A study of the impact of oil and gas development on the Dene First Nations of the Sahtu (Great Bear...

A study of the impact of oil and gasdevelopment on the Dene FirstNations of the Sahtu (Great BearLake) Region of the CanadianNorthwest Territories (NWT)

Leo Paul DanaGSCM-Montpellier Business School, Montpellier, France

Robert Brent AndersonUniversity of Regina, Regina, Canada, and

Aldene Meis-MasonUniversity of Canterbury, Canterbury, New Zealand

Abstract

Purpose – Beneath Canada’s Northwest Territories lies a potential of 30 trillion cubic feet of naturalgas. Will a $16 billion gas-pipeline bring prosperity or gloom? Will this bring employmentopportunities for local people or will more qualified people be brought in from southern communities?The purpose of this paper is to give an account of what Dene residents of the Sahtu Region have to sayabout oil and gas development.

Design/methodology/approach – Starting in 2005, in-depth interviews with people across theSahtu Region are conducted.

Findings – Respondents recognise the short-term advantages of building a pipeline, but they areconcerned about the long-term impact on the environment that currently ensures their livelihood.

Research limitations/implications – This study begs for a longitudinal follow-up.

Practical implications – Policy-makers may benefit from knowing the feelings of their constituents.

Originality/value – This timely study reveals long-term environmental and social impacts ofshort-term development. This is especially important in a region where people believe that they havean obligation to the land upon which they live.

Keywords Natural gas, Natural gas extraction, Economic development, Ethnic groups, Canada

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionIn 1870, the Hudson’s Bay Company sold Rupert’s Land and the North-WesternTerritory to the Dominion of Canada. These were merged to create the NorthwestTerritories. Today, the Northwest Territories is one of two jurisdictions in Canada thatuses consensus government (the other being Nunavut); there are no political partieshere. The land is home to three Aboriginal peoples: the First Nations, the Inuit and theMetis, the latter mainly descendants of francophone men and Cree or Ojibwa women.

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-6204.htm

An earlier version of this article was presented as an Invited Paper at the Universite de CaenEntrepreneurship Conference, Faculte de Sciences Economiques et de Gestion, Caen,Basse-Normandie.

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Journal of Enterprising Communities:People and Places in the GlobalEconomyVol. 3 No. 1, 2009pp. 94-117q Emerald Group Publishing Limited1750-6204DOI 10.1108/17506200910943706

There are 11 official languages in the Northwest Territories, namely:

(1) Chipewyan.

(2) Cree.

(3) English.

(4) French.

(5) Gwich’in (formerly known as Kutchin).

(6) Inuinnaqtun.

(7) Inuktitut.

(8) Inuvialuktun.

(9) North Slavey.

(10) South Slavey.

(11) Tlicho (formerly known as Dogrib).

Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut and Inuvialuktun are Inuit languages. Cree, a member of theAlgonquian linguistic group, is spoken in the Fort Smith and Hay River area.Chipewyan, Gwich’in, North Slavey, South Slavey and Tlicho are Dene languages,belonging to the Athapaskan family.

The Northwest Territories has five administrative regions:

(1) Deh Cho, including Fort Simpson, where South Slavey is spoken;

(2) the North Slave Region, including Yellowknife, where Tlicho is spoken;

(3) the Sahtu Region, where three dialects of North Slavey are spoken;

(4) the South Slave Region, including Fort Smith, where Chipewyan is spoken; and

(5) the Western Arctic, traditionally home to Gwich’in-speaking Dene and toInuvialuit [1].

The Dene groups of First Nations were the first people to settle in what is now Canada’sNorthwest Territories. Nowadays, the Dene people live primarily in Arctic Canada.Their homeland is called Denendeh, literally, “the Creator’s Spirit flows through thisLand”. The Dene people have been classified according to five main language groups:

(1) Chipewyan, living east of Great Slave Lake, including the Yellowknives alsoknown as Copper Indians (studied by Franklin, 1824); the Fond du Lac Dene ofSaskatchewan (focus of Muller-Wille, 1974) and Sayisi Dene (“people of theeast”) First Nation Number 303, relocated in 1973 to at Tadoule Lake, Manitoba(the subject of Petch, 1998).

(2) Gwich’in (formerly Loucheux or Kutchin), residing along the Mackenzie Deltaand thus the northernmost Dene group.

(3) Tlicho (formerly Dogrib), residing between Great Slave Lake and Great BearLake, the latter being the eighth largest lake in the world, and the largest lake [2]lying entirely within Canada.

(4) North Slavey speakers, who live in the Sahtu Region.

(5) South Slavey, in the Deh Cho Region.

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This paper shall focus on the North Slavey speaking Dene, of the Sahtu Region of theNorthwest Territories. This region was traditionally home to Hareskin (Hare),Mountain and Slavey Dene. Today, 2,600 Dene people live here, in five communities,speaking three different dialects of North Slavey, as shown in Table I.

