Chief Darryl Marlowe of the Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation serves his community proudly but the coronavirus pandemic is something he and his members are deeply worried about.
photo courtesy of Catherine McKenna/Twitter
"It is scary over here in Lutsel K'e because we are an isolated community," he said. "If the virus were to come to our community, it would pretty much wipe out our whole town and everyone would get sick."
The community of about 300 is small and proud in its traditions located on the East Arm of Great Slave Lake. Marlowe is quick to explain the importance of members keeping up their expertise of harvesting on the land, providing for their families and using traditional medicine to care for each other.
But dealing with the magnitude of a global pandemic, he admits is something members are simply not used to.
"Whenever news comes, as a chief I get a lot of calls at home from members and so does my council," he said, adding that he is doing his best to ease fears, offer encouraging words and recommending healthy practices like hand washing, social distancing and keeping houses clean.
"Basically we get phone calls at home on a daily basis. Mentally it makes people crazy and worried and it just takes a lot of toll on individuals because we are not used to that kind of thing as an isolated community."
This week, NNSL Media reported that strict measures were being put in place to ensure the community, particularly the elders, are protected. One of those measures included taking away snowmobiles from community members who ignored calls to self-isolate.
"It is all mainly for the safety of our Elders in the community because we don't have too many elders left. They are our number one priority as are the little babies in the community."
Marlowe's biggest worry and what makes the community unique is its proximity to Yellowknife and the outside world. For the most part, the community is isolated as there are no roads that reach it, however in the winter, "(Great Slave Lake) is our own little highway system (to Yellowknife) when the ice freezes over.
"The NWT put a travel ban for people coming in and out in order to protect everyone and that is for all Northerners," he explained. "We wanted to have something in place here too where members are not running back and forth to Yellowknife.
"It is quite difficult to monitor and be aware of whenever someone leaves the community and comes back."
Marlowe had been expecting to run for chief again on April 9, however that election has been postponed to a later date until things are more or less back to normal, he said.
Like other community leaders that NNSL Media has shown in its community reports, Marlowe says the community is doing well in what it can do to prepare for the pandemic.
Food supply at the Lutsel K'e Co-op - the only grocery store in town - has been more than adequate, he said, as shipments have been coming in three times a day. Staff at the store have been insisting on safety precautions, as well.
Essential services continue, such as water and sewage deliveries, and the municipal office is being run and managed carefully by the senior administrative officer, he said.
The single school - the Lutsel K'e Dene School - closed with the rest of GNWT schools. Marlowe said he hopes the school staff can come up with programming to keep kids learning while at home, although in the meantime he is encouraging his members to keep the kids reading.
"For ourselves here and with my family, my wife is doing a good job trying to keep them busy and making them read everyday," he said. "So it is important to at least keep your kids reading."
Vivian Harris, principal of the school, said there are 60 kids registered from Junior Kindergarten to Grade 12 with eight teachers. She said the school is looking at sending out school work packages for students before April 14 and sent a notice out to the community on Thursday.
"We're looking at having work packages going home because lots of students don't have internet or internet access and we can't limit them that way," she said. "For the younger ones we are looking at more literacy and numeracy activities that we can keep fun and as hands-on as possible.
"We want to keep learning as normal as possible because nothing about this situation is normal."
The school also offers a breakfast and snack program and is looking at how to have that continue for students in a safe and healthy way.