Spirit of the Mountains — Northern Indigenous Stories of Place

Mountain regions play a significance role to the cultural livelihoods of Northern Indigenous peoples. For instance the oral narratives of northern Dene describes that Mountains were central to their seasonal travel patterns, as well as to their cultural social ethos and ideology. Dene people often met in high plateau areas to harvest resources seasonally, to celebrate the passing of seasons, to trade resources and often intermarried with other regional tribes for alliance building. Mountains and of its ecological richness enabled Indigenous peoples to succeed and thrive throughout in the northern regions. It contributed greatly to their understanding of place and added significantly to their cosmology, as Dene people. Today, mountains continue to play a significant role for northern Indigenous peoples through story or songs. Stories of their hardship as well as their celebratory accounts of their people demonstrate an innate connection to land and place, places of their ancestors through their various stories of origin. Mountains are not only seen as ecological importance but places in which Indigenous peoples still call and identity as part of their home.

Event Leaders:

Leon Andrew, Moteh Mountains, Shúhtagot'ı̨nę - Mountain Dene, Tulita, NWT

Richard Andrew, Shúhtagot'ı̨nę - Mountain Dene Artist, Trapper, Traditional skills teacher, Tulita, NWT

Raymond Yakeleya, Award Winning Tulı́t'a Dene Filmmaker & Director, Edmonton, AB

Deb Simmons, Executive Director, Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨nę Gots’ę́ Nákedı, Sahtú Renewable Resources Board, Tulita, NWT

This event is hosted by UAlberta North.

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This event is part of the Canadian Mountain Network's 2016 International Mountain Day Mountain Festival, happening December 9 – 16, 2016. The Mountain festival is a celebration of Canada's mountain environments, mountain communities, and cultures.