Bell (1901) wrote about the region. “The day is not far distant when much of this greatregion will support a thriving population, but the arctic part of it must remain . . . a refugefor caribou, musk-oxen, and other northern animals” (Bell, 1901, p. 8). Over a centurylater, residents of the Sahtu Region are concerned about the impact of commercialhydrocarbon activities in their region. The objective of this study was to obtain insightsabout this, from Sahtu Dene people. We therefore travelled around the Sahtu Regioninterviewing people who were willing to share their thoughts. Interviewees wereidentified by means of snowball sampling (Goodman, 1961). As explained byMuller-Wille and Hukkinen (1999, p. 47), “In snowball sampling of interviewees, thosealready interviewed identify who else they think should be interviewed”:

The land, the water, and the animals are [. . .] given to us to look after and protect. The land isthe only thing that we depend on for everything, and it is not for sale (Amen Tailbone of theNorthwest Territories, quoted in Dene Nation (1984)).

Historical overviewThe Hare, Mountain and Slavey bands of Dene have traditionally used and occupiedlands in the vicinity of the Sahtu Region, from time immemorial. Tetso recalled a locallegend, accounting for the creation of the Mackenzie Valley:

The great Master knew the suffering of the poor people, so He decided on a plan to help them,and at the same time made a big river for us, to drink from, to fish in, and travel on [. . .] A great,wide path was left where the huge ball rolled, leaving no trees standing [. . .] Soon, word wasspread and people moved their camps to this strip of land [. . .] Many, many moons later,the days grew long and warmer. By and by, spring came again, and with spring, the birds came

Community withinthe Sahtu Region

Population (Censusof 2006)a

Dialect of NorthSlavey Spoken Note

Settlement ofColville Lake

142 Hare Dialect Home of BehdziAhda First NationNumber 771

Charter Communityof Deline

543 Bear Lake Dialect Home of Deline FirstNation Number 754

Settlement of FortGood Hope

585 Hare Dialect Home of Fort GoodHope First NationNumber 752

Town of NormanWells

849 Mountain Dialect Administrativecentre of SahtuRegion

Hamlet of Tulita 510 Mountain Dialect Home of Tulita DeneFirst Nation Number750

Notes: This table was compiled by Leo Paul Dana, in the Sahtu Region. aAboriginal people are amajority throughout the Sahtu region except in Norman Wells

Table I.Communities of theSahtu Region

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back from the South. The snow on the mountains and trees melted, turned into water, and madelittle rivers come back to life with the merry sound of running water (Tetso, 2003, p. 22).

As noted in Auld and Kershaw, “The people of the Sahtu were introduced to a fur tradeeconomy by way of traditional trade routes with the Dene Sułline (Chipewyan) people,long before European traders made their way to the area” (Auld and Kershaw, 2005,p. 6). The first European in the area was Mackenzie, who noted the presence of“Petrolium, which bears a resemblance to yellow wax (Mackenzie, 1801, p. 79)”.

The North West Company (founded in 1779) established a trading post at FortFranklin (now Deline), in 1799. The same company probably established Fort GoodHope in 1804 (Stager, 2003). While on traditional Hare Dene territory, Fort Good Hopewas an important trading place for Mountain Dene people. In 1821, the North WestCompany merged with the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1823, the Hudson’s BayCompany relocated Fort Good Hope 100 miles downstream in order to encourage tradewith the Gwich’in (Franklin, 1828). Fort Good Hope was also an important tradingplace for Inuvialuit.

The North West Company built Fort Castor in 1804 and also Fort Norman, the latterat the confluence of the Great Bear River[3] (Sahtu Deh) and the Mackenzie River(traditionally known as the Deh Cho). In 1844, Fort Norman was moved upstream,along the Mackenzie River, near Fort Castor. In 1851 Fort Norman was moved again,this time to its present site. An Anglican Church (Plate 1) was built in Fort Norman, in1860, and it alternated as a school.

Petroleum products were gaining popularity at the time, and kerosene, obtainedfrom the fractional distillation of petroleum, replaced whale oil in lamps (Plate 2). In1880, 16 businessmen resolved that there was profit to be earned by producing and

Plate 1.The Fort Norman

Anglican church today,Tulita

Source: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana


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refining crude oil and selling oil products; they put together $25,000 to form ImperialOil. By 1893, Imperial Oil was selling axle grease, candles and lamp oil. Oil seepagesalong the Mackenzie River led to interest in the possibility of extraction. In 1898, thefederal Department of the Interior issued the first oil/gas exploration permit in thenorth of Canada (Rea, 1968).

In 1901, Bell wrote about a First Nations chief in the Sahtu Region: “He told me thathe wished me to understand that we were to kill no caribou in his country, because ifthe white man killed one of these animals, all the rest would disappear (Bell, 1901,p. 252)”. Bell elaborated about the Sahtu Dene people, “As a rule, at least once a yearthey travel to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s post at Fort Norman, to trade their driedmeat and furs” (Bell, 1901, p. 252). Both, Hare and Mountain groups came to trade here.

