The Watereheart is a Dene legend. It's about a medicine man who found a giant heart beating at the bottom of Great Bear Lake. The lake is among the largest freshwater lakes in the world. After a trout steals the medicine man's hook he takes on the spirit of a loche, the largest fish of the lake, and dives deep into the lake's abyss to retrieve his hook. In his journey he finds much more. He finds a living, breathing heart, called the in the Slavey language. This medicine man finds that the fragile is what gives life to the everyday physical world of trees, fish, water and human beings. The heart was also surrounded by every species of fish found in Great Bear Lake, guardians of the powerful .

The Waterheart documentary explores the metaphors of this legend. The heart is the culture of the Sahtu Dene people. They live in Délįne, a small cluster of houses on the tip of the eastern arm of the lake. The waterheart and the culture represent everything the Sahtu Dene live for, but, the heart and the culture are weak.

The weakest link between the culture of the past and present is the essence of culture itself; language. The youth speak mostly English today and their elders only speak Slavey. The Waterheart documents the emotional journey of ten teenagers from the public school in Délįne as they grapple with the cultural gap. The students were introduced to the basic tools of radio feature making and storytelling during an intensive 10-day production workshop in April, 2008. They set out to interview the town's elders, their grandparents and great grandparents...in Slavey. These men and women recalled their working life from 1932 to 1960 at Port Radium - a uranium mine across the lake from Délįne.

As the elders shared their memories of the past, and their wisdom, the theme of the ailing waterheart surfaces. It is expressed in the documentary through the struggle of two generations to communicate with each other. The language is an essential tool to saving the culture and the heart in the deep, cold lake. It is frightening to know that this may be the beginning of the end of a pristine untouched culture, just as past mining at Port Radium has affected the pristine water of the lake. The interviews transport the teenagers back to the days of Port Radium, and in a mystical way, to the depths of the Great Bear Lake, where the , still beats like a rhythmic dene drum but is in danger of becoming silent.

CBC North teamed up with two Polar Radio producers from Denmark to train the students and make this radio feature. The community supported and encouraged the project that in it's original form is mainly told in Slavey. It is an amazing accomplishment of what two generations can come to understand by connecting the past, present and future.

As Polar Radio producer Rikke Houd explains, the Waterheart is a story about " broken trust, a language nearly lost and the possibility of a looming apocalypse. It's also a story about love, humanity, water and the endurance of life".

Listen to the Documentary

English Doc Slavey Doc Student Assignments A version of the original Waterheart documentary aired on CBC North radio in July 2008. It was broken down into a five-part series played over the course of one week. And, it was re-produced for an English-language audience using the narration of trainer Dawn Ostrem. Part One The Water Give Life The students are introduced to their assignments and to the legend of the waterheart. Listen (Runs 9:21) Part Two The Language The students set out to interview their elders in Slavey, a language weakened by cultural change. Listen (Runs 7:06) Part Three A Trip Near the Mine A group takes a trip to a place near the old Port Radium minesite, where memories of living and working there are rekindled. Listen (Runs 8:17) Part Four The Prophecies Students hear Sahtu spiritual legends that contain prophetic warnings about the future of the Great Bear Lake and their culture. Listen (Runs 9:43) Part Five The End of the Story At the end of the workshop the students talk about what they learned about their culture and themselves and the future of the waterheart. Listen (Runs 9:49) The original Waterheart documentary was produced by Polar Radio, CBC North and the students of Deline. It is a 45 minute feature that is mainly in the Slavey language. Part One In the Beginning Charlie Neyelle tells the story of the Tudze. Listen (Runs 1:47 ) | English transcript Part Two Memories of Port Radium The elders begin to tell the students about life at the minesite. Listen (Runs 3:27) | English transcript Part Three Trip near the Mine Some elders and students take a flight near the old minesite at Port Radium. Listen (Runs 6:46) | English transcript Part Four Lessons and Legends Elders talk about lessons learned and future prophecies. Listen (Runs 7:02) | English transcript Part Five For the Future Elders offer guidance and wisdom for days ahead. Listen (Runs 2:41) | English transcript Part Six How will it End? Charlie Neyelle offers hope for the future. Listen (Runs 5:09) | English transcript During the radio production workshop students were given assignments to develop production skills. They were asked to chose a place in the community that is special to them for any reason, go there and talk about it. They were asked to record themselves speaking and the sounds they heard. The assignments helped the students learn to handle the microphone and recording equipment properly, think about description and story-telling as well as provide insight into what is important to them in their community. Many excerpts of these assignments were used in the final documentary. Kristi-Ann Modeste The Prophet's House Kristi-Ann Modeste talks about one of the most spiritual places in Deline. Listen (Runs 3:31) Mahalia Mackeinzo The Lake and Beyond Mahalia Mackeinzo walks on the ice of Great Bear Lake and tells us about her home. Listen (Runs 5:17) Sidney Tutcho The Birthplace of Hockey Deline calls itself the birthplace of Canada's game after a recent discovery in the journals of explorer Sir John Franklin recorded how his men took field hockey to the ice of Great Bear Lake. Sidney Tutcho talks about his pride in that discovery while taking a walk on the particular spot where the men were said to have played. Listen (Runs 5:49 )

Délįne, NWT

Délįne, a small community of about 700 Sahtú Déne First Nations situated by the Great Bear Lake in Northern Canada.

Credits

The Students: Carla Kenny, Kristy Ann Modeste, Sydney Tutcho, Valerie Mackeinzo, Mahalia Mackeinzo, Rodney Tutcho, Sheldon Takazo, Chelsey Elemie, Hillary Andre, Doris Taniton

The Elders: Bella and Adrian Menacho, Alfred and Jane Taniton, Jane Quitte, Hughie Ferdinand, Elizabeth Kodakin, Morris Neyelle, Charlie Neyelle, Frank Elemie, Joe Blondin Jr.

CBC North trainers: Dave Miller, Paul Andrew, Dawn Ostrem

Polar Radio trainers: Rikke Houd, Sabine Hviid

Project Funding: The Deline Project was made possible with the generous assistance of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation.

Thanks to: The Deline Knowledge Project, The Sahtu Divisional Education Council, Ehtseo Ahya School (Reed Smith, Brian Wishart), The Deline Land Corporation, The Deline First Nation