Joe Sacco’s non-fiction graphic comic Paying the Land explores the nuances within the Dene community, an Indigenous group that resides in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Unlike Western notions of land ownership, the Dene believe that the land owns them. It stands at the core of their existence, integrated into their livelihoods. However, since the subarctic Canadian Northwest Territories has abundant natural resources like oil, gas, and diamonds that interested the Western community, this posed a threat to the Dene’s customs and ways of thinking. Dolphus Jumbo, chief of the Dehcho community of Trout Lake and a survivor of residential schooling, discusses the challenges of balancing tradition and modernity within Indigenous communities. It is the character of Dolphus Jumbo that reveals the unintended …show more content…
As vocalized by Jumbo himself, “Without the land, we cannot be Dene. Without the land, we don’t have integrity. We would be a weak people without the land” (Sacco 200). Sacco encapsulates Jumbo’s belief in revealing a perspective that transcends conventional notions of land ownership. In the case of the Dene people, “the land” does not simply refer to a geographic entity; it is the very essence of their existence, a determinant of their integrity, and a defining factor in their communal identity. Jumbo’s use of the term “integrity” in conjunction with the importance of the land to the Dene suggests a holistic understanding of the interconnected relationship between the land and the Dene people. The land, which Jumbo seems to personify and elevate beyond mere physicality, becomes a guiding force for not only the Dene’s physical survival, but also for their moral compass that dictates the direction of their day-to-day life. As stated by Jumbo, the tribe “cannot be Dene” or identify as such without the land helping form their