The Land - Land

Dreamers & The Land | LAND

 

The Land Photos:  
 

Slide show not displaying? Click here to view images


Snare Hill Area Industrial Site
Snare Hill Area Forest
Alédzé Tsáá

Click on the landscapes above for 360-degree views of some of the landscapes we encounter in our daily lives.

Until recently, we spent the seasons traveling through our territory in the Peace River region, now part of northern British Columbia and Alberta. We would hunt and trap, gather berries and other food, and dry meat for the long winters. Each summer, we would meet with other bands to dance and visit with our relatives. Knowing our land and the cycles of the seasons, plants, and game always has been an essential part of our existence.

When Europeans came to our territory, they introduced firearms and tools such as steel traps, knives, and snare wire. We entered into the fur trade economy and adapted our older ways of hunting to include the new technology.

Today, we use trucks, all-terrain vehicles, and skidoos to hunt. We combine these modern machines with our traditional way of hunting on horseback and on foot. While our mode of transportation may change, we still hunt in the same types of places; like muskegs (boggy areas with moss and dwarfed spruce), creeks and mineral licks. Our knowledge of the land and game, and of the seasons' cycles, is as important as ever.

Through our lands' monitoring programs, we actively protect our hunting grounds and the game from the harm of industrialization, so that we can continue to hunt in our territories and follow our traditions. We continue to press for our Aboriginal and Treaty rights so that future generations will be able to hunt and live by our traditions.

Charlie Yahey, our most recent Dane-zaa Dreamer, who passed away in 1976, interpreted the industrial development of our Dane-zaa territory in relation to our Creation Story.