Tracking History

Teachers at Liidlii Kue High School in Fort Simpson invited Elizabeth Hardisty to visit the school
to talk about mapping Dene traditional land.

Elizabeth invited the students to draw lines showing the routes that have taken
when travelling with family.

Students placed figures of wildlife at the places where they had seen them.
The finished map was speckled with moose, fish and bears.

Elizabeth showed the students the map she made with the trails of their
great-grandparents in 1975. The students were astonished!

At the Berger Inquiry, Elizabeth explained the impact the maps had on government
and the pipeline companies. This was proof of their traditional land use.

Elizabeth described the excitement when delegates from Dene communities
arrived in Fort Simpson for the Dene Assembly in 1975.

She showed them the original text of the Dene Declaration. Students compared it
to the final version. Did the wording change? Why?

After the Assembly in Fort Simpson, the Dene Nation printed posters and sent them
to sympathizers across Canada. What difference did the posters make?