Great Bear Lake, which is drained by the Great Bear River, a tributary of theMackenzie, was given this name in 1902. A few years later, Stefansson wrote, “TheMackenzie is a little-known river, flowing to the Arctic about parallel with the RockyMountains [. . .] a river which impresses one as larger than the Yukon” (Stefansson,1908, p. 157). Soon, oil would make the Mackenzie River and its valley well-known. In1919, oil claims were secured in the Mackenzie Valley:

[. . .] about 50 miles of Fort Norman [. . .] by the Northwest Company, a subsidiary of ImperialOil, Ltd, of Canada, itself a subsidiary of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.Development was begun after the war. The first well was drilled in 1920 on the right bank ofthe Mackenzie (Lloyd, 1944, pp. 275-276).

Between the world wars, New Zealand anthropologist Diamond Jenness studiedpeoples of the Sahtu Region, among others. Jenness (1932) noted that the Hare Denepeople and the Loucheux Gwich’in were alone among First Nations to practisecircumcision.

Plate 2.Widely-used kerosene


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In 1957, Queen Elizabeth II approved the Coat of Arms (Plate 3) of the NorthwestTerritories. The diagonal line across it represents the tree line, which runs through theSahtu Region. In 1965, the Mackenzie Mountains were opened to non-subsistencehunters (Larter and Allaire, 2003). In 1967, Yellowknife became the capital city ofthe Northwest Territories.

In 1974, Arctic Gas (a consortium of oil companies) applied to build a new pipelineto carry natural gas from the Mackenzie River Delta and Prudhoe Bay (Alaska) tomarkets across North America. In March, that year, Justice Thomas Berger wasappointed to lead an inquiry that would consider impacts of the proposal, on residentsof the Mackenzie Valley. He took the hearings directly to the people most affected if thepipeline proceeded. While proponents of the pipeline claimed that development“required the breakdown and eventual replacements of whatever social forms hadexisted before” (Usher, 1993, p. 104), many local residents felt that they would bear thesocial costs of the project and they felt threatened. Aboriginal people perceived theproject as destroying their culture and leaving their people with few economic benefitsand many social costs. Their argument was that the project would introduce “massivedevelopment with incalculable and irreversible effects like the settlement ofthe Prairies” (Usher, 1993, p. 106). Judge Berger recognised that the Dene people

Plate 3.Coat of arms of the

Northwest TerritoriesSource: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana


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of the Mackenzie Valley were not ready to participate and therefore benefit from theproject. In fact, great harm might come to their culture. Berger recommended a ten-yeardelay. “Postponement will allow sufficient time for native claims to be settled, and fornew programs and new institutions to be established” (Berger, 1977, p. xxvii).

In 1980, Esso resources proposed the construction of a $400 million pipeline fromNorman Wells to Northern Alberta, and in 1981, the National Energy Board gave thegreen light to go ahead with the construction. In 1985, a pipeline was built to carry oilfrom Norman Wells, roughly half way down the Mackenzie Valley, to Zama innorthern Alberta. In Norman Wells, the Imperial Oil operation became fully operationalon August 27, 1993. The Norman Wells air terminal was dedicated that same day.

In September 1993, the “Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land ClaimAgreement” was signed, as approved by the Dene people of Colville Lake, Deline, FortGood Hope and Tulita (then Fort Norman) and the Metis of Fort Good Hope,Norman Wells and Tulita. The settlement provided financial payments to Dene peopleand to Metis of the Sahtu Region, and title to 41,437 km2 of land. Of this, 1,838 km2

includes the ownership of subsurface resources including petroleum. These lands areprivately owned in fee simple and are not reserves under the Indian Act.

The Chief Negotiator of the Land Claim, a Sahtu Region Dene by the name ofNorman Yakeleya was elected to the 15th Legislative Assembly of the NorthwestTerritories in December 2003. On June 23, 2004 Sahtu Dene Council Grand Chief FrankAndrew signed a business agreement allowing full participation of the North Slaveypeople of the Sahtu Region in the Aboriginal Pipeline Group.

In October 2004, Imperial Oil applied to the National Energy Board for approval ofthe Mackenzie Valley pipeline, one part of the Mackenzie Gas Project including apipeline from the Inuvik area to Norman Wells, 500 km away. The application was filedon behalf of Imperial Oil Resources Ventures Limited; the Mackenzie Valley AboriginalPipeline Limited Partnership; ConocoPhillips Canada (North) Limited (successor toGulf Canada Ltd); Shell Canada Limited; and ExxonMobil Canada Properties.

In 2005, the Northwest Territories government offered a series of two-daycommunity-specific workshops to identify the socio-economic concerns associated withthe proposed pipeline and also suggestions for mitigating the negative impacts andaccentuating the positive. On January 25, 2006, the National Energy Board commencedits public hearings into the application of Imperial Oil Resource Ventures Ltd forpermission to construct and operate the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. The HonourableNorman Yakeleya was acclaimed for a second term as the Member for the SahtuRegion in October 2007; a resident of Tulita, he is also an entrepreneur.

Findings obtained from Bearlake Dene Band Members (Sahtu Got’ine orSahtuot’ine) of DelineGreat Bear Lake has been described as one of the most prominent geographic featuresof northern Canada, because it has the shape of a piece from a jigsaw puzzle ( Johnson,1976). There has long been a group of Dene people living around this lake. Beginning in1825, they would come to trade at Fort Franklin, a post for the North West Companyand the Hudson’s Bay Company. During the twentieth century, these people were givenrecognition as a distinct people (Osgood, 1931). They have since been called theBearlake Dene. In French, they are referred to as Gens du Lac d’Ours.

