-- ================================================================= Petr Cizek pcizek@acs.ucalgary.ca Research Director Dene Cultural Institute Box 570 Hay River, Northwest Territories, Canada X0E 0R0 Tel. (403) 874-8480 Fax. (403) 874-3867 Mod. (403) 874-3965 =================================================================
DENE CULTURAL INSTITUTE QUARTERLY.
April 1994 Volume 2, Number 2
The Dene Cultural Institute Quarterly is published four times a year in the Northwest Territories. No part of the Quarterly may be reproduced by any means without written permission of the publisher. Please address all correspondence of whatever type to P.O. Box 570, Hay River, N.W.T., X0E 0R0. Telephone: (403) 874-8480, FAX (403) 874-3867 or email at pcizek@acs.ucalgary.ca.
TRAINING OPPORTUNITY!!
As part of our Healing strategy, the Institute is seeking dynamic individuals who are interested in training as Healing Leaders to take part in a Training Program that we will run in partnership with Arctic College.
>From this program, graduates will be invited to apply for positions with the Dene Cultural Institute to join our Mobile Healing Team.
Preference will be given to those who are prepared to travel extensively, speak a Dene language and those with experience and/or training in the addictions field.
Entrance criteria will also include; two years sobriety; strong written and oral communication skills; and a good understanding of northern and native issues. Individuals who have a lot of energy and leadership qualities will be strong candidates.
Applications and further information will be available through Arctic College and community Adult Education programs. Watch for advertisements in the papers and encourage candidates from your community to apply.
VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER
If you are travelling through Hay River during the summer months, stop by the Dene Cultural Institute, enjoy a cup of coffee and browse through our Visitor Information Center.
Located on the Hay River Dene Reserve, this Center will be operated by the Institute under its Cultural Education and Traditional Economy Programs.
It features opportunities for visitors to observe local artisans at work, as well as an opportunity to purchase their products.
The Centre will also schedule Story-Telling sessions with Dene Elders and opportunities for visitors to participate in traditional Drum Dances.
Teepees, cooking fires and picnic tables surround the Centre and visitors are invited to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the beautiful view of the Hay River.
If you are traveling through Hay River during the summer months, stop by the Dene Cultural Institute, enjoy a cup of coffee and browse through our Visitor Information Centre.
Located on the Hay River Dene Reserve, this Centre will be operated by the Institute under its Cultural Education and Traditional Economy Programs.
FOR THE YOUTH
If you should meet an elder today, do not continue to walk. Say, "Drin gwiinzi, jijuu." or "Drin gwiinzi, jijii." They'll be happy you had a little talk!
Today, if you should meet an elder and they want to talk, Do not continue to walk. Sit and listen to your elder, for you learn when they speak.
They'll tell you the secrets of the land, They'll tell you how to treat your fellow-man, They'll tell you about the spirits and may teach you how to pray, If you visit an elder today.
The hands of our elders are now idle, But their mind is remembering and their voice is still strong. Get some of their knowledge, Of what is right and what is wrong!
-Liz Hansen November 1993
IN MEMORY OF JEAN WETRADE
On April 15, 1994, Jean Wetrade, a respected Elder and Leader in Rae Lakes passed away. Jean Wetrade was a member of the orginal six families that settled in Rae Lakes in the mid-1960s. Jean wanted to avoid the influences of the dominant society and live "Right, according to the Dogrib way". As a member of the Community Advisory Committee on the Traditional Government Project, Jean directed us, joked with us, teased us, advised us, and he always reminded us that the project was for the future and the generations to come, and that we must not give up. Jean Wetrade was always there for us. We will miss him a lot. We will pray for him and his family.
-Allice Legat, Sally Ann Zoe & Rita Blackduck Traditional Government Project Staff
COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS IN DENENDEH
Imagine sending messages or reports from your personal computer to anyone in Denendeh or even the rest of the world. Imagine getting books or using library catalogues without leaving your office or home.
