Na’h e’tse’ah: Dene Hand Game

Have you ever seen the Dene Tha’ hand game?

While developing our new galleries, we had the opportunity to work closely with Indigenous communities to develop displays that share their important stories.

Roy Salopree and his nephew Delbert Salopree from Meander River, Dene Tha’ Nation, are members of our Indigenous Advisory Panel, and they worked with museum staff on the Dene displays. They helped write and edit the exhibit panel text, Roy made the drums and hand game set on display, and Roy, Delbert and Sidney Chambaud played an integral part in directing the accompanying film with Hidden Story Productions

Former Curator Susan Berry and her assistant Emma Knight had the opportunity to visit Bushe River and Meander River during the Dene Tha’ Assembly to watch the hand game. They were both hooked but remain utterly confused by the complexity of the hand signals!

Visit our “What Makes Us Strong” gallery to see this film, and 14 others that explore stories important to Indigenous peoples across the province.

As Roy says, “it’s ever awesome!” We couldn’t agree more!