The Spirit of Nááchę (Dreamers) and Our Dream Map
We, the Tsáá? Ché Ne Dane, dream of a future where our community is healthy, strong and prosperous. As original people, we will continue to practise our treaty rights and protect the land while using our Danee-zaa language, stories and cultural traditions to prepare our future generations for their pathways in a modern world.
Our Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP) follows the spirit of the sacred teachings, visions and songs of the Dane-zaa Nááchę, the dreamers of our people. For centuries, the Nááchę used song and story to guide us through life on earth. Most of the Nááchę descended back to earth from heaven, bringing with them abilities to prophesize future events through visions that would impact our people.
Often these visions included lessons in living harmoniously with each other and the wildlife we depend on for survival. The first Dane zaa dreamer was Makenuuatane, whose dreams predicted the arrival of Europeans in the Dane-zaa territory and his songs are still passed on through generations.
The Nááchę often illustrated their dreams through the drawing of maps on moose hides and drum skins. Some of these dream maps still exist today. Our CCP embodies the essence of the dream map. The plan illustrates the vision for our community’s future as developed by our membership and provides us with a map towards achieving our ultimate community goals and objectives for the benefit of our nation and membership.
CCP Executive Summary
The Doig River First Nation (DRFN) CCP process was initiated in 2015 and it voices the community’s wants, needs and how we envision ourselves moving forward in our path towards health, prosperity, self-governance and autonomy.
Extensive engagement with DRFN members and guidance from Elders shaped the development of the CCP. A common theme emerged during the planning process of developing a multi-generational plan that emphasizes the need to consider the previous and future generations, tying our history, culture and traditions to our future growth as a community. It also focuses on addressing the needs of our youth and Elders, ensuring our youth are prepared for a modern world, while our Elders and knowledge holders are cared for.
The CCP is our pathway toward reaching our ultimate goals as a community and provides us with clear objectives and courses of action to meet them. The CCP includes an implementation plan that gives detailed direction on how to implement the actions, programs and initiatives that will help us achieve our community objectives.
The CCP is a living document that will be periodically reviewed and updated to ensure it remains consistent with our community’s needs, values and ambitions.
