(Translation) Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will be speaking to you for a while in my language today. Today, it seems like the Legislative Assembly will be proroguing, so I would like to leave a brief message with you. We, sitting here in the Northwest Territories, are from a lot of different places. Some people have been born here in the Northwest Territories; some are Inuit, some are Dene, some are Metis and some are from up north, Inuvialuit, and other people from other places in Canada and others from other foreign countries. But we are sitting here together and working together. For that, I would like to thank you.
This is the message I would like to talk to you about. Today, I would like to talk to you about the perspective of Dene. I grew up as a Dene and so I would like to talk to you in the perspective of a Dene. Dene people are born in the North. In my case, I grew up in the country with my relatives. A lot of Dene people grew up that way. From the first time I can remember, we had a lot of white people starting to live on our land.
In 1921, when there was a treaty, it was only a peace treaty. On the side of government, there were a lot of arrangements that had been agreed to, such as housing, education, rations and social assistance. These were the items that were promised at the time. So all our relatives were told that at the time. Since then, it seems like it was changing every year. In our communities, a lot of things were changing; on our land, our region and all over the North.
When things started changing here in the North, it seemed to be without the involvement of the Dene people. They didn't have any involvement. When there was a government that we didn't agree to, we had some input but we hadn't been taken seriously. Since the beginning of the Government of the Northwest Territories, it seems that they are becoming more prominent. So we know how the Government of the Northwest Territories is now.
We have names for the features on our land, such as rivers and mountains. We named all these land features in our language; but when the white people came on our land, all the places that we had names for, they gave different names to. So when you say "Deh Cho," they have renamed it to "Mackenzie River." There is a mountain close to Fort Simpson that is called "Beaver Hills." That was renamed to "Abbot Hills." The Horn Plateau we called "Horn Mountain." The Liard River we called " Nachahdeh." Since ancient times, we have had names for these places. Our community of Fort Simpson was called "Liidlii Kue." Fort Wrigley was called "Tthedzeh Kue," Fort Providence was called, "Zhahti Kue," Trout Lake was called "Sombaa K'e" and Fort Liard was called "Lateke" and Hay River was called "Katlodehe," and Jean Marie River was called "Tlhek'ehdel." We had names for communities and land features on our land. What I'm saying is that we, as Dene, have names for our land.
First, when the government started coming up this way, they did not listen to us. This was kind of classified as colonial mentality. When they came up here, they governed the land as they did in their land. So Fort Franklin was renamed to Deline; and Fort Norman is Tulita; Snowdrift went back to the Dene name of Lutsel K'e. So the Dene people have renamed some of their communities to their original name.
When we first started calling ourselves the way we call ourselves, "Dene," it was hard. When the white people first came up here, we were called Indians. The organization, the Indian Brotherhood, was renamed the Dene Nation, as well. So when you change things, it's hard. The word that we used to classify ourselves was Dene, and we expressed that it would be good if they called us Dene. When that was done, we used the letterhead of Dene. At the time, the Indian Brotherhood was in existence.
There are other lands that have started recognizing us. Now when people hear the term "Dene Nation" they know what it is about. In that way, when we changed the name to Dene people, they saw us as constructive. When the English word of NWT is used, a lot of Dene people do not understand what it means.
When the Northwest Territories came into existence, it was part of the other provinces, such as Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Yukon and Northwest Territories. Therefore, when the older Dene people heard the term "Northwest Territories" they did not know what it meant. Now we will have another piece chopped off:
Nunavut; and we are the leftovers. When you say Nunavut in the Inuit language, it means "our land," and I'm thankful that they named it that way. When we are searching for a name, I don't think we should be called "NWT." What I would like to say is, when the Dene people hear the word "NWT," they don't know what it means.
I grew up along the Mackenzie in the area called Rabbit Skin River. When I was growing up, my relatives didn't know what the word "NWT" meant. When we talked about our land, it was the way it meant, in our language, "our land." This way it was recognized by the Dene people. When the Dene people started getting involved in politics, it seemed like the NWT was imposed on us as well as the government system. So when we say the Northwest Territories, in Dene we are saying it; interpreted back it would mean "cold land" or "cold place." This is how you would say the Northwest Territories to the Dene people, in my language. So I didn't feel the word "Northwest Territories" was relevant to Dene people and that is why I am saying this. Also, the Dene languages such as Chipewyan, Dogrib and the Sahtu, all say the words "cold land" or "cold place" in their language. They don't say "Northwest Territories."
So when the Chipewyan people talk about the Northwest Territories, the way they say it is translated back as "cold land." I would just like to express that. There are many people who are Metis, Dene, Inuvialuit and when they stay within their community, maybe if we talked about this to them, they would probably agree with what I said. That is why I am saying this to you in my language today.
Many of the MLAs probably understand their language. If they are going to rename the western NWT, it would be good to listen to the Dene people's suggestions. I am just saying to continue using the name "NWT" doesn't sound suitable to me. This is why I am saying this in my language. This is what I would like to say at the moment. Thank you.
---Applause