Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the recently published New Testament in Dogrib is the result of many years of hard work and a unique collaboration between various institutions from within and outside the Dogrib community. The work on this edition of the New Testament started in earnest in 1995 under the then formed Dogrib Translation Committee, a board of directors in which the following institutions were represented part or all of the time: Mary Siemens from the Dogrib Divisional Board of Education; Father Jean Pochat of the Roman Catholic Church; John B. Zoe and Gabrielle Scott, Treaty 11; Rev. Lee Barry from On Eagle's Wings; Vic Monus and Jaap Feenstra, Wycliffe Bible Translators; and Jim Stauffer from Northern Canada Evangelical Missions.

The actual translation was done by: Mary Siemens, Marie Louise Bouvier-White, Alice Sangris, Margaret Rabesca, Sonny Zoe, Elizabeth McKenzie, Vic Monus, Jim Stauffer and Jaap Feenstra. This publication is historic because it is the first time in more than 100 years that a complete new testament has been published in one of the Dene languages. A Gwich'in new testament was published towards the end of the 19th Century.

Though the work on this first edition took less than eight years, the people who worked on this really built on years of language work invested by Dogrib people, elders, priests and missionary translators, educators and linguists. The publication of the Dogrib New Testament and the audio recordings currently being worked on are highly important, not just to make the Bible a more open book for the people, but also for the preservation and revitalization of the Dogrib language.

Currently, the Dogrib New Testament is already being used in church services and in the readings for literacy classes in the Dogrib communities. The decorative New Testament has even replaced the English Bible in the oath ceremonies concerning the Dogrib land claims agreement.

Part of the funding was provided through the Department of Education, Culture and Employment's aboriginal language and literacy funds. The other funding came from the Dogrib Community Services Board, the Rae-Edzo Band, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mackenzie, the Hogarth Foundation, the Canadian Bible Society and Wycliffe Translators. The New Testament will be officially launched and dedicated as part of the annual Dogrib assembly in late August.

Mr. Speaker, although I am not a person who speaks an aboriginal language, I want to thank and congratulate the people who put the effort into this very unique work that is now at completion. Thank you.

---Applause