Table Of ContentDENE NATION
the colony within
MELWATKINS
EDITED BY
*& r
1
-
m
IS'.
y
m
Dene Nation- the colony within
MELWATKINSis a member ofthe Department ofPolitical Economy and
University College at the University ofToronto, and was a consultant to the
Indian Brotherhood ofthe NWTin Yellowknife.
This collection ofpapers by some twenty contributors has been selected in
the main from presentations made to the Berger Inquiry, and reflectsthe
efforts ofthe Dene people to block the construction ofa pipeline through
the Mackenzie Valley lands they claim as their own. The issue is broader than
a pipeline or even a land claim, and the presentations go wellbeyond showing
the adverse effectsofa pipeline, serious though these maybe, and beyond
asserting an aboriginal claimto the land, valid though that may be. Rather,
they reflect the Dene nation's fundamental perception that their struggle is
forthe most universal ofhuman rights, the right to be a self-determining
people, livingwith theirland asthey have always done. Should no pipeline
ever materialize up the Mackenzie Valley, the Dene nationwill continue to
assert this right and continue to strive for decolonization in matters of
economics,politics, education, law, and culture. The papers, some ofthem
written by Dene and others by specialists in a variety offields, reveal the pro-
found issues ofhuman rights from which pipeline protest ultimately derives.
Thisbook is essential reading for all concerned with Canada's future as a
compassionate democracy.
'The publication is a lovely one: Informative, entertaining, and argumentative
in a most responsible way. It isn't Watkins as author but Watkins as editor
whom one must compliment. He's taken a score ofessays or statements, in-
cluding seven or eight by natives, and put them together into asgood a single
package as you need to understand why the issue ofthe pipeline from the
farnorth is splitting ourparties and symbolizingmost ofthe world issues of
environment, economic growth, natural resources and underdeveloped
people.' Douglas Fisher, Toronto Sun
The coverphotograph, by Tapwe Chretien, is ofDene playing a traditional
handgame.
Dene Nation- the colony within
edited by Mel Watkins
for the University League for Social Reform
University ofToronto Press
TORONTO BUFFALO LONDON
© UniversityofTorontoPress 1977
Toronto Buffalo London
Reprinted 1978, 1980, 1982
Printed inCanada
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Dene Nation, the colony within.
A revision and abridgement ofmaterial presented at
the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (Berger Inquiry)
by the Dene themselves and by others on their behalf.
Bibliography: p.
CONTENTS: The Dene speak. - Dene declaration:
Blake, P., T'Seleie, F. & Lamothe, R. Statements to the
Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry. - Resources:
Nahanni, P. The mapping project. Snowshoe, C.
A trapper's life. Rushforth, S. Country food. Asch, M.
The Dene economy. Jellies, A.D. The loss ofeconomic
rents. Helliwell, J.F. The distribution ofeconomic
rents from a pipeline. Watkins, M. From undervelop-
ment to development, [etc.]
1. Tinne Indians- Government relations- Addresses,
essays, lectures. 2. Indians ofNorth America -Canada-
Government relations- Addresses, essays, lectures.
3. Pipe lines- Canada- Northwest Territories.
I. Watkins, Mel. II. University League for Social
Reform, Toronto.
E99.T56D46 323.1'19'707193 76-54701
ISBN 0-8020-2264-2
ISBN 0-8020-6315-2 pbk
Foreword
The University League for Social Reform has stimulated the publication of
eight books on topics ofpublic and intellectualconcern since 1965.Typically,
differing views have been expressed by the authors of each volume's various
chapters, and the ulsr, as an organization, has taken no position on the issue
under discussion.
In the case ofDeneNation- TheColony Within, the League feelsit impor-
tant to make a departure from its normal practice and explicitly support the
essential positions that thisbook expresses on behalfofthe Dene people:
1 The aboriginal right to self-determination claimed by the Dene is a univer-
sal human right;Canadiansmust therefore accommodate these demands with-
in Confederation.
2 No pipeline project can be allowed before a land settlement is made with
the native people. Such extracting of non-renewable resources before the
achieving of a settlement would be to deny the Dene their right to self-deter-
mination.
3 The Dene are expressing their vision of an alternative society whose eco-
nomy is based on renewable resources. It may be that this can coexist with
the extraction of non-renewable resources, but it can only if the Dene are
given back the power to control their own destiny.
Stephen Clarkson
PRESIDENT
University League forSocial Reform
1
Contents
Foreword v
Preface ix
TheDene Speak
Dene Declaration 3
Statements to the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry
Phillip Blake 5
Rene Lamothe 10
FrankT'Seleie 12
Resources
The Mapping Project / Phoebe Nahanni 2
A Trapper's Life / Charlie Snowshoe 28
Country Food / Scott Rushforth 32
The Dene Economy Michael Asch 47
/
The Loss ofEconomic Rents / Arvin D. Jellies 62
The Distribution ofEconomic Benefits from aPipeline / John F. Helliwell 75
From Underdevelopment to Development / MelWatkins 84
Rights
The Colonial Experience / PeterPuxley 103
The Political System and the Dene
George Barnaby, George Kurszewski, Gerry Cheezie 120
Colonialism in the Communities / WilfBean 130
The Schools / Steve Kakfwi 142;Bob Overvold 145
Aboriginal Rights / C. Gerald Sutton 149
The Dene Nation and Confederation / PeterH. Russell 163
Conclusions
We the Dene / Georges Erasmus 177
A Proposal to the Government and People ofCanada 182
Contributors 188