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The Bearlake Dene people remained nomadic until 1949. The Hudson’s BayCompany opened a post at Fort Franklin, in 1950. The federal government built aschool here and in 1952, Fort Franklin became a permanent settlement. Bearlake Denefamilies settled here, as did missionaries. On June 1, 1993, the name of Fort Franklinwas changed to Deline, meaning “moving water” in North Slavey. The Hamlet ofDeline (Plate 4) is the only community on Great Bear Lake. Stewart (1996) reported onfish stocks in Great Bear Lake.

There is concern, in Deline, about the possible impacts of oil spills on the water ofGreat Bear Lake; interviewees emphasised the importance of fish for human survivaland reminded us that the Dene people have long come to fish here. This supportsexisting literature. Miller (1947) reported that the lake-wide fishery at Great Bear Lakewas estimated at 900 ton per year, and the harvest for direct human consumption at3 ton per family per year.

Unlike communities on the Mackenzie River that have barge services, Deline hasnone. Its only road access is a winter road across the lake; it is 213 km by winter roadfrom here to Norman Wells. Buffalo Airlines provides freighter service to Deline.Plate 5 shows a Douglas C-54 Skymaster being unloaded at Deline; the particularaeroplane in the photograph is no longer flying, as it incurred substantial damage onJanuary 5, 2006, when it ran off a runway at Norman Wells during an emergencylanding. Nevertheless, this type of aircraft is commonly used to supply Deline.

Deline has a post office (in the Northern Store), a nursing station (with two nursesand dentists who visit regularly), a government-sponsored housing programme, and aRoman Catholic Church. Two of our interviewees commented that Deline is called the“Village of Widows”. In 1930, silver and pitchblende (an ore containing radium anduranium) were discovered at Great Bear Lake. In 1933, the Port Radium mine was

Plate 4.Deline



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established on the lake’s shores, as a base where Crown-owned Eldorado Mining andRefining extracted uranium. Port Radium, was later used until 1982, by Echo BayMines. Bear Lake Dene people from Deline were hired to carry the ore in cloth sacks ontheir backs and to load tug boats and trucks. Tulita was used as a depot for theuranium because the Mackenzie and Great Bear River meet there. Members of BearlakeDene Band reported to us that as a result of the radiation exposure, many men died oflung and other types of cancer.

Several interviewees expressed concern about the possible health impacts ofdeveloping the oil and gas industry further. One pointed out the need to monitor the airquality. Another suggested that the pipeline would increase the need for public healthreviews. There was also concern as to whether the Sahtu Region would have asufficient number of hospital facilities, beds, nurses and doctors.

Interviewees also expressed to us concern about the impact of development onculture. This is consistent with concerns expressed at Joint Review Panel Hearings in2006, where Leroy Andre of Deline stated:

I am very concerned that the protection of my culture is not addressed seriously at thesehearings or through the different regulatory departments or bodies that were set up to help us[. . .] We are at the forefront of the protected area strategy in the Northwest Territories withtwo of our projects, Soyu (phonetic) and the Acho. These are very sacred cultural landscapesfor the Bear Lake people and, to this date, we still do not have protection. I want to make surethat, for the record, that my culture, we can find a way to protect it, and I can speak positivelyabout the positive impacts that we might see. And I want to make sure that somehow,through influence or what, we can grant the wishes of the Sahtu people here to protect thosetwo sacred sites that would protect our culture. It’s more or less our Dene way of school(Lee, 2006, p. 6).

Plate 5.Douglas C-54 SkymasterC-GXKN, at Deline Source: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana

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Lee also quoted Morris Neyelle of Deline saying:

As Aboriginal people, our land is very important to us. All the animals live on the land.Water, animals, fish, we live by it, and so that’s why it’s real important to us. The onlyconcern I would have is we have to know what the deal is. It has to be solid, and especially forthe animals that’s on it. I always believed in myself that regardless of what happened, I willstand in front of them. I will protect them with my life. Because without them, it’s useless forme to live. This is like the last – the last place on earth where nothing has been touched. It’scoming. Why are we destroying ourself? (Lee, 2006, p. 7).

We heard similar comments. There was particular concern about possible pollution ofwaters containing trout. Ed Reeves of Deline suggested that a balance needs to befound among development, the protection of the environment, and the protection of thetraditional renewal resource economy.

Findings obtained from Hare Dene Band Members (K’ahsho Got’ine,literally “big arrowhead people”) of Colville Lake (K’ahbamıtue – literally“the lake where we catch ptarmigans in a net”) and Fort Good Hope(Radeyilikoe – literally “place of the rapids”)The Hare Dene people were so named because of their heavy dependence on thesnowshoe hare for food and clothing. Morice described the Hare people as:

A Dene tribe which shares with the Loucheux the distinction of being the northernmostRedskins in America, their habitat being immediately south of that of the Eskimos. Theirterritory extends from Fort Norman on the Mackenzie, west of Great Bear Lake, to theconfines of the Eskimos, not far from the Arctic Ocean (Morice, 1910, p. 136).

