Yellowknife, N.W.T. - An exhibit remembering the Berger inquiry is opening at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.

Drew Ann Wake is one of the designers of the exhibition.

She recently spent four years traveling to communities along the Mackenzie River collecting the memories of those that participated in the inquiry.

Those reminiscences along with pictures from the time are now on display as part of the exhibit.

Wake called the inquiry a watershed moment.

"It's important for the North, it's important for Canada, and when we go abroad we see that the model of the Berger Inquiry has been picked up in many countries around the world. The Berger Inquiry was almost a gift to people all over the world in terms of how a fractious issue could be debated."

Wake's visits to communities along the river also linked elders who had participated in the inquiry with school groups.

"It's a wonderful experience for these children to realize that the elders in their community played a very critical role in Canadian history."

Justice Thomas Berger issued his report on the proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline 35 years ago.

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