All this is common and widespread in southern cities, and the Institute is working to bring this technology north.
Most offices and many homes already have computers and fax machines. Some computers have modems that are used to transmit electronic files directly to and from other computers through phone lines. It costs as little as $200 to buy a modem and some software to operate it.
The Institute is already using modems to send and receive project reports. Unlike faxing, this means that reports can be edited and changed without re-typing.
A Bulletin Board System (BBS) is a computer with a modem that is dedicated to storing information. Anyone with a modem can dial up a BBS. There are about a dozen BBS's in the NWT that have electronic mail, discussion groups, and free computer programs. The Institute is already using several of these BBS's.
InterNET is an international computer network originally developed by universities. It offers electronic mail, library catalogues, discussion groups, and many publications on a world-wide basis. Recently, BBS's in the south have been connected to the InterNET and provide inexpensive public access.
The Government of the Northwest Territories has recently established an InterNET service for government employees. The Institute is lobbying and working to make InterNET available to everyone in Denendeh.
Thanks to the Arctic Institute of North America at the University of Calgary, the Institute has been using InterNET since last fall. The Research Director can be reached at pcizek@acs.ucalgary.ca. on the InterNET.
Over the coming year, the Institute will be establishing a BBS with an InterNET connection in Hay River. This service will be available to anyone in the western arctic for a nominal fee. Instead of paying hefty long-distance charges, people in far-flung communities should be able to dial up the BBS in Hay River using inexpensive Datapac lines.
This BBS will offer electronic mail, as well as the Institute's newsletter, reports, and program information. Eventually, we hope to establish a connection to the NWT Library Services' Electronic Catalogue and Encyclopaedia, as well as to the Dene Nation Library and Archives (as they are organised and catalogued). This way, anyone could look up this information from their own computer from anywhere in Denendeh.
The Institute hopes that computer communications can bring the people of Denendeh closer together and in touch with the rest of the world. Petr Cizek, the Research Director, will be available to assist Dene communities in installing modems and using these services.
-Petr Cizek DCI Research Director
DENE HEALING PROGRAM
The Dene Cultural Institute has long ago recognized that documenting traditional knowledge and supporting other cultural development activities is not enough to ensure our people become strong in our culture once again.
We must deal with the realities of social brekdown as well as the pain and suffering that Dene people have experienced.
That is why we have established a Healing Program. This program is designed specifically for communites, families and individuals who suffer from emotional pain and is open to Dene and non-Dene alike.
The Institute believes that healing is a process whereby an individual suffering from emotional pain is provided with assistance and support to experience that pain and grieve. What follows is a realease from the pain, and freedom from the stress and anxieties that accompany it.
Effective healing also involves strengthening the relationship to the Creator, gaining strength from culture, and increasing the skills of participants so that they can apply the healing process to other sources of emotional pain.
The purpose of each module is to spark a process of discovery in which participants begin to learn what they need to create well-being in their lives. All workshop modules are based on the idea that people learn best by doing. Lively lectures and presentations, intense group and individual work, informative audio-visual displays, and stimulating discussions will be used to further our knowledge and understanding.
Reflecting on past events, acting in the present, and planning for the future are all part of leaning by doing. As workshop participants decide what they want to change about their present situation, they will work together to find paths to improvement.
The following modules are available through the Healing Program:
* Team Building * Fetal Alcohol Syndrome * Communication * Adult Children of Alcoholics * Aboriginal Awareness * Family Dynamics * Sexual Abuse * Elder Abuse * Spousal Abuse * Personal Development * Grieving * Relationships * Parenting skills * Anger Management * Dealing with the Effects of Residential School
For information on how to access our Healing services in your community please contact Nancy Yakelaya at the Dene Cultural Institute.
Nancy joined the staff to be the Scheduling Coordinator of the Healing Program in April of this year.
