Delta Dialogue Network Trip Report:
Fort Smith and Fort Resolution, NWT
January 26-30, 2015
Kiri Staples – Project Manager, DDN
Veronica Mauel – Master’s student, U of S.
Kiri Staples
Veronica Mauel
Purpose of the trip
• Present at the Slave River and Delta Partnership (SRDP)
open houses in Fort Smith and Fort Resolution, NWT
• Update SRDP members on the Delta Dialogue Network
• Discuss Veronica’s project with community and SRDP
members
A cold day on the Slave River
Day 1: Open house and public lecture in
Fort Smith
• Posters and presentations from different groups involved in
research and monitoring in the Slave River Delta
• Community members invited to attend, learn about projects, and
ask questions during the all-day open house and evening public
lecture
• The open house allowed people to
talk about research projects face-toface with those involved in them
• The Delta Dialogue Network
presentation during the public
lecture included information about
why the project started, who is
involved, what we’ve done so far,
and what we plan on doing next
Submissions from youth on “what does
the Slave River mean to you?” included
art, written stories, poetry, and a Slave
River rap.
Day 2: One-on-one meetings with SRDP
members
• We met with SRDP members to
discuss Veronica’s project and
refine project goals and
questions
• Her research will look at how
information from groups like
the SRDP, SWEEP (Slave
Watershed Environmental
Effects Program) and other
monitoring programs is being
shared with the rest of the
community, and whether it is
accessible and useful for those
who want it and need it
 We also wanted to get
feedback from the SRDP
members on how the
different groups involved in
the Delta Dialogue Network
should communicate and
make decisions
 Diagrams like this one are one
idea for what this might look
like
 More information on this can
be found at our website http://www.usask.ca/research
-groups/ddn/aboutus/governance-structure.php
Day three: Travel to Fort Resolution for
evening public lecture
• The evening lecture was opened by a prayer and a song by a local
musician
• There was lots of good discussion and questions about the different
projects and we were able to meet with more SRDP members
• People who attended the open houses and lectures wrote what the
Slave River and Delta means to them – the SRDP will be turning this
into a “word cloud”
Day four: Open house in Fort Resolution
• A lot of the observations
being made about things
like changes in fish and
wildlife populations were
similar to what we have
been hearing in the
Saskatchewan River Delta
Presenters preparing for the public lecture
• These similarities provided
a good opportunity to talk
about bringing people
together through a
collaborative workshop
with the Delta Dialogue
Network in 2016
Fort Resolution
Michelle Morris (University of Waterloo) and Veronica on
Great Slave Lake
Questions?
• Work on this project will
continue over the
summer and fall – we will
be back!
• If you have questions,
suggestions or concerns
about the Delta Dialogue
Network, contact Kiri
Staples, Project Manager:
(306) 966-7135 or
kiri.staples@usask.ca