Walter Bezha

WalterBayha 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).