Tara is a settler living on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples in the City of Waterloo where she grew up. As a systemic designer, she combines design methods with systems thinking to advance systems change. She encountered Dene Nahjo during her Masters on a wintery trip to Somba K'e (Yellowknife) and has since been involved as a Strategic Engagement Catalyst, working to advance the Dene Nahjo Centre and Dene Nahjo's facilitation services. She has a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation from OCAD University where she developed her design, systems, and strategy practices. Outside of Dene Nahjo, she is a member of the design collective, Superorganism, and she spends her time riding her bike, weaving, and hanging out with her dog.
With roots in Iqaluit, Nunavut and Montreal, Quebec, Diana has now made Sòmba K’è, Denendeh (Yellowknife, NT) her home. Diana enjoys sewing parkas and mitts and learning new beading or sewing techniques. She holds a Master’s Degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and is presently completing a Diploma in Public Administration and Governance through McGill University.
Diana is motivated by the mission and values of Dene Nahjo, and inspired by the community.
Amos sees Dene Nahjo as a new way forward, a liberating voice; it is a refreshed way of being able to have discussions surrounding indigeneity and how Dene represent themselves in the world, without political complications.
This has been an opportunity to act on the challenges he sees in society. Through action, Amos has gained relationships with mentors, Elders, community members and the Dene Nahjo team. His greatest motivators include his ambitious and hardworking teammates, and his dedication to learning his culture.
Amos is most excited about the upcoming Social and Cultural Innovation Centre coming to life, which would create a clearly identifiable, welcoming Indigenous space for growth in the community.
Being involved with Dene Nahjo has strengthened his idea of being an activist and his understanding of how collaborating with other facets of a society and other communities is essential to the growth of the north. He continues to be inspired by the Dene Nahjo team, their ambition, perseverance and personal betterment.
"Dene Nahjo has meant a new way forward for being able to talk about being Indigenous and how we represent ourselves in the world as Dene"
Mandee McDonald is a hide tanner, workshop facilitator, and a PhD student in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta where her work focuses on hide tanning theory and land-based learning. She is a co-founder and the Managing Director for Dene Nahjo, a Dene innovation collective that fosters Indigenous leadership skills and values through resurgence-based initiatives.
Mandee is Maskîkow (Swampy Cree), originally from Mántéwisipihk (Churchill, MB), and has resided in Sòmba K’è, Denendeh (Yellowknife, NT) for most of her life. Her writing has been published in Decolonization: Indigeneity and Education Society, Northern Public Affairs, and in Visions of the Heart: Issues Involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada 5th Edition.
Dene Nahjo got its start in 2012 with ten founding members. The Founding Members Council meets once per year with the Dene Nahjo staff, Steering Committee and Elders Advisory Council to discuss ideas and share feedback.
Dene Nahjo, for Kyla, represents living in a Dene way: being connected to yourself, family, community, culture, language and land. Through her work, Kyla strives to practice this way of being not only for herself, but for her children. Initially, this organization was a chance to be active and positive in a time that was discouraging for Dene. The founding members began as friends and through their hard work and mutual passions and experiences, they have created something that Kyla thinks of as a “functional family”.
Kyla is passionate about all of Dene Nahjo’s initiatives, each of which combats extensive issues whose solutions can seem unattainable. It is Dene Nahjo's team, and their consistent positivity, perseverance and strategic planning that helps them to take on problems one step at a time.
Kyla loves that celebrating each person’s individuality is a unique asset of Dene Nahjo; each team member brings their own experiences and expertise to the table to purposefully create and maintain a supportive collective.
The Emerging Leaders Program is helping people of all ages to realize their capabilities and find potential for action within their own communities. Kyla is most excited to be a part of the further development and delivery of this program. Dene Nahjo is planning an upcoming Social and Cultural Innovation Centre, for all the people of Denendeh to be able to know that there is a place for learning, creativity and innovation here that is welcoming and that reflects their people and their culture.
“That’s the dream right, I think we all want to work there when we grow up”
Over the years, Kyla has experienced personal growth, and witnessed growth in those around her. Because of the imperativeness of their work, the team has chosen to honour consistently delivering excellent programming. Disciplining herself to always strive for excellence represents a personal growth, but also a collective growth in the ways that they all continue to hold each other to high standards and support each other through their work.
