It was a funny thing – funny in the sense of being unusual or odd. But definitely not funny in the sense of ha-ha funny.
Of all the weighty issues discussed at the 48th-annual Dene National Assembly last week in Hay River, one comment jumped out at us for some unknown reason.
In her campaign pitch to delegates, Eileen Marlowe – a candidate for national chief – stated, "As you know, the weather is changing. Climate change and the impact of climate change is a huge thing in the Northwest Territories."
For some strange and unexplainable reason, it was like we were hearing that information for the first time. Without a word of a lie, it hit us like a shocking revelation.
What do you mean the weather is changing? What are we all going to do about that? Can we do anything about that?
Of course, we had previously heard about climate change, and are aware of the many ways that it is affecting the planet. Nobody heard the news about the killer heat waves this summer in Japan and Greece and Quebec – yes, Quebec – without thinking about climate change. Or watched on television as big chunks of British Columbia, Ontario and California were burned up by wildfires.
Perhaps it was the matter-of-fact way that Marlowe talked about climate change that caught our attention so suddenly and surprisingly.
But mostly we think it was the absolute lack of a response from the 200-plus delegates in the Community Hall. Not that a response should be expected.
When people hear about climate change these days, it is not shocking or disturbing. It seems like the majority accept that the weather is changing, and there isn't much reason to talk about it a whole lot.
We think that we should stop and think very seriously about it. However, it seems people are resigned to climate change happening or are whistling past the graveyard.
For the Dene, harvesting from the land, caribou hunting, treaty rights and dozens of other significant aspects of their traditional lifestyles – even a non-traditional lifestyle – are all predicated on the fact that the land on which they live will be the same in the future as it is now. That is far from certain because of climate change.
It's the same for everyone else. Climate change has the potential to dramatically alter this planet and the lives of people in the future, and even the lives of some young people who are alive today. Who knows how different the Earth will be in 50 years.
Long-time Northerners can look back maybe just 25 years and see a difference. For one thing, the winters are obviously not as cold as they used to be.
We're not sure if anything can be done to stop climate change, but we are sure that the first step will be to recognize how devastating and life-changing it can be.
A good way to do that is the next time you hear someone say that the weather is changing, image you are hearing that for the very first time.