Elder Voices
Elders record Dene words and stories. Words are never AI-invented.
A new Indigenous nonprofit
Dene STEAM
Elders lead. Youth build. AI carries the language.
Our Why
The language stays with the people who carry it.
Dene language is carried by our Elders. We're building tools so youth can learn it, speak it, and build with it, on our terms.
What we do
Tools for learning, speaking, and building.
Land Maps
Place-name maps of our lands in Dene.
Talking Robots
Youth build robots that speak Dene.
Word of the Day
A free Dene word by text.
STEAM Camps
Coding, robotics, art, and land-based learning.
Our Promise
The community owns the language.
We follow OCAP® principles. Recordings are never uploaded to AI companies.
Community ownership
Dene words, stories, and recordings belong to the community that shared them. That does not change when we build tools around them.
OCAP® principles
We follow OCAP® — Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession — so decisions about language data stay with the community.
No uploads to AI companies
Elder recordings are never uploaded to AI companies. Words are never invented by a machine.
Our founder
Trent Billette
Founder & Executive Director
Come build with us!
Who we are
A community still coming together.
These cards are placeholders. Founders, our Elder advisor, and the youth council will be named here with their blessing.
Founders
Names and bios coming soon.
Elder advisor
To be announced with the community.
Youth council
Members to be announced.
Partners coming soon
Walk with us.
Schools, funders, and community organizations are welcome. If you want to partner with Dene STEAM, tell us who you are and how you'd like to help.
Join the work
Get involved / Volunteer with us
Elders, youth, parents, educators, and neighbours are welcome. Volunteer your time, partner with the work, or just say hello. We'll read every note.