Following are some notes from each issue of Dene Yati, a newsletter issued by the GNWT Departmen of Culture and Communications. 

June 1985:

This newsletter provides an overview of Athapaskan language family and discusses the advent of the Language Bureau. The new department initiated a project to make interpreting and translating services available in the five Dene languages found in the NT in 1982.
Expressed in the introduction to this issue is that problem that Dene languages “have not in the past been required to express closely defined concepts in the areas of technology, bureaucracy, government, medicine, law, and other domains” (1). To address this problem, interpreters from many organizations (e.g. CBC and the Dene nation) work through lists of words, “searching for the best ways of expressing the concepts succinctly and clearly in the native languages” (1).
A list of words and translations in each Dene language is presented next.

September 1985:

This issue of Dene Yati begins with a discussion of the role and responsibility of an interpreter/translator in the NWT. An article by Betty Harnum emphasizes the broad list of skills an I/T is asked to have in the NWT, moreso than anywhere else, including simultaneous interpretation, written translation, government translations, “relay interpreting,” (3+ languages) terminology development, typing, etc., across all subject areas. This is followed by a terminology chart, a traditional story called “The Old Lady in the Moon,” and a comment that Dene Nation funding cutbacks are making it difficult for interpreters to get training.

December 1985:

This third issue of Dene Yati discusses the different prefixes attached to body parts, and thus medical terminology, in each of the five Dene languages in the NT. This is followed by a Dene terminology list of body parts, and a series of short pieces about the Dene alphabet, standardization, and medical interpretation.

March 1986:

Issue 4 of Dene Yati opens with an overview of the Task Force on Aboriginal Languages, created “to make recommendations on the use, development, and promotion of the aboriginal languages in the Northwest Territories” (1). At the time of this issue, the task force had three Inuit and three Dene representatives. The organization did community consultations to examine people’s perspectives on first languages, and Fibbie Tatti co-chaired the Task Force. The committee’s recommendations are summarized in this issue as:

1. Native languages should be more widely used in communities and regions.
2. The Official Languages Act should be changed to include the right to use a native language in court, when receiving public services, and in the Legislative Assembly.
3. An office of Commissioners of Aboriginal Languages should be created to encourage the use native languages and to report to the Legislative Assembly. The Office of Commisioners of Aboriginal Languages should have both a Dene and an Inuit Language Commissioner.
4. A Ministry of Aboriginal Languages and Cultures should be created to develop and carry out policies regarding native languages. The Ministry should have both a Dene and an Inuit council.
5. The Ministry of Aboriginal Languages and Culture should be responsible for native language and culture curricula in schools; for government interpreters; for certifying N.L. teachers and interpreters/translators; and for cultural programs… The Ministry should also be responsible for ensuring the standardization of a Dene writing system so that children can learn both English and French and a native language in school and also learn about native culture.
6. The Education Act should be changed to guarantee bilingual education…
7. The GNWT should encourage employees to learn native languages.; provide jobs for bilingual people…
8. Native languages should be more widely used in the air transport industry; by the federal government; and on radio and television.

The issue also contains a terminology chart and several other articles about such topics as medical interpretation.

June 1986 (Annual):

This is a newsletter from the GNWT Department of Culture and Communications intended “to publicize the work of the Language Bureau and to disseminate information concerning language development” (1). This issue has an introduction to the newsletter written by Phillip Howard, a linguist. It then offers a chart of translations of English words (e.g. “Government words” on one page, “body parts” on another) in Chipewyan, Dogrib, Loucheux (Gwich’in) and North and South Slavey. It then has a chart of vowels, consonants, and dipthongs in different Dene languages.

June 1986:

Dene Yati Vol 2 No 1 begins by talking about the challenges interpreters face when trying to translate legal speech from English to Dene simultaneously, and the potential consequences of mistranslation. The terminology chart to follow, therefore, has law-themed words such as “custody” or “summons.” “Crown prosecutor,” for example, is translated to something like “verbal helper for police” in Dene.

September 1986:

This issue begins by talking about Government Finance terms and their Dene corollaries. It also has a personal overview of the life of a Dene broadcaster working for CBC. The quarterly terminology chart discusses financial translations.

December 1986:

This issue of Dene Yati opens with an article about the transition from hunting or gathering to wage labour and the importance of career planning from the Sir John Franklin School Guidance Counsellor. The theme of this newsletter’s terminology chart is career names, including for example, Consultant, Employment Officer, Eye Doctor, and Fisherman. It goes on to discuss challenges in the Fort Smith Region Language Bureau.

March 1987:

Dene Yati Number 4 opens with a conversation about difficulties in interpreting, including interpreting emotions or English idioms. A terminology table containing words for emotions is next, along with a story about Finding the Chinook, and a short article about Dene terms for technological developments.

Access this Resource: 

Dene Yati is held at the NWT Archives, in the Department of Education Culture and Employment fonds (accession no. G-2003-001). 

Dene Language Terminology Committee. Dene Yati. Northwest Territories Department of Culture and Communications Language Bureau, June 1985 - March 1987.