A historic gathering on the TsuuT’ina First Nation hopes to reunite the Dené people across North America.
Considered by many to refer only to First Nations in northern Canada, the Dené people stretch across North America, and possibly beyond.
“Our elders have always told us stories of the Dené and that we had Dené relatives in the south, in the west, in the east, and of course, the Dené in the north,” said Norman Yakeleya, national Chief of the Dene Nation.
“Through those oral stories we always wondered, what are the elders talking about?”
Scholars have now shown the Dené people encompass not only northern First Nations, but the Apache, and Navajo Nations as well.
“There are 750,000 Dené in North America,” said conference organizer Bruce Starlight.
“Now the Aztecs are saying they are Dené and it’s plausible the cognates in the language are similar.”
Despite the common ancestry, a schism emerged over the decades, in part driven by conflicting origin stories.
“I have some challenges with my people, my nations and their origin,” said Navaho First Nation member Paul Tohlakai.
“Some believe that the Dené up here came from down there (in southern North America) and for some the debate is ongoing about the Bering Strait thing. Some believe in a two-way road.”
Participants in the three-day conference at the TsuuT’ina 7 Chiefs Sportsplex herald that putting aside the historic differences and forging a new alliance will help the Dené on both sides of the Canada-U.S. Border.
“Because we have the largest resource base, the most people, we have the most professional people doctors, nurses, whatever and we have 28 casinos, so we have huge wealth,” said Starlight.
“But the capacity and ability still lies with the leaders, not us ordinary people, to pull it together.”
Dené leaders say reunification of the splintered Dené nations would protect their land, boost their wealth and ultimately give the Dené people more political clout.
“It’s my hope that we have a ‘State of Dené,’ so that we would speak for ourselves to the world,” said Yakeleya.
“The Dené are a nation to be reckoned with.”
