Ways of knowing

"The creative world of a northern Native community is revealed in this innovative study. Once semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers, the Dene Tha of northern Canada today live in government-built homes in the settlement of Chateh. Their lives are a distinct blend of old and new, in which more traditional forms of social control, healing, and praying entwine with services supplied by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a nursing station, and a Roman Catholic church. Many older cultural beliefs and practices remain: ghosts still linger, reincarnating and sometimes stealing children’s souls; dreams and visions are powerful shapers of actions; and personal visions and experiences are considered the sources of true knowledge.

Why and how are such striking beliefs and practices still vital to the Dene Tha? Drawing on twelve years of fieldwork at Chateh, Jean-Guy Goulet delineates the interconnections between the strands of meaning and experience with which the Dene Tha constitute and creatively engage their world. Goulet’s insights into the ways of knowing among the Dene Tha were gained through directly experiencing their way of life rather than being formally taught about it." -- Provided by publisher