Nancy has worked in the addictions field since 1988 as an Addictions Counsellor and then as Program Coordinator.
Nancy was born in Rocher River and she has spent her early years living on a trapline in the Taltson River area. She is married and has three children. Nancy and her family moved to Hay River from Fort Norman in September, 1993.
As the Scheduling Coordinator, Nancy is responsible to schedule all Healing services provided by the Dene Cultural Institute. She is available to answer all inquiries regarding the program and clarify the roles and responsibilities of the Healing Program and those seeking access to it.
SAD by Rene Fumoleau, OMI
"Good morning, Mrs. Eklakak."
"Good morning"
"Do you have SAD?"
"I don't know if we have any, I'll ask my old man.
"No, I mean, are you a SAD case?"
"Yes, I am sad sometimes."
"I don't mean sadness. Do you have Seasonal Affective Disorder?"
"You think my house is not in order?"
"No, your house is fine. I'm a psychiatrist from Alberta Hospital, and I'm doing some research on SAD."
"Excuse me. You don't speak English as we do. I'll call my daughter, she was in school."
"Good morning, Miss Eklakak. As I was telling your mother, Seasonal Affective Disorder is one of the quirkiest illnesses, which even to me is still largely a mystery.
"No, I've never got that, I had T.B., mumps, scarlet fever, stomach flu, but not that kind." "You must suffer from SAD. In Florida, 1.4% of people suffer from SAD, in New Hampshire 8%, in Edmonton, 12%. Consequently, near the Arctic Ocean, where there's no sun for more than a month, at least 18% of people must suffer from SAD, and I am doing a survey to prove it. Are you aware that the lack of light in winter makes animals slow down, or even hibernate?"
"My parents told me about the animals. My grandparents too, they said it was like that way before their time maybe even forever."
"And I want to prove that the lack of light affects people as well as animals."
"Of course, that's the way it should be."
"Do you sleep longer in winter than in summer?"
"It has always been like that."
"I met a woman who has been in Inuvik for three weeks. She feels very distraught, she often sleeps in, she feels she is in hibernation, and that's a horrible feeling."
"Why is it horrible? It's OK to slow down. It's OK to sleep more in winter."
"She said she has to drink a lot of coffee to stay up, but even then, she keeps falling asleep."
"It's OK to fall asleep when you feel like it."
"From what you tell me I can surmise that you have SAD but you are not aware of it. Luckily there is a treatment for you. You need to be exposed to full-spectrum light."
"Spectacles? No, my eyes are OK."
"I mean, a full-spectrum light is like a man-made version of sunlight. The light travels through your eyes to the pineal gland and suppresses the production of malatonin, the hormone affecting the body's mood, sleep and eating patterns."
"I guess I'll wait. The sunlight will come back at the right time."
"But in the meantime, you need to wear one of those newly developed light visors. It costs only $349.00, that's U.S. dollars, plus GST. The treatment was pioneered by Dr. Alfred Lewy at the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health."
"They have no light in the States too?"
"My dear, they invented the visors not for themselves, but for you unfortunate people living in darkness."
"My brother wore something like that on Halloween night."
"Miss, this is not funny. We are discussing a very serious illness.
"All the Inuit must have had that illness every winter for thousands of years."
"But they didn't know it. Now that you know it, you have to treat it."
"My parents always say it was easier in the old days."
"Do you like summer with its 24-hour sunlight?"
"Summer is a good time too. I like it as much as winter."
"But in summer time, do you suffer from hypomania, the inability to slow down?"
"We do a lot of things in summer, that's the time to do a lot of things."
"I've got no further questions, miss. People like you really spoil my survey!!"
RAE LAKES TRADITIONAL GOVERNMENT RESEARCH PROJECT
by Chief Henry Gon
I would like to give a brief report on the Traditional Government Project that is being done in my community in Rae Lakes.
