Other Internet Content
| Institution(s): |
Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre
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| Year created: | not provided |
| Coverage dates: | 1962 |
| Description: | In May of 1864, a large camp of newly-baptized Dogrib held "a great dance of farewell." As the witnessing missionary Emile Petitot explained, the families were soon going to separate until the following fall. The people shoveled away the snow to form a vast ring, built a great fire in the middle, and began to dance at five o'clock in the afternoon. "They danced all the night," wrote Petitot, "a night without darkness, crying out 'Eh! Ah! Eh!' fit to make the rocks tremble."
Ninety-eight years later, the songs of dancing Dogribs were recorded at the yearly ingathering of the Dogrib people at Rae in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The occasion was Treaty Time in early July of 1962. Treaty Time begins each year when Canadian government representatives meet with the Dene (Indian) peoples of the Northwest Territories at each fort to air Government-Indian issues and pay "Treaty money" to each Dene. The formal business of Treaty concluded, the enjoyments of Treaty Time begin for the people.
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| Media/document types: | Audio; some photographs |
| Audience(s): | general, advanced |
| Language(s) of exhibit: | English |
| Copyright information: | Copyright Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre |
| Subjects: |
Culture & Lifestyle
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