In the heart of the Deh Cho live the Deh Gah Gotie Dene(people who live by the river). The Deh Cho is located in the Northwest Territories. The Dene people are keepers of the land and so the Deh Cho Process is all about conservation and maintaining the land. This is what makes the Process unique compared to other aboriginal treaties across Canada.
Long ago, the Deh Gah Gotie Dene lived nomadically. They moved seasonally and had camps to follow game. They used basically every part of the animal such as the hair including antler. They abided by the Dene Laws to conserve and take only what is needed from the land. Take care of the land and the land takes care of you. With the cold harsh winters, furs were traditionally used to clothe the Dene.
With the history of their people, the Dene ladies of Fort Providence use this as an inspiration to create clothing from furs to keep it in their culture and as part of their tradition. The clothing is created from fur. Being inspired of the past and the heritage of the people, the ladies thus created a line called Ek’o (watch out). A modern version of finger-weaving is used to create the garments which have been on international runways of the world, using knitting machines. The ladies are looking to the past for help in creating a future for our community.
A quote from an elder, Liza Loutit once said “I grew up wearing rabbit skins”.
Another quote from another elder said “We must keep our own identity”, Harry Minoza.
Thursday, 29 July 2010
FROM THE LAND CAME OUR RELIGION
FROM THE LAND CAME OUR LIFE
FROM THE LAND CAME OUR POWERFUL MEDICINES
FROM THE LAND CAME OUR DENE WAY OF LIFE
FROM THE DENE CAME EK'O
FROM THE LAND CAME OUR LIFE
FROM THE LAND CAME OUR POWERFUL MEDICINES
FROM THE LAND CAME OUR DENE WAY OF LIFE
FROM THE DENE CAME EK'O
