By Mia Rabson THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA- On the shores of the eastern arm of Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories, Iris Catholique and the Ni Hat’ni Dene Indigenous Guardians have spent several years watching the ice take longer and longer to form every winter. It’s another sign of climate change and the changing environment in the north, and one more thing they are keeping track of as the group tasked with conserving both their traditions and their lands. “We call it ‘Dene Chanie’ and that means who we are, our way of life,” said Catholique. The Ni Hat’ni Dene program is one of 150 different Indigenous Guardians programs that have blossomed in the last five years. First Nations account for 120 of those, while Inuit and Metis communities…