is evident that many factors have pushed some Dene languages to the edge of extinction. But what does the future hold for the survival of the languages?
Lucy Jackson, an Elder from the K’asho Got’ine Dene of Ft. Good Hope, NT offers insight into how the Dene languages will be preserved, “Language, education and culture must be at the forefront. Our people had a unique social structure which included a holistic approach that involved all people to raise our children… the focus has to be back on healthy lifestyles including respect and practice of our culture and language and everyone from Elders, educators, government and industry will have to contribute. It’s going to be hard work because of all the damage that was done."
Mattie McNeill a Métis from Ft. Smith, NT, is an experienced language instructor and educator. She informed that, “One real challenge is in implementing the Dene Ke’Deh Curriculum which was never implemented properly.” Aboriginal people have struggled to maintain their identities through the dark era of Canadian assimilation and getting to the point where there was a Dene language curriculum developed was a true feat of success. “Very few younger Dene are fluent in their language. I feel there has to be more of a community effort to this,” states McNeill. McNeill and others are determined to forge ahead by using every resource possible to preserve the Dene languages. “Elders are a big help. People like Mary Heron who at 78 is still helping to encourage, support and pass the culture and language on… that is the spirit we need,” stated Steve Lafferty, a Chipewyan language speaker and Coordinator of the Aboriginal Language & Cultural Instructor Program at Aurora College.
Keynote Speaker, Dr. Stephen Neyooxet Greymorning, currently working at the University of Montana as a political anthropologist and Native American Studies Professor provided an address called, “Grounding language for our future generations. Neyooxet was asked by Native Journal what it would take to help preserve the Dene languages. He noted that part of the solution is, “build language on language… basics on basics… build from the inside rather than outside… To maintain a healthy vigorous language you need to lay down a strong foundation first, all other things are peripheral.” Neyooxet spoke passionately about the need to link language learning to a lifestyle, land and community by making it an everyday activity through speaking, story telling, road signs, T.V, radio, media, etc. “What this does is it makes the language very visible in sound, hearing and sight,” stated Neyooxet.
All participants provided various solutions to teaching and preserving the Dene languages. It was exciting to see young Tlicho Dene sing Oh, Canada in their own language. It was also inspiring to hear Beaver Dene Elder William Attachee sum it all up by saying the answers rest in the community and on the land, “encourage the people, take them out on the land, teach them, tell them stories, speak your language and they will get in touch with their land, culture and identity.”
Dreamspeakers rolls off another
event-filled year
By Terry Lusty
Walk of Honour inductees (left to right): Bert Crowfoot, Barry Barclay, Alanis Obomsawin, Tantoo Cardinal, Gil Cardinal share some humour as they stand over their handprints in cement that will be inserted in Edmonton’s downtown Churchill Square.
The 2006 edition of the annual Dreamspeakers Film Festival has closed another year; it’s third since rejuvenating itself, of acknowledging and honouring contributions to the world of Aboriginal films and filmmaking. Highlighting the line-up this year was the recent production by Métis filmmaker Gil Cardinal and his dramatic creation of Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis, a film touted as being up for numerous film festival awards throughout North America.
The July 11, 1990 confrontation over traditional and historic Indian burial grounds is re-visited and still generates a “great deal of tension in the community” said Cardinal, following a June 7 screening of the film. When we first approached the community of Kanesatake in Mohawk territory, the people were “cautious of us,” explained Cardinal. Indeed, the community itself was at extreme odds between the peacekeepers and the warrior’s society factions. The film walked off with top honours in the Best Film category.
Also featured this year was The Ghost Riders, a U.S. product that paid tribute to the Lakota and the world-famous massacre of their people at Wounded Knee in 1896. The film Trespassing centres around delicate environmental issues while Drag in the Peg focuses on the notorious Winnipeg drag area, which is frequented by Natives. Then, there’s Last of the Mohicans, Spirit Doctors, Pigeon Powwow and more.
But, when it came to additional award recipients, director Barry Barclay from New Zealand, won the Best Feature category for The Kaipara Affair, Australia’s Frances Peters Little and Sean Kennedy won the Short Documentary category with Our Community, and Native Counselling Services of Alberta won the Public Service category for Gang Aftermath.