Perhaps, because of their proximity, the Hare Dene people had significant relationshipswith the Inuit; most other Athapaskans did not have the same with non-Athapaskans(Wilson, 2003). Morice elaborated that Hare tribe was evangelised in 1859 andconcluded, “To-day the Hare Indians are almost all Catholics” (Morice, 1910, p. 137).Savishinsky (1978) noted that the Hare Dene people were traditionally governed by anethic that balanced sharing and interdependence with autonomy and freedom. More sothan the Mountain Dene people (discussed below), the Hare Dene people were drawninto the fur trade, and the latter traded at Fort Good Hope, Fort Franklin (today’sDeline) and Fort Norman (now Tulita).

The Village of Colville Lake was created in 1962, by Hare Dene people from FortGood Hope. In 1966, a sports lodge was opened at Colville Lake and guests have sincebeen angling for Arctic grayling, inconnu, lake trout, northern pike and white fish(Stewart, 1966). Away from the Mackenzie River system, Colville Lake depends largelyon a 165 km ice-road linking it to Fort Good Hope, because barges cannot access thiscommunity. While the mountain caribou (ecotype of the woodland caribou sub-species)is important for residents of Fort Good Hope, few people in Colville Lake hunt thewoodland sub-species of caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou)[4], and subsistence forresidents of Colville Lake is mostly reliant on (relatively smaller) barren-groundcaribou (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus), that migrate south in winter (Kelsall, 1968;Olsen et al., 2001). Lee quoted Colville Lake resident Marie Kochon:

Even though times have changed, people still wish to live with the land. To keep ourtraditional ways we don’t want the pipeline if it will destroy the animals and their habitat [. . .]


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The old, independent lifestyle is preferable to having the land destroyed and our beingdependent on others (Lee, 2006, p. 8).

Jonas Kakfwi elaborated, “They don’t want no development. They don’t want no morework around Good Hope or Colville, so everything was quiet. What we really like to see iskeep the land quiet so the peoples can do their trapping and be happy” (Lee, 2006, p. 9).Interviewees confirmed to us that development was not desired here.

Participants in our study emphasised the importance of traditional subsistenceactivities. Stewart (1996) reported that residents of Fort Good Hope harvested anestimated 157,500 kg of fish for subsistence in 1961; much of this was to feed dogteams, used for transport until the introduction of the snowmobile. Stewart continued,“In 1972, the combined subsistence harvest of fish by residents of Fort Good Hope andColville Lake was estimated at 45,450 kg” (Stewart, 1996, p. 21). The decline in fishingmay be associated with the decline in the use of dog teams, rather than on a change inhuman consumption habits. Confirming the importance of country food, Berkes (1990)noted that the annual fish harvest for residents of Fort Good Hope was 125 kg percapita in 1982. To supplement local harvests, much food comes from outside the region;some is flown in on freighters (Plate 6).

Interviewees emphasised to us the importance of protecting their environment fromdevelopment so that they could maintain their traditional subsistence activities. This isalso consistent with concerns expressed at Joint Review Panel Hearings in 2006.Lee quoted Fort Good Hope resident Roger Boniface:

We need to protect the land, the wildlife [. . .] the pipeline is crossing one of the mostsensitive or valuable traditional hunting and trapping areas which was used by huntersand trappers of Fort Good Hope for years. This will be a big impact on their way of life(Lee, 2006, p. 9).

Plate 6.Offloading cargo at FortGood Hope


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Lee also quoted Arthur Tobac explaining:

We stay because of our attachment to the land. We go out on the land. We hunt and fish. Wesimply enjoy being there [. . .] This is our home and the home of our ancestors. The land waspassed to us, and we have an obligation to protect it, to pass it on to future generations. Thecommunity demands that proper safeguards are in place to ensure that we protect thereverence that we have for our land, the beauty we see in our community, the unique qualitiesof our beneficiaries (Lee, 2006, p. 9).

John T’Seleie proposed a solution:

[. . .] review of the proposed pipeline routings shows that a route can be established whichavoids all prohibited areas; specifically, the proposed pipeline routing following the easternside of the Mackenzie River would need to cross the Anderson River Trail, the Fort Good Hopeto Colville Lake Trail, and the Great Bear River conservation areas. The Sahtu Land UsePlanning Board recognizes this, and will grant either an amendment or an exception to allowfor the passage of the pipeline, provided that the impacts on these significant values of theseconservation areas are minimized, community support is still evident, and the exception andamendment procedures outlined in this document or the final land use plan are followed. TheBoard’s preference, obviously, is to complete a plan before a pipeline in order that developmenthave some rules and have – and that there be – environmentally, that it’s a good thing to have aregulatory regime in place before you start large developments [. . .] (Lee, 2006, p. 10).

One interviewee explained to us that there has always been development, but it was“more sustainable. We developed the moose-skin canoe and this was ideal for shallowwaters. But that was when there were more moose around”.

Findings obtained from Mountain Dene band members (Shita Got’ine) ofTulitaThe Mountain Dene people traditionally subsisted mostly from Dall’s sheep[5] (Plate 7),moose (Plate 8), mountain goats (Plate 9), and the now endangered woodland caribou.

