The Hunt and The Walk
(A 2-part series)

Dennis Allen/Alexis Arthur/Ken Malenstyn
Big Red Barn Entertainment/Mackenzie Delta Films

Inuvialuit and Vuntut Gwichin filmmaker Dennis Allen visits the tiny village of Colville Lake near his own childhood home of Inuvik in Canada's Northwest Territories. There he meets the Kahso Go'tine, a North Slavey Dene group and one of the last remaining truly traditional people.

   • The Hunt: Food from the Land

   • The Walk: A Path to Healing

The Hunt: Food from the Land    [series info]

48 minutes • 2003
Available in English and Slavey
Also available on DVD

The Kahso Go'tine survive on caribou and fish, heat their homes with wood and haul water from the lake. Since their present-day community was established in 1962, they have lived in isolation and maintained their traditions. But recently electric power, telephone service, satellite television, oil exploration, and access to the community via a winter road have meant a host of new influences.

To balance the inevitable changes ahead, every autumn the entire community of 100 people move to the "barrenlands" for the traditional caribou hunt. They may use a twin engine aircraft to get there, but they still butcher and pack the animals in the ways of their elders. The hunt points to a hopeful future where tradition and development can exist and prosper side by side.

The Walk: A Path to Healing    [series info]

48 minutes • 2003
Available in English and Slavey
Also available on DVD

In 1998, Dennis Allen accompanied the Kahso Go'tine on a historic trek over a traditional walking trail. They had not set foot on the trail in over thirty years, since air transport became available. With stunning footage, stories of personal triumph, and an emotional homecoming, The Walk moves through the lives of a people whose past holds the key to a successful future.

Subject(s): Canada–Northern, Community dynamics, Indigenous people–Dene