Walking the Land, Feeding the Fire: Knowledge and Stewardship Among the Tlicho Dene

Chapter Three. Dwelling within Dè and Tłıc̨hǫ nèèk'e

67 chapter three Dwelling within Dè and Tłı ̨chǫ nèèk’e We are of the land. —gabrielle mackenzie-scott, december 2003 In July 2002, several Tłı̨chǫ from Gamètì and I stopped for lunch during a day’s outing to Semį̀tì, a lake south of Gamètì. We ate fish and duck while elders narrated occurrences and happenings within Tłı̨chǫ nèèk’e. Phillip Zoe shared his experience of seeing northern lights go into the water and cause a whirlpool when he was traveling on Wetł’aezǫtì as a young man and how K’àowo Jimìezhį̀a told them to go to shore so that the interaction between the spirits of the northern lights and water would be left alone. We were quiet for a moment, contemplating this interaction, and then Laiza Mantla began singing love songs. I asked why she sang to a place rather than to an individual. She replied, “Because the place makes you.” And then smiling, she teased, “Go ahead, Charlie, sing to Gamètì—that’s where Ilì belongs [and grew from].” For me, Phillip’s story about spirits interacting and Laiza’s love song to a place encapsulate much of what it means to dwell and interact within the dè. Dwelling within dè entails a relationship between all beings, a demonstrated respect for entities that dwell in places, as well as a relationship with the place where one belongs. Richard Nelson has noted among the Koyukon the practice of singing tender, loving songs to places (1983, 253), and other Tłı̨chǫ elders have mentioned it. In 1995, when discussing the probability that BHP would develop a diamond mine near Ɂek’atì, Louis Whane narrated how he remembered the diamond rush in 1992 and how prospectors had staked claims all over Tłı̨chǫ nèèk’e. In telling the importance of traveling trails and occurrences at places, he said, “Whenever we 68 · Dwelling within Dè and Tłı ̨ chǫ nèèk’e reach Wekweètì [the lake], someone always sings a lullaby.” People sing to places because they love them; the place nurtured them as they grew. Anthropologists discuss the close relationship Dene have with place. Julie Cruikshank shows how Dene in the Yukon think about place when they think about their identity (1998, 17). Thomas Andrews (2004) emphasizes the relationship with place in his description of the land as being like a book, and Keith Basso (1984a, 1996) talks of wisdom sitting in places. Helm considers larger places rather than specific locales in discussing the ties that members of regional bands have to an area in terms of a subsistence base and the kinship ties that extend to others in and outside the regional group (1981a, 295–97; 2000, 10). Relevant to any discussion of Dene places are traveling trails (see Andrews, Zoe, and Herter 1998 on Tłı̨chǫ) and experiential knowledge (Goulet 1982, 1998; Rushforth 1992; Sharp 2001, 55; D. Smith 1973, 1998). In this chapter, I build on these anthropological understandings and on Ingold’s argument that all hunting-based societies live with the environment by discussing how Tłı̨chǫdwell as part of the dè within Tłı̨chǫnèèk’e. I emphasize the importance of observing while experiencing and how all beings—not just the Dene—watch and know the character of others with Figure 3.1. Northern lights on the trail of the ancestors. (Photograph from Tessa Macintosh Photography) Dwelling within Dè and Tłı ̨ chǫ nèèk’e · 69 whom they reciprocate and to whom they are meant to show gratitude. The relationships between beings and their place within the dè are basic to understanding Tłı̨chǫ epistemological and ontological systems. First, I describe Tłı̨chǫ nèèk’e and how Tłı̨chǫ dwell throughout the year. This is basic to understanding Tłı̨chǫ’s role within the dè, which they share with other beings. I then discuss how respectful behavior prepares Tłı̨chǫ for the unpredictability that can occur with other beings if harmonious relations within the dè are not maintained. I go on to explore the importance of experiencing and observing as mechanisms to knowing— knowing the dè and knowing beings with whom one has a relationship as well as their place within the dè. I then discuss in more detail the importance of showing respect to Tłı̨chǫ ancestors, whose knowledge continues to be passed to the current generation...