Plate 7.Dall’s sheep (Ovis dalli

dalli )Source: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana


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Since the 1820s, the Mountain Dene people traded at Fort Norman[6], situated near thejunction (Plate 10) of the Great Bear River[7] and the Mackenzie River, just south of theArctic Circle. (As mentioned earlier, the exact location varied over time.) Until WorldWar II, products traded included dried meat, grease and hides. The fur trade was not

Plate 8.Young moose (Alces alcesgigas)


Plate 9.Mountain goat (Oreamnosamericanus) Source: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana

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important here, given the limited wildlife species in the region. During the twentiethcentury, the Mountain Dene people settled in Fort Norman, known as Tulita sinceJanuary 1, 1996. At the junction of two rivers, Tulita means “where the waters meet”.

The Hamlet of Tulita is located 72 km from Norman Wells. Tulita’s populationconsists predominantly of Mountain Dene people, who speak North Slavey.The community has little infrastructure. In summer, Tulita is accessible by barge orby canoe, from Hay River along the Mackenzie River. A winter road is its only land-linkto anywhere else; the winter road links Tulita to the Mackenzie Highway, via Wrigley,but this is only open from mid-winter to late winter. It is 84 km from here to NormanWells along the winter road. There are no banks here. There is one grocer and one hotel.The former Hudson’s Bay Company store (Plate 11) has long been closed. The nursingstation has two nurses. The hamlet has 56 privately-owned houses, of which nine arerented. An additional 74 rental units are publicly owned. There are also ten staff houses.Sanitation waste is trucked out, due to permafrost inhibiting sewage flow.

Writing about Fort Norman in 1957, Cloughley mentioned “the bush planes thatnormally ran a scheduled service into our settlement every two weeks from Norman Wells”(Cloughley, 2003, p. 309). Nowadays, Tulita Airport (Plate 12) has regular air services,including scheduled passenger flights as well as air express.

While development brings convenience, residents of Tulita expressed to usconcerns about the negative impacts on the environment, thereby affecting their foodsupply. His Excellency Gordon Yakeleya, Mayor of Tulita, told us, “The environmentis most important”. Again, this is consistent with statements made at Joint ReviewPanel Hearings, where Julie Lennie of Tulita stated:

We’ve been talking for a long time about our land. We want to protect our environment. As well,we want to protect what we live off. Our wildlife is what we live on and it’s like our medicine.

Plate 10.Confluence of the Great

Bear River and theMackenzie River



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That’s what our food is to us [. . .] These are the things that we are trying to protect. We don’twant it to be contaminated, because this is what our wildlife lives off (Lee, 2006, p. 8).

Likewise, interviewees in Tulita pointed out to the lead author of this paper thatsubsistence hunting is important for residents of Tulita.

Interviewees explained that mountain caribou (ecotype of the woodland caribousub-species, as explained above) is of particular importance; this supports the findings ofOlsen et al. (2001). One interviewee added that he enjoyed getting a moose. GordonYakeleya (Plate 13) smiled as he talked about living off the land. Many people in Tulita

Plate 11.Former Hudson’s BayCompany store, Tulita Source: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana

Plate 12.Tulita airport terminal Source: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana

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prefer traditional foods than imported goods, and so subsistence fishing, hunting andtrapping are important.

When asked about the impact of oil and gas development in the region, the mayor told us:

Money comes into the community, which is good. However, drugs and alcohol come in fromthe south, and our own people are selling them. The family falls apart and this hurts thecommunity. The young people can receive training, but if they have alcohol and drugproblems they won’t be employed. The pipeline companies need to help us prepare – peoplecan’t just change overnight. One solution would be to stop the boot legging by limiting theamount of alcohol to one bottle per person coming into the community. The oil and gascompanies will also need to enforce the alcohol and drug policies within the camps.

There are also concerns about the impact of development on culture and spirituality.Bobby Clement of Tulita expressed his view at the Joint Review Panel Hearings:

We want to set aside lands that are so important to this community. I heard elders mentionBear Rock, which is a spiritual place people go to say their prayers and so forth. There’s a coalseam that’s about four miles from here that people use. There’s Bear River. There’s KeeleRiver. Those are historical sites that we use to hunt and trap. And that’s why, when we talkabout this Land Use Planning, we need to push that through before anything happens on ourland. We must concentrate on that. That’s the only way we could get what is needed topreserve for future generations (Lee, 2006, p. 8).

We heard similar statements.In an interview with the lead author of this paper, Judy Snortland, Executive

Director of the Sahtu Renewable Resources Board, in Tulita, explained that althoughthe pipeline would not impact the barren caribou, “the habitat of the woodland caribouwill be affected”. She commented on “disturbance three or four years duringconstruction”, and expressed concern over the cumulative effect. “It’s the afterwards

Plate 13.His Excellency Gordon

Yakeleya, Mayor of Tulita(in short sleeves) and the

interviewer


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that scares me”, she said. Her recommendation was, “We have to keep a balance for thecaribou and for development”.

