Dene

The Dene people (/ˈdɛneɪ/) are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. Dene is the common Athabaskan word for "people".[1] The term "Dene" has two uses:

  • "Dene" is sometimes also used to refer to all Northern Athabaskan speakers, who are spread in a wide range all across Alaska and northern Canada.[lower-alpha 2]
Gahwié got’iné, a Sahtú (North Slavey) people of Canada

PeopleDene
CountryDenendeh
For the Diné people native to the Southwestern US, see Navajo. For other uses, see Dene (disambiguation).
Indigenous peoples
in Canada
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Location

Dene are spread through a wide region. They live in the Mackenzie Valley (south of the Inuvialuit), and can be found west of Nunavut. Their homeland reaches to western Yukon, and the northern part of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alaska and the southwestern United States.[2] Dene were the first people to settle in what is now the Northwest Territories. In northern Canada, historically there were ethnic feuds between the Dene and the Inuit. In 1996, Dene and Inuit representatives participated in a healing ceremony to reconcile the centuries-old grievances.[3]

Behchoko, Northwest Territories is the largest Dene community in Canada.

Ethnography

The Dene include five main groups:

  • Chipewyan (Denesuline), living east of Great Slave Lake, and including the Sayisi Dene living at Tadoule Lake, Manitoba
  • Tlicho (Dogrib), living between Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes
  • Yellowknives (T'atsaot'ine), living north of Great Slave Lake
  • Slavey (Deh Gah Got'ine or Deh Cho), the North Slavey (Sahtu, (Sahtúot’ine), including the Locheux, Nahanni, and Bear Lake peoples) living along the Mackenzie River (Deh Cho) near Great Bear Lake, the South Slavey southwest of Great Slave Lake and into Alberta and British Columbia.
  • Sahtu (Sahtúot’ine), including the Locheux, Nahanni, and Bear Lake peoples, in the central NWT.

Although the above-named groups are what the term "Dene" usually refers to in modern usage, other groups who consider themselves Dene include:

In 2005, elders from the Dene People decided to join the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organisation (UNPO) seeking recognition for their ancestral cultural and land rights.

The largest population of Denesuline speakers live in the northern Saskatchewan village of La Loche and the adjoining Clearwater River Dene Nation. In 2011 the combined population was 3389 people. The Denesuline language is spoken by 89% of the residents.[5]

Notable Dene

See also

Footnotes
  1. The listed Athabaskan tribes are the Eastern group in Jeff Leer's classification; but in Keren Rice's classification they part of the Northwestern Canada group.
  2. Southern Athabaskan speakers also refer to themselves by similar words: Diné (Navajo) and Indé (Apache).

References
  1. Sapir (1915), p. 558
  2. "First Nations culture areas index". The Canadian Museum of Civilization.
  3. "CBC's David McLauchlin dies at 56". CBC News. 26 May 2003.
  4. "Dene History". Tsuu T'ina Nation. Archived from the original on 8 March 2009. Retrieved 4 January 2009.
  5. "History of La Loche". PortageLaLoche. La Loche 2011 census. 15 November 2012.

Sources

Further reading
  • Abel, Kerry M. (1993). Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene history. McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history. Vol. 15. Montreal, Quebec: Buffalo. ISBN 0-7735-0992-5.
  • Bielawski, E. (2004). Rogue Diamonds: Northern riches on Dene land. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-98419-8.
  • Holland, Lynda; Janvier, Celina; Hewitt, Larry (2002). The Dene Elders Project: Stories and history from the west side. La Ronge, Saskatchewan: Holland-Dalby Educational Consulting. ISBN 0-921848-23-4.
  • Marie, Suzan; Thompson, Judy (2004). Whadoo Tehmi Long-Ago People's Packsack: Dene babiche bags: Tradition and revival. Mercury series. Gatineau, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization. ISBN 0-660-19248-9.
  • Moore, Patrick; Wheelock, Angela (1990). Wolverine Myths and Visions: Dene traditions from northern Alberta. Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-8161-7.
  • Ryan, Joan (1995). Doing Things the Right Way: Dene traditional justice in Lac La Martre, N.W.T. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press. ISBN 1-895176-62-X.
  • Sharp, Henry S. (2001). Loon: Memory, meaning, and reality in a Northern Dene community. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-4292-1.
  • Watkins, Mel (1977). Dene Nation – the Colony Within. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-2264-2.
  • Wake, Val (2008). White Bird Black Bird. Charleston, South Carolina: Booksurge. ISBN 1-4392-0345-8.
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