Mahsi, Mr. Speaker. I am challenged in making statements in my language. I could only talk about what I know from the heart.
Today is a good day and, once again, another spring season has dawned upon us. "We only live once a day," a late relative would say. This led me to ask: as Dene, how can we make things better?
[Translation] Our elders stated, "We are born. Then we die. Our hope is that we leave a good trail for another generation to follow. How we think, how we feel is critical. We think good, then we also feel very good for ourselves and others." [Translation ends.]
Mr. Speaker, alcohol and drugs cause many problems for Dene. Maybe it is the feeling of despair and a sense of futility that cause us to feel that something is holding us back. Seeing our communities from a Dene perspective, we believe our home is in the community when our heart tells us that our true home is on the land.
[Translation]. We have fallen and can't get up. There is upheaval in the communities. It is hard to live like a Dene. From stories of the past, our ancestors were very healthy and strong people. That's the kind of people we come from. We have to honour our ancestors and take care of ourselves for those who are following us. We thank them for that. That is why we work this way, and we use the strengths of some people to do that, and some people who do that, who help them. We Dene, we want to live good. We want to think better and to help others who are coming to look after ourselves. Our land, ourselves, same thing. We need to do that. It's very important to us to do that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. [Translation ends.]