Watchers of the Land | Short Film Showcase | National Geographic

[Music] And you can't ever lose your history or your stories; otherwise, you'll lose who you are. It's the Den way to pass on your teachings to younger [Music] people. A lot has changed since the 50s, and now that we do have a say, you know, we're going to make some changes. We want to take back our land. We want to be included in the decision-making and make our community a beautiful place. I mean, who wants to see a big diesel generating plant as soon as you land in the front of the community? That's not pretty, no. So, you know, things like that need to [Music] change.

Guys can actually just stand in front of the book this way, up in the air, hands up in the air. I'm the Den manager for the L K Den First Nation. Wait for tomorrow. I work with a lot of groups and a lot of the young people that we hire on as mutne Youth Guardians. The whole intent and plan for the KNE hunney Guardians is, you know, they're Watchers of the land. The staff that we have on board have all of the traditional knowledge, skills, and training from our elders who have passed on and their parents to live and harvest off the land and to keep things [Music] [Applause] [Music] protected.

So, you guys will just lead the way, I guess? Yeah, go at a nice [Music] pace. What we're doing this week is we're trying to develop a plan for some walking trails, incorporating elders to come with us on this trip. You definitely need some traditional knowledge to know which path is the safest and to get from A to B or to where you want to go. Big fish! That’s the fastest fish I ever saw. I'm just being around here; she knows what the Guardians do. I've been taking my dog, Serena; she's been coming to meetings with me, and hopefully, she picks up big words. Hopefully, she picks up something when she grows up, you know what I [Music] mean?

All right, so um here's the summary of what we heard. There's trails all over, trails have stories that need to be told. Trails were meant to travel; there's a desire to hear these stories from elders and to get them documented. I mean, what's the reasoning to have trails if it's not going to be us using it? No, we should question that first; where's our trail? Where's our hunting areas? They can't use that for tourism, definitely. I felt tension during the meeting earlier; we don't know what's going to happen to our future, how we can make these two things work together. We have to keep in mind that we want visitor experience. How many elders had started this whole thing, the TDN? How many of the elders have we lost since then?

I would like to see the youth carry on the traveling, the hunting, keeping their cultural, their traditional lifestyle. We have a really, really good working relationship with Parks Canada and the GNWT ENR. It's definitely a work in progress, and we're trying to make sure that we have eyes everywhere. You know, KNE Hut knee are Watchers of the land; that needs to be discussed in regards to overlap land use. I was involved right from the beginning to the day that the National Park Reserve was established and signed and agreed upon. The federal government of Canada was the ones that approached the First Nation back in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, asking if we were going to establish a national park.

There was disagreement because we had no say in it. The federal government would be the ones in control of that park, and we didn't want that. They had people out here and had identified their traditional territory as a very beautiful place, but with the stories that the elders of that time had heard, there were some major concerns about establishing a park back in those days just because our people never ever wanted to cede or relinquish any of our tree rates. What is a national park if you feel comfortable that your PR rights are respected?

So, years and years had gone by. They came back; they wanted to talk to another Chief, and that Chief basically said no. If you're not willing to give up and, like, start saying that you'll respect our rights, we're not going to have a park in our traditional territory, so pack your maps and go. I think with the new Canadian government and the way that they've come to terms with reconciliation with Indigenous people in Canada, there is a lot more respect, a lot more willingness to work together for a common [Music] [Music] goal.

This name was selected by the community. There's no other park like this that has been negotiated in this fashion. We, as First Nation's people, have already kept this land pristine and protected for thousands of years, and if we're going to continue to do that in partnership by creating a park, you know, we have to be equal [Music] partners.

Hey, let's go to Hole In The Wall for lunch. [Music] [Music] Yeah, my grandparents taught me how to live on the land and how to hunt. I remember coming here around 2014; I wasn't really paying attention then again because, like, not appreciating the things around you as a child. You guys can eat without potatoes; our potato is this kind of stuff; taste good, vitamins. We always watch out for the yellow stuff right here. Oh yeah, always watch. Don't break it; you break it, the fish don't taste good. And now, like coming here again, like, as a 19-year-old, it's just really phenomenal looking at it right [Music] now.

In a wall, that's all right! I came back because city life wasn't for me. Soon as I did that, went straight to B school; it's kind of special; like, there's no roads in and out. We call it the highway, but we can go by ski, by boat, or we can fly. [Music] I encourage people to come because us, us in Guardians, we're like stewards of the land. We're there to help you, not there to kick you out. Put your name, where you from, and your address just so we can keep track of you, you know?

Because his name is Bear; bear so cute. You got her number? Anything wrong, hold up, be there. [Music] Than I don't want this to change; just cck that I want to keep it the way it is. Okay, it's videoing. When she was younger, I always told her, you know, this is your land; this is your n. Look, the waves are back; Sarah, come swimming!

Going to make her feel she's, you know, going to—she's going to be proud to be who she is, to be able to pass on those teachings to my son; it makes me quite proud, not only as a mother but as an Indigenous person from this community. My door is always open, and I'm always willing to help teach and mentor young people and show them what I know, knowing that I've influenced them somehow or taught them something that'll help them cherish who they are as Den people.

Generations before me have suffered in the sense that we were ashamed to be who we are as people, but as Den people, you know, we're beautiful. If my father was alive, he'd be so proud. Yeah, she's adopted, and he took the point of speaking to her, taking her out, and doing all these things to what she is today. Yeah, he'd be really proud. And they always wanted us to protect the land, to live off the land. This is home to us.

I've been traveling all over the world; there’s nothing like home, I tell you. It does not matter if there was an old trail there; you want the young people to know one day maybe will go over there and say, "This is where my grandfather passed long time ago." Now I'm going to tell you, so that you can keep it; then when your kids are growing up, you can tell them that we’ll protect my land, not only mine but everybody’s in [Music].

It’s an indigenous-led, indigenous-protected area. We're being asked to present this model to be used by other Indigenous people in Canada, so it's something [Music] new. [Music] Must CH to all my staff, to the cook, to our visitors, to our elders, to our youth, to our crazy dogs, and then I guess my question is to Terry: what time is breakfast?

W punch it with your hand; it's very important that we start bringing youth with us because they're the ones that's going to take care of it, right? Jump, then I'll jump after you. No, you go, then I'll go! I promise! I promise I go, go, go, go, go! This is for our future; this is for our kids; this is our backyard. Just going to have to teach the younger kids and our people about how to take care of the park, how to take care of the Den. This is for [Music] them. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]