Special Advisors

The Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı relies on the expertise of a number of experienced and knowledgeable individuals to project us with expert advice.

Walter Bezha

Most of Walter Bezha’s early years on Mother Earth were spent out on the land with all of his grandfathers, travelling and learning the Dene traditions of Sahtú (Great Bear Lake) in the Northwest Territories. After thirty-two years in the resource development field with both the Federal and Territorial governments, he switched to the working with Aboriginal governance organisations. Walter is currently serving as Chair of the Délı̨nę Ɂǫhda K'áowǝ Kǝ (Elder's Council), and in this capacity serves on the Délı̨nę K'aowǝdó Kǝ (Main Council) of the Délı̨nę Got'̨ınę Government. He has served as Implementation Director for the Déline Governance office, Chair of the Sahtú Renewable Resources Board, member of the Sahtu Land and Water Board, and member of the Mackenzie Land and Water Board. Walter has been actively involved in a caribou traditional knowledge study in the Sahtu Region since 2006. He was a founding member of the national Learning Communities Network, oriented to understanding the role of communities in resource management. He is author of “Using Indigenous Stories in Caribou Co-Management” (Rangifer, 2012) and co-author of “’Our Responsibility to Keep the Land Alive’: Voices of Northern Indigenous Researchers” (Pimatisiwin, 2010).

Paul Latour

Dr. Paul Latour has extensive public sector work experience in wildlife management. After some time working in Norman Wells with the Sahtú Region office of the Government of the Northwest Territories, Paul took a job as NWT Habitat Biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service (Northern Conservation Division), based in Yellowknife. Upon his retirement in 2015, Paul's contributions throughout his long career were recognized through a Citation of Excellence in Service to Clients. The main focus of his work was assessing migratory bird habitat, establishing protected areas, managing existing protected areas in the Arctic and working on migratory bird habitat/population studies. In addition, Paul co-ordinated the environmental assessment of industrial projects in the Western Arctic and participated in the negotiation and implementation of Aboriginal land claim settlements.  He served as a founding Board member from 1996-2016. 

Keith Hickling

Keith Hickling brought his extensive experience in resource management to his position as Board member. Raised in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, he began his career working at Aklavik and then moved to Norman Wells. In 1980, he was part of the first graduating class at the Renewable Resources Technology Program at Fort Smith.

Since that time, he has worked as a Renewable Resource Officer in several Western Arctic communities in the Northwest Territories and in Kugluktuk, Nunavut. He recently retired from a position as Superintendent of NWT Environmental and Natural Resources-Sahtú Region. Keith currently resides in Alberta.