ii
The environment is changing, and this is causing troubles for some of the wildlife and
plants. Something needs to be done. In 2002, Canada made a law, the
Species At Risk
Act
, recognizing our promise to protect living things that are in trouble. The Northwest
Territories made their own law in 2009. Now it’s time for people of the Sahtú Region to
learn about this promise and work on ways of keeping the diversity of life in our land.
Dene and Métis have lived on the land for many generations, and their way of life has
helped to keep the land healthy. The knowledge and stories of the land express people’s
relationships with other living things. This is most meaningful in the Dene language.
In March 2013, elders, Dene language specialists and others got together for a
workshop to talk about how the story of species at risk can be understood through the
language and stories of Dene and Métis. They agreed that the main people who need to
work on these things are the present and future youth of the Sahtú Region. This book is
dedicated to the workshop participants, and to the youth who are the future stewards
of the land.
The first part of this book is a story, Remember the Promise, with Dene words. The
meanings of those words can be found in the glossary (page 18). The second part
includes more details about the workshop and the terms that were worked on in the
dialects of Delı̨
ne, Tulı́
t’a, and K’asho Got’ı̨
ne. The last part has more information about
species at risk in the NWT.
Keeping the Dene language alive is part of keeping alive people’s sacred and respectful
relationships with other living things. We hope that this book will encourage people to
speak and understand the language of this land, the language of the ancestors. Through
the language, we are sure to remember the promise.
Foreword
Michael Neyelle, Interim Chair
Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨
nę Gots’ę́
Nákedı
Saht Renewable Resources Board