Admittedly, the number of Aboriginal films being produced has witnessed a decline from what it was 10-20 years ago but the quality is definitely there and is representative of the continuing success of the film industry and its commitment and dedication to portraying the realities of the Aboriginal community stated Murray Jurak, president of the film festival.
The festival’s wrap-up of course was its ever-popular Dreamspeaker’s Gala, this year at downtown Edmonton’s Metro Club featuring Canadian country vocalist Charlie Major. The gala, emceed by the society executive director, Helen Calahasen, included the awards presentations to the aforementioned film award recipients and the Aboriginal Walk of Fame inductions (a.k.a. the “hands-in-cement event”) that acknowledges the long-standing contributions of film people to the Aboriginal film industry. This year’s crop of winners included: producer/director Alanis Obomsawin, film director/writer Gil Cardinal, director Barry Barclay, actress Tantoo Cardinal and communications/multi-media mogul Bert Crowfoot. All were in attendance and all were elated and blown over by the recognition which is an acknowledgment from/by their own community and, therefore, very meaningful.
The evening featured an opportunity for attendees to rub shoulders with numerous directors, producers, writers, cameramen, actors and so on. Noticeable in this years crowd, apart from those already mentioned were Simon Baker, Jimmy Herman, Dakota House, Landon Montour, Andrea Menard, Steve Reevis, Gil Birmingham, Teneil Whiskeyjack, and Gerald Auger among others.
Dreamspeakers first started in 1992 with film showings and workshops as well as entertainers (singers, musicians, storytellers, poets, dancers, etc.). It went into hibernation after its 1998 season and did not resurface until 2004.
Traditional Dene/Metis Elder
Mary Heron
By Dene Skylar
Mary Heron with friend Snookie Chatholique
Elders are the bedrock of our communities. It is only fitting that we pay our respect, honor and tribute to them daily. Mary Heron shared some of her life experiences with Native Journal recently.
Mary Heron was born to Chipewyan Dene & Metis parents in Ft. Smith , Northwest Territories in 1927. Mary grew up when Dene and Métis still lived on the land and waters of Denedeh. They worked hard harvesting the bounty of Mother Earth. The whole family was involved in raising children and everyone looked after each other. Mary states, “My grandparents taught us and our parents were the providers… our grandparents had lots of patience. Some of my fondest memories were living on the land, climbing rocks in my youth, paddling canoes on the rivers, lakes and streams, and hunting caribou… my life was outdoors. I loved it. Indoors was not for me!” With a smile Mary continues, “I shot my first chicken when I was ten. By the time I was twelve years old, I had my own dog team. I set fish nets under the ice alone and when I was thirteen I shot my first caribou. Living on the land was a good healthy lifestyle. When you came home with a sled load of fish or caribou you felt happy and our parents and grandparents were happy and proud because we were learning to be providers for the family.”
Mary experienced the days when steam boats still provided the main transportation of goods to the north. Steamboats such as the Echo brought supplies from Alberta as far as Ft. Fitzgerald then freight was portaged over land by oxen or horses to Ft. Smith. On the Ft. Smith docks, the distributor or Mackenzie Steamboats were loaded with freight destined for communities as far away as Aklavik, NT. “When the steamboats were coming into town everyone was excited and everyone went down to the river bank to meet the boat.
As a child I was scared because the steamboat whistle was so loud,” smiles Mary as she reflects back.
When World War II was on, Mary witnessed the thousands of American military men that passed through Ft. Smith on their way to build the Canol Pipeline. As the war gained momentum then ended Mary also witnessed the ups and downs of the trapping industry and the growth of community government. Mary reflects back on leadership by saying, “My grandfather was Chief for a number of years in Ft. Fitzgerald and his brother-in-law was Chief in Ft. Smith. They cooperated and worked together. Today they seem to fight more and they don’t listen to their membership but instead listen to their lawyers.”