During an interview with Carl Yakelea, Tulita Dene Band Manager, we werereminded that the construction of the Enbridge pipeline, during the 1980s, brought nobenefits to the people of Tulita. “We don’t want a repeat!” Yakelea exclaimed. “What’sin it for us?” he asked us. A major economic benefit could be employment creationduring the construction of a new pipeline, which is expected to last a period of threeyears. “What then? If the environment is destroyed how will people live once thetemporary jobs are gone?”

Aware that change is ahead, people in Tulita wish to be prepared. Tulita residentWilfred Lennie said at the Joint Review Panel Hearings:

Once pipeline development starts, we certainly know that many things will change, andwe want to be prepared for such change. Some of the land will be forever changed and[. . .] will affect the lives of our harvesters [. . .] We, therefore, recommend that the JRPdelay any major decision or reporting to the National Energy Board on the Mackenzie GasProject until the Sahtu Land Use Plan is approved by the Government of Canada [. . .](Lee, 2006, p. 7).

Another interviewee told us, “We need to have social workers ready to address the newproblems that will arise from the pipeline, and our youth will need treatment foralcohol and drug abuse”.

Findings Obtained in Norman Wells (Tłegohłi literally “there is oil”)The history of Norman Wells began when Imperial Oil began drilling near here in 1919(Lloyd, 1944). Thus, unlike the Aboriginal communities discussed above, Norman Wellswas born as a result of the petroleum industry. It was the first settlement established inthe Northwest Territories as a result of non-renewable resource development. Themunicipal flag (Plate 14) features an oil rig. Oil was found here in 1920 (Hopkins, 1943),and Norman Wells became the most northern oil well in the world (Bone and Mahnic,1984). Finnie elaborated about petroleum development at Norman Wells:

Plate 14.Flag of Norman Wells


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[. . .] a gusher was brought in, but the local market was then too small to warrant production.Fur was still king, and in the 1920s there was no industrial development in the country. Thelargest fuel users were the steamboats, and they burned cordwood. Imperial Oil capped theseveral wells that had been drilled by 1925 and withdrew (Finnie, 1942, p. 413).

In 1933, the establishment of the richest radium mine in the world, at Great Bear Lake,“justified the reopening of the Norman field and drilling of new holes. . . By 1939Norman had installed new refining equipment, so it was able to satisfy all thepetroleum requirements of the Mackenzie District . . . ” (Finnie, 1942, pp. 413-414).Imperial Oil continued drilling for oil in the region and a new producing well wascompleted in September 1942. By the end of 1943, 26 wells had been completed on landtraditionally used by the Mountain Dene people, near Fort Norman and Norman Wells.To secure war-time fuel needs, a 4-in. Canol (short for “Canadian Oil”) pipeline wasbuilt during the winter of 1943-1944; it traversed rugged land and mountains fromNorman Wells to a refinery in Whitehorse – much of the course unmapped at the time(Hopkins, 1943). Another pipeline, this one to the south, was completed in 1985; aninterviewee brought to our attention that Aboriginal people lacked the qualifications toget well-paying jobs at the time.

Bone and Mahnic (1984) provided a thorough account of the development ofNorman Wells as the oil centre of the region. They noted that:

[. . .] almost of the residents of this community are employees of Esso or are otherwiseconnected with the oil industry. Most have come north to seek jobs and few remain in NormanWells after their employment ceases. In 1981, an estimated 82% of the population was white(Bone and Mahnic, 1984, p. 53).

Thirteen man-made islands (Plate 15) have been built to pump crude oil off of NormanWells.

Plate 15.Man-made island at

Norman WellsSource: Photograph by Leo Paul Dana


111

Norman Wells is a meeting place of different cultures. First Nations respondents fromNorman Wells told us that they go to Great Bear Lake to harvest Arctic grayling, trout, andwhitefish for subsistence; this supports earlier findings by Stewart (1996). One intervieweetold us that compared to the Inuvialuit further north (Gregoire, 2007), the Sahtu Denepeople have much fewer and smaller businesses and many of these are in the start upphase “Depending heavily on nature to feed us, we have a lot to lose if things go wrong”.

As more “outsiders” relocate to Norman Wells, respondents suggested to us thatthey expected to see “the lack of affordable housing”, “overcrowding” and “an increasein the number of displaced people”. Some also predicted an increase in crime, familybreakdown, substance abuse, suicide and violence.

Several participants in our study expressed concern about harm that a spill orpipeline rupture could cause to fish, mammals, water and consequently to residents.We were reminded that the Alaska Pipeline (Plate 16) had numerous spills since itscompletion in 1977. One interviewee reminded us of oil spills along the Alaska Pipeline,“Between 1977 and 1994 there were 30 to 40 spills a year on average”.Another elaborated that along that pipeline, “there were 164 spills between 1991 and1994”. It was explained to us that, unlike a marine oil spill that is relatively easy tocontain, an oil spill on land would have a widespread and long-lasting impact, on land,vegetation and animal life.

We were told that even without a spill, exploration and development was affectingwildlife and caribou in particular. This seems to be in line with Olsen, MacDonald, andZimmer who reported that “boreal caribou are believed to be sensitive to disturbancefrom aircraft, vehicle traffic, industrial activity and habitat alteration” (Olsen, et al.2001, p. 1).

