About The Project | PROJECT TEAM

Verena Hofmann
Doig River First Nation Special Projects Coordinator

I have been an employee of the Land Department at Doig River for over two years. As the Special Projects Coordinator, I assisted the project team by providing administrative support and by aiding in the coordination of community meetings.

I was born in Germany but I was raised in Montney, British Columbia. Montney is a small rural farming community northwest of Fort St. John, British Columbia. The Dane-zaa culture and their extensive past and present use and occupancy of the land that I grew up around was unknown to me until I started to work for Doig River First Nation. For example, the place name, Montney, originates from the name of a past leader of the Dane-zaa people and the location of Montney was an important seasonal gathering place.

The VMC project will allow outsiders to the community an opportunity to educate themselves about the Dane-zaa culture and their historical and present relationship to the land that many parties and interests now prosper from. The project is in a medium that younger generations will benefit from, and will give the older generations comfort that their oral history will not go unacknowledged or be lost. The project team has built a foundation for future community members and researchers to continue documenting and presenting the elders' stories and knowledge in one unified and accessible place. In addition, the project can act as an accessible cross-cultural training resource for teachers, neighboring residents, and resource industry employees.

The project team deserves recognition and thanks - firstly Gary Oker, Kate Hennessy, and Amber Ridington for their vision and secondly, the elders and the community's youth for their endless efforts and contributions!