Kyla continues to work on practicing “Dene Nahjo” every day, and building her community into a culturally accessible place for her children, future generations, and also for her elders and peers.
“I’m creating opportunities for them to have all of the work that we do just be a part of their lives. This is the reality that they’re growing up in, that it’s normal to be tanning hides downtown. It’s normal to go to a meeting and that they come with us and that our elders are there too”
Amos sees Dene Nahjo as a new way forward, a liberating voice; it is a refreshed way of being able to have discussions surrounding indigeneity and how Dene represent themselves in the world, without political complications.
This has been an opportunity to act on the challenges he sees in society. Through action, Amos has gained relationships with mentors, Elders, community members and the Dene Nahjo team. His greatest motivators include his ambitious and hardworking teammates, and his dedication to learning his culture.
Amos is most excited about the upcoming Social and Cultural Innovation Centre coming to life, which would create a clearly identifiable, welcoming Indigenous space for growth in the community.
Being involved with Dene Nahjo has strengthened his idea of being an activist and his understanding of how collaborating with other facets of a society and other communities is essential to the growth of the north. He continues to be inspired by the Dene Nahjo team, their ambition, perseverance and personal betterment.
"Dene Nahjo has meant a new way forward for being able to talk about being Indigenous and how we represent ourselves in the world as Dene"
LíídlĮĮ Kųę First Nation, Dehcho Dënesųłı̨ne Dene, Fort Simpson
Radio and Video Journalist, Broadcaster, Communicator/Educator
For Dëneze, "Dene Nahjo" represents being a good person from a Dene perspective; trying to follow the Dene laws that include being helpful, kind, respectful, gentle and hardworking, trying your best and sharing. Dene Nahjo is working towards reconnecting to the these values, which have sustained Dene for generations.
Dëneze is involved because he believes this work needs to be done, and that through Dene Nahjo, he can help fill in the gaps that he sees in our society. He is motivated by the Dene Nahjo crew and is encouraged by their kindness and how they hold each other up.
Dëneze is passionate about being a part of the inspiring team and he strives to support his peers and the people in our communities. Following a Dene teaching, Deneze aims to hold up each team member for their specific skills and knowledge; he looks to support his crew in their projects. One project close to his heart is the Urban Hide Tanning Camp:
“It’s a pretty good project, and as a cis-Indigenous dude, I think it’s important for me to encourage and support and honour the natural leadership of all the ladies within the organization… they’re the real decision makers, and I'll do whatever I can to help make them feel safe so that they can make some good decisions for all of us”
Since his involvement with Dene Nahjo, he has explored his Dene culture and land, and as a result has gained pride in his sense of self, cultural identity and homeland. He has witnessed the growth in his teammates through their abilities to step outside of their comfort zones.
“In our society, and this country, there’s not a lot of safe spaces for Indigenous people, just period, but, there’s really no safe spaces for Indigenous people to learn what it means to be Indigenous. So I think providing those opportunities, I think it’s a really good thing”
For Daniel, Dene Nahjo represents basing our lives on the Dene way of life and the teachings that come from his ancestors and the land. Emerging from his Dene identity comes his history of being active on environmental and climate justice issues.
“The way of life, the language, the spirituality, the entire aspect of what it means to be Dene is connected to the land.
Daniel is motivated by the imperative need for social action and the Dene responsibility to continue a way of life; as a Dene, he believes it is his job to prioritize the languages, cultures, spiritualities and systems of governance that come from Dene ancestors, the land, the animals and other aspects of creation. He is passionate about passing on a well-cared for land to future generations.
An all encompassing project that Daniel outlines is the hide tanning. It touches on many facets of a person’s life and requires them to maintain a relationship with the land. From the relationship with the moose, to the relationship with the bush, to the relationship with community, for Daniel, hide tanning really brings everything together and promotes the Dene way of living. Daniel also highlights that hide tanning promotes learning Dene languages within a Dene context. Through his involvement with Dene Nahjo, he wants to instill the fact that Dene people and Dene cultures are as relevant as ever.
