My Life after Dechinta, i am having fun teaching and learning culture and traditions from youth of the north!

The Dechinta circle with guest from the traditional leadership course. I much enjoyed everyone’s comments and teachings. Mahsi

-Stace

An eagle guiding us back to outcamp, we were coming from a cookout at an old cabin at the end of BL. This was a old cabin of an elders father, and as she askes for guidance as she feeds the fire, an eagle flies alongside the boats while we head home. Very spiritual and very good to see. Mahsi for this amazing experience!

-Stace

I would like to start off by saying, this was the best education experience I ever had. It was amazing how each of us from each region in NWT got to share this experience together and with others from around the world. I will treasure this experience and what I learned there, esp. with the elders and professors, and of course the people that made Dechinta happpen. I think Dechinta is the path for education for our young people to start leading. Learning in places that feels comfortable and somewhere you can practice cultural traditions, sure does feel good for the mind, body and soul. And learning from the land, it gives it more meanings to ourselves and our people, and if elders think this is a great way to learn, then I sure do believe them. Programs like this should be recognized in all first nation communities because it gives hope and strength to move forwrad. I really enjoyed this course Traditional Leadership, it gave me inspiration to move forward with our people and to choose a path of great knowledge from the elders, to be tolerant and patient, to practice cultural traditions, to listen to stories, and make positive choices in life. I am grateful and thankful for Dechinta, it gave me a positive outlook in life and just gave me a reminder, that I can make positive changes, and it starts with self-determination.

-Stacey

Life changing

Inspiring

Self finding

Challenging

Eye Opening

So many different words to explain my Dechinta experience and I’m not sure those words could ever fully explain it all.  I’m finding it really difficult to tell people about it. When asked, I say it was “Awesome” “Amazing”… 

Once I find those words and ways to explain my experience… I’ll repost.

-Kristen 

Doing 5 weeks out at Dechita was a the best thing that i’ve ever decided to do! it flew by so fast. Full of non-learning! being out there i’ve learnt so much about myself, others & traditional & cultural things!

I enjoyed the peace & break away from the crazy world and searching the root of myself, learning the history of what my ansesters went through and find out “why we are the way we are”. I enjoyed working with threase and modest doing cultural activites! ( working with fish and meat )

Everyone that came to teach us the knowledge they had and shared with us was amazing and i am glad to have met everyone!

We all had our ups and down but it made our little community closer and stronger, i feel personal growth but im sure im not the only one that has taken something out of this!

yay for self-goverence, self-determination & Leadership!

-brookehope

Just a beautiful day for October 2. I Enjoyed the day out on the boat with people from Lutselke!

This was a good catch, I really enjoyed going out with Elder Modeste to check nets. We set our own net one day without him and he went to it the next day to check if we did it right, we must of, because we caught some fish. This was a 30lb trout and it sure did taste good!

With anxious energy we prepared to spend 5 days across the lake.

             Tensions were high as we balanced preparations

             with on-going work and new presentations.

With Erin and Elaine away for work, we had to learn by ourselves what it took

            To make it happen, to solidify our community,

             To govern ourselves, and to make decisions collectively.

Therese and Modest were there to guide us, always calm and steady, without a fuss.

            We are all so grateful and fortunate to have them around

            A more peaceful and harmonious influence could not be found

We’ve learned so many things through our experience on the land.

            There were challenges for each of us to overcome

            And together there even were some.

But somehow it seemed easier then expected to stay, outside every day.

            We each learned and contributed in our own way

            And in the end I miss it, and wish we could stay another day.

Knowing we will return in another weekend is nice,

            In the mean time we’ll use the power

            And really enjoy the shower! 

-Dawn 

When I hear mines talk about sustainability I see the dead side, and where when we use the land and not permanently taking from it I see the that as sustainability.

-brookehope

So Happy to be back at the lodge from Out Camp but it was sad to leave, after working for hours from sun rise to sun set. We spent hours setting up the camp and spend most of the hours learning from Modeste and his Wife. It was a lot of work but the work gets done by working together as our little community, helping each other and learning from each other.

Doris Taneton

Well dear readers, us Dechinta students just returned from out-camp yesterday. We were all soo excited to shower and enjoy the conveniences of everyday life that you don’t get in the bush. Coffee instantly, running water, electricity, BUT at the same time we were all a little sad about leaving our home away from home.  It felt like we had just gotten settled. All 8 of us women +  baby Paige slept in a teepee on spruce bough. There was only one night we got a bit of a storm with rain. We had to sleep up against the teepee walls and some of the ladies had to have a tarp covering them to stay dry. But we survived and it was actually pretty awesome.

I was very hesitant about going to out-camp, the longest I’ve spent camping or in the bush has only been a few days. I thought the whole experience would be a big challenge. The time flew by and yes sometimes it was a lot of work, but I enjoy working hard and it was so nice to be out on the land. We learned alot as a group and about being in the bush.  Therese and Modeste are so knowledgeable, it is amazing. The entire experience has made me want to spend more time on the land. 

Out-camp isn’t quite over yet either, we’ll be spending Thanksgiving weekend there as well. (yaaa!)

-Kristen

We are checking the fish nets once again. This might be our twentieth time. Doing this task truly engages one in the rhythms of traditional activities, the hours that must be logged, the attention that must be paid to timing and detail. The catch is uncertain. As we head out in the morning or in the evening we participate in an activity that ancestors of this land have done for ages. These ancient processes, these timeless rhythms are our teachers.

~Cole

Melaw is here to work on hides for the weekend!

We have all been looking forward to her coming and teaching us. We worked on them for a bit yesterday. One hide was too thick so we started scrapping; we are also in the process of fleshing one. Working on hides is something I’ve always want to do. As we were fleshing I ran into a fatty part that was hard to scrap, then I got to a real fleshy part. It was extremely satisfying to have the flesh come off. But the sun was setting and we had to stop. We will be continuing to work on them today. Melaw follows the Dene laws as she works on hides. It’s pretty exciting. I plan to continue to learn about hides once we leave here.

On top of working on the hides we will be going across the lake to start set up for our out-camp next week. We leave the lodge Sunday and return on Friday. FIVE nights in the bush. The longest I’ve spent on the land is probably just a couple nights.

-Kristen

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