A year and a half ago we requested help from the Dene Cultural Institute to do a research project that would help us understand the way we, the Dogrib, governed ourselves before we were forced to live under Canadian laws.
We want to understand this because we want our future self-government model to truly reflect the right way for the Dogrib.
This project is helping us to understand:
i) Traditional Leadership; ii) Traditional Decision-making; iii) Traditional Ways of Making Laws; iv) Traditional Peace-Making Practices; v) Traditional Ways of Passing on laws; and vi) The Roots or the Beliefs on which the Dogrib Political System is Built.
The information from this project will be used to develop our own self-government model. To develop this model we need to know a lot more about what the elders are saying. We need to listen to the elders.
Already, we have heard the elders say in very clear, strong voices, that in the old days the leaders did not work in isolation, they had k'awo for different jobs. One leader was not expected to do everything. There were different leaders for different jobs. The person who was an authority on hunting became the hunting camp leader. The authority on fishing became the fishing camp leader. Leadership was shared.
The elders are also telling us:
Traditionally, people from other countries or nations did not tell leaders what to do. Dogrib leaders spoke based on their own knowledge, and the knowledge they got from their elders.
Traditionally, leaders asked both men and women elders for advice. They took what the elders said and used it.
Traditionally, leaders listened to what the people wanted and made decisions based on what they heard. The people talked and talked and talked, and when the talking was finished, the traditional leaders were responsible for making decisions and telling the people.
Traditionally, leaders told elders - both male and female - when there was a meeting so that all the elders could share their knowledge and be part of the decision-making.
Traditionally, leaders understood the spiritual basis for leadership.
Traditionally, everyone attended the meetings and helped each other during the meeting. They helped each other to think about the problem. They did not just walk around letting a few people decide everything.
Traditionally, the people told each other everything and worked co-operatively to make decisions or make a new law.
Traditional ways of passing on laws was simple. Young people and young leaders listened to elders telling stories about the past and about why laws existed.
The elders are saying that the we need to understand why we have laws, and we need to understand the Dogrib beliefs that the laws are built on.
The elders are saying that :
The right way for the Dogrib people is to protect the land and the animals that live on it. The land must be respected.
The right way for the Dogrib people is to have the land that we have always had. God gave us the land to use forever.
To understand the right way for the Dogrib people, we must understand medicine and spiritual power.
To understand the traditional basis for Dogrib laws, we must remember that some people are different and they need to be protected.
To understand the traditional basis for Dogrib laws, we must understand that the elders know about the past and have information. If we do not listen, it will cause everything to go crazy and we will starve.
To understand the traditional basis for Dogrib laws, we must understand the importance of family and our society . It is through the family and our society that our history and the right way for the Dogrib is remembered and passed on.
If we are to have a way to keep our knowledge and our truth, our elders, our children, all of our culture must be respected and cared for.
To understand the traditional basis for Dogrib laws we must understand that people should help each other and live co-operatively.
What I have told you is just a small part of what the elders are telling Sally Ann Zoe and Rita Blackduck in the interviews. Sally and Rita are our two Research Trainees for the Project. Some of the work we have to do for this project is done, but we are not finished yet.
Allice Legat, the Project Director, wrote a report last October and another one in March for criticism and verification from our elders. The elders liked the information that had been written, but they continue to say:
"The work is not finished, we have a lot more to explain, and more of the old Dogrib language has to be used to really understand."
The elders that make up the Community Advisory Committee for the Rae Lakes Traditional Government Project are: Madalaine Drybone, Marie Zoe, Jean Wetrade and Andrew Gon. This project is important, and I hope that Sally and Rita will continue to share what they have learned and work with the Dogrib Treaty 11 to help with the self-qovernment model.
MEMBER'S STATEMENT TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSSEMBLY ON THE RAE LAKES DOCUMENTATION OF DOGRIB TRADITIONAL GOVERNMENT:
MR. HENRY ZOE: (March 25, 1994) Over the past year Madam Speaker, the community of Rae Lakes has been documenting elders' knowledge of Dogrib traditional government. This information is very important. This information will help build a community self-government model. The information will also be used in the school curriculum.
