A sign outside La Loche. Photo courtesy wikimedia commons.
The Dene language will be the centre of a special meeting held in Prince Albert on Thursday.
The Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre has contracted Julius Park, a La Ronge resident who grew up in La Loche, to organize the event.
The Dene Language and Culture meeting is drawing in Elders, members of the Northern Lights School Division, First Nations University students and staff, and all other interested participants to the full day of discussions.
Park’s language is key to his identity, and it’s no surprise the meeting is close to his heart.
“This is who I am, you know, as a Dene person, it’s my language. My parents transmitted the language to me through the traditions, speaking to me in Dene, telling me stories, learning through the land,” he said.
“It’s comforting to me to speak my language and it’s preserving that, the knowledge that I have through my language, to pass it on to my kids too.”
He said the meeting is the start of something bigger, and it’s not just about talking, it’s about moving into action on the community level.
“When we connect people to who they are as individuals in their own skin, saying that ‘I am Dene, I am Cree, I am Ojibway, I am Navajo’ makes them feel proud, self-esteem, to be who they are,” Park said.
Dene territory extends north, east and west of Saskatchewan’s borders, so there will be people from a number of different provinces and possibly the Northwest Territories.
The meeting takes part between 10 a.m and 4 p.m. at the Travelodge in Prince Albert on Thursday.