Plate 16.Alaska Pipeline


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During an interview, with us in Norman Wells, entrepreneur Larry Wallace pointed outthat Aboriginal people were using oil here before it was “discovered” in 1920. “Theywould use it to patch canoes and also to burn [. . .] but they did not pipe anywhere, ofcourse”. He showed us seismic lines (Plate 17) involved in oil explorations and pointedout that these lines allow predators to kill more caribou more easily than ever before, asvisibility is improved. He explained that a clearing over a covered pipeline likewisefacilitates the chase. He also explained that the forest does not regenerate along seismiclines.

What is a seismic line? Prior to drilling, bulldozers are used to clear a long linearcorridor about seven metres wide. The wood is wasted but the purpose of theclearing is that it allows trucks to drive through with truck-mounted drillingequipment to drill a series of holes for the placement of dynamite charges. Explosionscreate seismic waves, and the reflected sound waves are recorded. A computer thencombines recordings into a representation of the subsurface. Seismic lines aretypically 400 m apart, allowing caribou little safety. It was suggested that narrowerseismic lines may be less obtrusive; for example, the use of all-purpose terrainvehicles would require a clearing only 2.5 m wide. The Chair of a Land Use andWater Permit Board suggested to us that meandering lines or jagged ones could givecaribou more shelter.

Toward the futureThe world at large is consuming unprecedented quantities of fuel. Even thetransportation of energy requires fuel, often diesel; the most common diesel fuel(Plate 18) is a fractional distillate of petroleum fuel oil. To meet demand, oil and gasexploration is required; on the other hand, caribou have been a renewable food resource

Plate 17.Seismic line, about seven

metres wide, near NormanWells



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for northern peoples since millennia (Burch, 1972). Oil and gas development harmsecosystems that have existed for many centuries. How can man reach a balance?

Today, the Sahtu Region is not only experiencing oil and gas activities; there is alsoexploration for diamonds, gold, uranium and zinc, as well as projects for coalgasification. What will happen to the caribou, and to their environment and to thesubsistence activities of the people of the Sahtu Region? Embedded in the statements ofour interviewees is a deeper understanding of their “stewardship” roles for theenvironment. Not only is their livelihood dependent on the health of the environmentbut on their spiritual obligations as well.

Economic development is being imposed from external sources. With economicdevelopment come some benefits, but what will be the social price of economicdevelopment? A woman who wished to remain anonymous reminded us that duringWWII, men from the south lured many Dene girls with unfulfilled promises, resultingin many single mothers. This interviewee expects that a pipeline will likewise cause ahuge increase in teenage pregnancies, in turn resulting in a baby boom in the nearfuture and creating an increased reliance on welfare in the long-term. Anotherrespondent predicted that an oil boom will result in “those who will have and alsohave-nots. This has caused an increase in frustration, expressed in family violence. Sothe future will need an increase of women shelters”.

AcknowledgementsLeo Paul Dana thanks Mayor Gordon Yakeleya for introducing him to the community of Tulita,Northwest Territories. He also thanks to the following for sharing their knowledge that enhancedthis paper: Douglas Dillon, Constituency Assistant for Sahtu; Joe McBryan, owner of BuffaloAirways, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories; Barb Paquin, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer,Northwest Territories; and the Honourable Norman Yakeleya, Member of the Legislative

Plate 18.Diesel fuel is transportedusing diesel


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Assembly for Sahtu. He also thanks to Garth Cant and Ian Owens of the Department ofGeography, at the University of Canterbury, and to Joel Shavinsky, Professor of Anthropology atIthaca College. As well, the authors thank those who reviewed earlier drafts of this paperproviding insightful comments, including: Michael Asch, Professor Emeritus at the University ofAlberta and Professor at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Victoria; FikretBerkes, Professor, Natural Resources Institute, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg; RobertM. Bone, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography, University of Saskatchewan,Saskatoon; Lynn Ferguson, Camosun College, Victoria, BC; Ludger Muller-Wille, Departmentof Geography, McGill University, Montreal; Richard Missens, Director, School of Business andPublic Administration, First Nations University, Regina; Peter Taylor, Team Supervisor,Nav Canada, Norman Wells, Northwest Territories; and Hawooa Zongo, Aboriginal CanadaPortal Team.

Notes

1. The authors of this paper have also conducted a study of the Inuvialuit and their feelingsabout hydrocarbon development; see Dana et al. (2008).

2. Lloyd (1943) reported the size of Great Bear Lake as being 11,490 square miles.

3. The Great Bear River originates at Great Bear Lake, adjacent to Deline.

4. There are two ecotypes of woodland caribou: boreal and mountain. These are similar, exceptfor their habitat requirements.

5. For a study of Dall’s sheep in the Mackenzie Mountains, see Simmons (1982).

6. Bell (1901) noted a latitude of 648 550 for this settlement.

7. The Great Bear River originates at Great Bear Lake, adjacent to Deline.

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Corresponding authorLeo Paul Dana can be contacted at: [email protected]


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