Madam Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, also the Department of Executive and the Department of Department of Renewable Resources for their support during the 1993-94 fiscal year. I would also like to say how pleased I am with the government's response to the traditional knowledge working group report. The response says that the government will redo the existing grants and contribution program to make traditional knowledge initiative, a priority.
Madam Speaker, given the government's position, I would like to request that the government departments do everything they can to ensure that this project is given the financial and income support necessary to complete the work. Like the Dene Justice project, Madam Speaker, this project will require three years for it to completion. The community has completed its first year and looks forward to completing the work in the next couple of years. Thank you.
ABORIGINAL PEOPLES OF SIBERIA
Last winter, I spent three weeks in Siberia with two of my Blackfoot friends, Earl and Allison Healey from Alberta. We were sponsored by our Baha'i communities to go and teach about our faith and exchange cultural information with Siberian aboriginal peoples.
Upon our arrival in the village of Ingra, we were greeted by the Chief of the Evenk people. Ingra is situated amongst forested hills in a sub-arctic climate. Throughout our tour, the temperatures stayed at -50 degrees.
That afternoon, we were invited by the community to do our presentations and perform for an audience. Earl Healey opened with a ceremonial prayer in Blackfoot, his native language.
Later, he and his wife Allison were dressed in their traditional outfits and danced, while I beat the drum. We talked about the traditional values and beliefs of the Dene in Northern Canada. The audience enjoyed our presentation and some were very moved by our speeches that some people shed tears.
A local Evenk woman got up on the stage and asked us to participate in their traditional dance. This is similar to our tea or round dances. All dances are danced in a clockwise manner, and the use of the drum is also very important to the Evenk people.
We discovered that there are many similarities between the aboriginal people of Siberia and the Dene in Northern Canada.
Their celebrations, like ours, is a mixture of prayers, feasts and traditional dancing that can last for days. What really sticks in my mind is the kind hospitality and the respect that was shown to us. We felt so welcome and right at home.
Like the Dene, Siberians also have a lot of respect for the environment. They harvest wildlife for subsistence only, make drymeat and dryfish, and take care not to overkill. Their houses are made of logs amongst sparse and stunted trees. The only difference is their language, which has no similarities to Dene.
They herd reindeer like cattle, use them to pull sleighs, and ride them like horses. They use reindeer hides to make clothing, shelters, tuftings, beaded jackets, footwear and fancy wall-hangings.
The people of Russia are all going through difficult times in their lives. Their lives were dictated by the communist government for the past 70 years. Now that the communist government has fallen, most people find life very difficult, in particular the elders. During the communist revolution, the government had provided for them, and now they are on their own. Because of the hard times, a lot of people have turned to alcohol and drugs, and the suicide rate has risen.
The people don't have much to offer, but what they had, was offered with great reverence. After a short stay we left Ingra we left with a sense of happiness and acceptance, that we are all one people, regardless from what country we come from.
-Ernie Abel DCI Finance Manager
TRADITIONAL DENE MEDICINE RESEARCH
"TRADITIONAL DENE MEDICINE: Part One Report"
Dogrib & English Summaries Acknowledgments Introduction Documenting Dene Medicine Healing Plants Healing Animal Parts Conclusions Literature Review Bibliography Appendices
"TRADITIONAL DENE MEDICINE: Part Two Database"
Medicinal Healing Healing Plants, Roots, Trees, Berries Healing Plant Combinations Medical Conditions & Ways of Healing Surgical Procedures Women's Health Spiritual Healing Gift Exchanges & Offerings Collecting Medicine Plants Causes of Illness Maintaining Good Health Miscellaneous Information
This two-part report and database was submitted by Principal Investigator, Joan Ryan and Project Director, Martha Johnson after they completed the research on the Traditional Dene Medicine project (1993) in the community of Lac La Martre. The Dogrib researchers, selected by the Community Advisory Committee were Marie Adele Rabesca and Diane Romie, who were trained during the Traditional Dene Justice Project (1990-93) and then continued on to the medicine project.