Mary’s most important contribution was the care and compassion she held for family values. She chose to work part- time instead of full-time so she could stay home with her children. She became one of the first female guards where she worked part time for the RCMP for twenty five cents per hour. “I had 11 children so we could not go on holidays but the children were occupied in sports, community activities and other recreational events. The boys traveled and so did the girls. We had very little when I was raising my family in our two bedroom home but at the time, yeah I wished for things we couldn’t afford, but now I look back and this is what kept us healthy and happy. A little house with family values where everyone knew they belonged and each did their share of work and responsibilities, that was the way it was and we were happy. Once my last child was in school, I went back to work. First for Social Services at a Receiving Home for three years then at Brenyant Hall where the wages were less but I could be home with my children on the weekends and during the summer because I felt there was no price tag on them if something happened to them,” states Mary.
Today, Mary has nine grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren. At 78 she is still actively involved in her community. She serves on the Friendship Center Board and has done lots of work with the Justice Committee, Native Women’s Association, Girl Guides and Scouts as well as Language and Culture activities. These are just a few of the many community activities she has been involved in.
I asked Mary what some of the successful strategies are to living a happy life. She stated, “live a good, clean, healthy life. If you got it, good. If not, you can manage without it. Have respect for yourself and you will have respect for others and the land. By showing compassion, caring and sharing you will discover happiness rests in your heart and what you give will come back to you… it’s a choice one has to make.”
Native Journal says a big northern Mahsi Cho to Mary for sharing a small bit of her story with our readers. We wish Mary all the best in continued health and happiness… Mary deserves every bit of our love as she continues to give hers in the traditional way of our Dene & Métis ancestors. In peace, friendship and sharing we say Mahsi.
Leonard Alexcee works tirelessly for
community and youth
By Rudy Kelly
For a lot of people, being in your 70s means retirement, relaxing, and indulging in hobbies, because they feel they have done their part for their community. But Leonard Alexcee sees it otherwise, believing you never stop giving to the community.
Alexcee, 73, has been the president of the Friendship House Elders of Prince Rupert, BC for the last 12 years and is involved with a number of community committees. And he is far from a token seat because he never sits on a committee unless he’s strongly committed to it, and he’s never afraid to speak up.
“I’m not really into something if it’s just some kind of social club,” said Alexcee. “That’s the way the Elders group used to be, a little club, we didn’t do anything heavy, but now we’re more involved, do lots of fundraising, and participate in events.”
The Rupert Elders are one of the more active groups in BC, with over 30 regular members. Their food kitchen is always the busiest during the All Native Basketball Tournament in February, and is also very popular during the city’s summer Sea Fest celebration and the National Aboriginal Day event.
The group has an active choir, which holds it biggest performance during Christmas and they have become more involved with social issues, attending youth and health conferences that are held in the city. Such is the respect for the group that authorities such as the RCMP and city council frequently seek their counsel.
But, long before he was spearheading Elders’ activities, Alexcee was a member of the Friendship House board. He is very pleased with how the Friendship House has developed since he joined it some 50 years ago.
“It was just a hostel when it started and there was an impression around town that only drunks hung out there,” he said. “It got to the point where we had to do something to make it more attractive, to offer more and help people become more self-sufficient.”
Today, of course, the Friendship Centre movement is very strong, offering a variety of social, health and educational services, and Alexcee couldn’t be more proud of the fact that the Rupert centre was one of the first and is a leader today.
“I really didn’t think I’d be around long enough to see these kind of changes, but now I can walk down the street and hold my head high because of all the centre does for the community.”
Besides the Friendship House board, Alexcee also sits on the All Native Basketball Tournament Committee, the First Nations Education Council, and the Restorative Justice Committee.
“I’ve loved sports all my life,” said Alexcee of his commitment to the ANBT, in which he also participates as an assistant coach for the local intermediate men’s team.
And the words ‘children and youth are our future’ are more than a cliché to Alexcee, which is why he sits on the education and restorative justice councils and is always inviting youth to assist the Elders during special events.
“It’s great to see some of these kids that were having problems turning things around, going to school more and finding work,” he smiled. “I think when they come to us and work with us, listen to what we have to say, they not only gain more respect for us but for themselves.”
The day prior to this interview, Alexcee was out camping with a group of at-risk elementary school students and, in past summers, has been out at the local Rediscovery camp with troubled youth.
“I try to tell them stories of our culture and, hopefully, help guide them the right way.”