A project to enshrine Sahtu Dene heroes in a work of literature while giving youth literacy skills won $100,000 from the Arctic Inspiration Prize on Wednesday in Ottawa.
"Who is your hero?" asked Dakota Orlias, the team leader of this project, to the crowd. "My (heroes) are the Dene people of the Sahtu, and this book honours the Dene people of the past, present and future."
Orlias, from Colville Lake, said the funds will help him and his team put "library of Dene heroes in every home in the Sahtu."
The project aims to produce a new book annually. A team of Indigenous youth will meet with their community members and elders to gather stories and documentation on Dene heroes from the region, then write about them and put together these books.
The books will in turn be distributed to all five communities in the Sahtu.
"In addition, this book gives the Dene people a voice and a place in Canadian literature," said Orlias.
The $1,000,000 winner was a Yellowknife-based group that hopes to create an urban on-the-land wellness program for First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in the capital city.
The Arctic Indigenous Wellness Project, led by Nicole Redvers, will combine cultural education with therapeutic interventions in a wilderness setting within the urban landscape. The project is aimed at improving the mental health of at-risk Indigenous populations.
"The Government of the Northwest Territories is proud to support the work of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation," said Health Minister Glen Abernethy in a press release, "to provide members of our community at risk of suicide, substance abuse, incarceration and homelessness with access to traditional healing practices and cultural education."
The GNWT contributed $50,000 to the project last year and is a contributor to the Arctic Inspiration Prize.