The report contains a twenty-page summary of names and the uses of sixty five plants and forty-seven animal parts used for healing various illnesses and conditions. As well, there are close to four hundred pages of descriptions by elders of how the plants and animal parts were prepared, how they were used and by whom. The elders felt that this knowledge should be taught to the younger people so that they would be safe and would know what to do if they became ill or were hurt while out in the bush.
A complimentary distribution was done to all Dene bands, nursing stations, hospitals, Tribal & Regional councils and contributors. What remains is available at a cost of $25.00 (plus postage & handling) at the Dene Cultural Institute for anyone who is interested.
AVAILABLE THROUGH THE DENE CULTURAL INSTITUTE:
"Traditional Dene Justice" "The Traditional Dene Justice research report confirms that the Dene, long before the arrival of the Europeans, had laws and a system of justice that worked. What is most interesting is the detail provided by the elders about what these laws were and how they were enforced. The report is frank and speaks of the difficulties that face the community of Lac La Martre today." Stephen Kakfwi
$20.00
"Indigenous and Western Knowledge and Resource Management Systems" This report describes current ideas about Traditional Ecological Knowledge and how native peoples conserve and manage their lands and natural resources. Traditional knowledge and traditional resource management systems are compared to Western scientific models and the outlook for effective co-management is discussed. The four co-authors have worked with aboriginal communities across Canada, as well as Australia.
$6.00
"Five Year Plan 1993-1998" The Five Year Plan provides an overview of the Institute's work since 1988 and describes its plans for the next five years. Its purpose is to guide the Institute's activities in promoting and and protecting Dene Culture. The Five Year Plan is lavishly illustrated with archival photographs of Dene and their traditional activities.
$8.00
"Dehcho"- "Mom, we've been discovered!" "Alexander Mackenzie came to our land. He described us in his Journal as a 'meagre, ill-made people with scabby legs'. My people probably wondered at this strange, pale man ..." - Stephen Kakfwi
$12.95
"When The World Was New" "Fort Franklin Elder George Blondin has written down the treasured stories of his people -- tales handed down over the campfire for countless generations. Here are the medicine heroes, hunters and healers who have forged Dene History - from the time of Raven, trickster and shapechanger, and the great lawgiver Yamoria ..."
$15.95
"Those Who Know" "The elders in Those Who Know, like hundreds across the nation, continue lives that preserve in whole or in part, the ways of their ancestors. These people lead the most spiritual of lives. The thirty-one profiles here are about people who have lived every kind of life - on the trapline, in the army, in a camp on the move, in jail, in residential schools, on the reserve." $16.95
"Lore" LORE is the outcome of an International Workshop hosted by the Dene Cultural Institute in July of 1990. It examines the process of collecting traditional knowledge while using a community based approach. It explores some of the means by which this knowledge can be integrated with Western science to improve methods of natural resource management. $15.00
"Traditional Dene Environmental Knowledge" A Report on the Research conducted in Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake, N.W.T. between 1989 and 1993, this 300-Page document explains how to research and record Dene knowledge. It contains a lot of very valuable information on four animal species as well as the traditional rules and beliefs about how to use our natural resources wisely.
$40.00
"As Long As This Land Shall Last" This book is the first complete documentation of Treaties Eight and Eleven between the Canadian Government and the Indian people during the turn of the Century. Non-native people took to themselves the privileges of ownership of land with no regard to the Indian Claim and to the promise made to the Indians that they could live and hunt there "as long as this land shall last".
$16.95
Souvenir Spoons & Pins with Dene Cultural Institute Logo
$5.00 each