By Rebecca Garrett
Produced by Rebecca Garrett and Dehcho First Nations
2009, DV NTSC, 56:00
Dehcho Ndehe Gha Nadaotsethe (“Fighting For Our Land”) is a community based video project commissioned by Dehcho First Nations, directed by Rebecca Garrett, and produced by Rebecca Garrett and Dehcho First Nations.
The Dehcho (Mackenzie River) flows through Denendeh (Northwest Territories) from Great Slave Lake to the Beaufort Sea. The Dehcho Dene (Mackenzie River People) have lived in Denendeh since time immemorial.
The Dehcho First Nations have been involved in negotiations with the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories for over thirty years. Dehcho Ndehe Gha Nadaotsethe (“Fighting For Our Land”) was commissioned by the Dehcho First Nations to inform and educate, and to promote unity within Dehcho First Nations communities. The video tells the history of the Dehcho land and peoples; the history of negotiations resulting in the the Dehcho Process, a plan for shared ownership and shared stewardship with Canada of Dehcho Dene lands; the vision of a strong ecologically sound Land Use Plan; and the obstacles Canada continues to put in the way of a just settlement of Aboriginal rights for the Dehcho Dene.