Funeral Friday for respected Dene elder Muriel Betsina relocates to St. Pat’s gym

(Photo retrieved from Facebook, courtesy of Ethel Blondi-Andrew).

A funeral being held Friday for respected Yellowknives Dene elder Muriel Betsina has been moved from St. Patrick’s Church to St. Patrick’s school gymnasium in order to accommodate what’s expected to be a large gathering.

Muriel was a long time resident of Ndilo and is the mother of current chief Ernest Betsina.

She was born in the Sahtu before being sent to residential school in Fort Resolution.

Muriel then got a job in the kitchen at Con Mine.

Condolences and messages about her loss have been pouring in on social media.

Betsina was 76 years old.

She was perhaps best known for always having an open door, a sympathetic ear and making some of the best bannock in the Northwest Territories.

The funeral mass will be held at the St. Pat’s gym at 1:00 pm followed by burial at Lakeview Cemetery.

There will then be a reception at the Ndilo Gym.

(With files from Francis Tessier-Burns)

 

About the Author

John McFadden
John has been in the broadcast journalism industry since the 1980s. He has been a reporter in Yellowknife since 2012 and joined CKLB in January of 2018. John covers the crime and court beat as well as reporting on other areas including politics, business, entertainment and sports. He won seven national community newspaper awards while he was a journalist with Northern News Services Limited (NNSL). John worked in Ontario before coming North including stints as a TV sportscaster in Peterborough and senior news writer for CBC and CTV in downtown Toronto.