“So something as seemingly simple as hide tanning brings together a lot of different aspects of the Dene way of life, and forces people not just to think about it or write about it, but to act as that and live that”
Eugene Boulanger is a facilitator, multidisciplinary digital media artist, DJ, and electronic music producer originally hailing from TULÍT'A in the Sahtú region of Denendeh.
As a young activist, Eugene came home to the North to advance change in the communities before learning that change comes from within. Eugene has since centred the promotion and advancement of healing and wellness for Indigenous communities with a particular focus on Indigenous men and boys in his personal and professional practices.
As an artist, Eugene is known as Young Dene. He has been actively promoting sound system culture in western and northern Canada for over a decade - connecting communities of artists to larger audiences as a consumer, an event producer and a talent buyer - which has culminated in his desire to carry forth the tradition of creating and performing art and music.
Mandee McDonald is a hide tanner, workshop facilitator, and a PhD student in the Faculty of Native Studies at the University of Alberta where her work focuses on hide tanning theory and land-based learning. She is a co-founder and the Managing Director for Dene Nahjo, a Dene innovation collective that fosters Indigenous leadership skills and values through resurgence-based initiatives.
Mandee is Maskîkow (Swampy Cree), originally from Mántéwisipihk (Churchill, MB), and has resided in Sòmba K’è, Denendeh (Yellowknife, NT) for most of her life. Her writing has been published in Decolonization: Indigeneity and Education Society, Northern Public Affairs, and in Visions of the Heart: Issues Involving Indigenous Peoples in Canada 5th Edition.
Paul is Shúhtagot’ı̨nę from Tulít’a and has been with Dene Nahjo as a Mentor and Elder since Dene Nahjo's earliest days. Paul shares his knowledge as a former Chief, a residential school survivor, a journalist and most importantly, as a Dene oral historian passing on knowledge from his Elders in Tulita.
Jim is Dehcho Dene from Liidlii Kue and has helped Dene Nahjo for many years. Jim is a former Chief and Premier but it is his knowledge as a hunter, the land and oral history that has helped guide Dene Nahjo.
Stephen is K’asho Got’ı̨nę from Radilih Koe and has also been advising and mentoring Dene Nahjo as a part of the Elder’s advisory council since the beginning of Dene Nahjo. Stephen is a former Premier of the NWT and President of the Dene Nation. He is also a storyteller and songwriter who shares his leadership knowledge with Dene Nahjo’s founding members.
Lucy Ann is K’asho Got’ı̨nę from Radilih Koe and has been helping Dene Nahjo since the earliest days. She is a respected language keeper and artisan who continues to bring perspective and the shared knowledge from years of tanning hides with her mom Mary and her sister Judy who we keep in our hearts since their respective passing.
Marlisa Brown is Nihtat Gwich’in, First Nation and of settler Canadian ancestry. Born in Inuvik, NT and raised in Somba k’e (Yellowknife, NT). She is a mother to 2 under 2 and is also a co-founder of Treaty Talks NWT. An organization that makes space for treaty education for youth, by youth. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Anthropology and minor in French from MacEwan University, as well as a graduate diploma in Indigenous Policy and Administration from Carleton University.
Rena Squirrel is Tetl’it Gwich’in from Tetl’it Zheh (Fort McPherson, NT) located on Treaty 11 territory in Denedeh. Her mother is Rene Firth from Tetl’it Zheh and her father is Doug Squirrel from Lidii Kue (Fort Simpson, NT). Her grandpa on her mothers side is Ben Firth from Tetl’it Zheh and her grandma on her mothers side is Joanne Charlie from Old Crow, Yukon. Rena also has two sons, Nateyaa Dosedel and Riel Dosedel. Rena is passionate about empowering northern people and communities. She is an honorary board member with the Aboriginal Sport Circle and has over 20 years of volunteer experience with non-profit organizations. Rena is also an entrepreneur who has conducted business throughout the Northwest Territories and Alberta. Currently Rena manages a Dene Yatie immersion daycare in Katlodeeche (Hay River, NT) and will be participating in the Mentor Apprenticeship Program to enhance her ability to speak Dene Yatie. Rena has two degrees from the University of Alberta; Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies and Bachelor of Secondary Education with a Native Studies major. In the fall of 2022 she will be pursuing her Masters in Sustainability-Energy Security with the University of Saskatchewan.
