Mr. Speaker, I want to thank Mr. Braden and Mr. Pokiak for bringing forward this important motion and opportunity for us to debate it in the House here. Mr. Speaker, I would be 110 percent in support of this motion here in terms of having been brought along. I wanted to say a few words, Mr. Speaker.
Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the Aven Manor centre and visit two elders there. One of the elders at the Aven Manor centre said, you know, I wouldn't mind having some of my own food. I know what he was talking about. He was talking about the wildlife food, either moose meat or caribou. He said I wouldn't mind having some of that food here, just to have a taste of it. Even though they are looked after fairly good and they're fed fairly good, some of the elders back in Aven Manor from our hometown want what they call Dene bede. They want Indian food, Dene food. So I know this goes back a long way.
Mr. Speaker, the other elder that I visited and had a brief hello, he had his eyes on us as we talked. He's in the centre, but he's watching us and this elder is very keen and very sharp and he says that every day he tunes us in and looks to see how we are doing. He says you guys are talking and working on our behalf. I want to say hello to those two elders that I spoke to at the Aven Manor and some of the older people. I know there are lots. I want to say that. On this important motion here, Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about the statement that this House has done in a short time in terms of this government in terms of the value and the value of our culture and the value of our land and, most importantly, the value of our lives here. Mr. Speaker, this motion talks about the gift that the caribou has given us. Sometimes, this gift we take it for
granted if we have too many. This gift is being used by all people, not only the aboriginal people but for the economic base such as outfitters, sports hunters, many opportunities that it presents. Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the gift that the elders have talked about, the caribou and how it helps us with our people. It is very essential to the aboriginal people and to our culture. Sometimes, not having the lifestyle we used to have, we forget about our roles and how we look after the caribou. Sometimes we forget the caribou what they mean to us. Mr. Speaker, the issue that we are talking about now, it may be hard on the caribou. I am not too sure. There is lots of knowledge that we haven't yet really picked up on this issue here. I would really like to see, Mr. Speaker, in terms of this motion here in terms of objecting that we get as much traditional knowledge as we can from the elders on the caribou and to use that for future generations.
Mr. Speaker, through those points, I wanted to look at the spirit, respecting the spirit and intent of our land claims in the land claim negotiators that fought for this specific clause in our land claims in terms of the specific area that what this really means to us and our people that this important issue for our wildlife for our people that our land claim agreements are upheld and respected to the spirit and intent that we said when we had it entered into our land claim agreements. I want to speak to that point of this motion here. It talks about that. Our people knew about it. It was in our treaties. Now, we have included it more into our land claims.
Mr. Speaker, the second last point I want to raise is the importance of the caribou calving grounds in terms of this motion and protecting those calving grounds. Mr. Speaker, it reminds me of Dodo Canyon. It is a sheep nest mountain in the Norman Wells area. It is very important to have those areas protected. That is where the babies are born. That is where babies will sustain our life as aboriginal people. In certain areas along the Mackenzie River, up around this area, there are certain calving grounds that people want protected.
Lastly, Mr. Speaker, I want to say, before I close, that there is a fiduciary obligation by the government under the land claim agreements to make sure that our way of life is sustained and will continue on for generations. Mr. Speaker, in closing, I want to thank Mr. Braden and Mr. Pokiak for bringing forward this very important motion. It is something that we want to work on together with the governments, work on with people in the communities. I am getting hungry because people are talking about caribou so much. Caribou ribs that we would have for future and we don't have to walk into our museums and see stuffed caribou like we had one out here in the foyer. I look forward to seeing this herd continue to live with us for generations and generations. Thank you.
---Applause