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The Dene people () are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern
boreal Boreal may refer to: Climatology and geography *Boreal (age), the first climatic phase of the Blytt-Sernander sequence of northern Europe, during the Holocene epoch *Boreal climate, a climate characterized by long winters and short, cool to mild ...
and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. ''Dene'' is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term "Dene" has two usages. More commonly, it is used narrowly to refer to the Athabaskan speakers of the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
and
Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
in Canada, especially including the Chipewyan (Denesuline), Tlicho (''Dogrib''), Yellowknives (T'atsaot'ine), Slavey (Deh Gah Got'ine or Deh Cho), and Sahtu (the Eastern group in Jeff Leer's classification; part of the Northwestern Canada group in Keren Rice's classification). However, it is sometimes also used to refer to all Northern Athabaskan speakers, who are spread in a wide range all across Alaska and northern Canada. The Southern Athabaskan speakers, however, also refer to themselves by similar words:
Diné The Navajo (; British English: Navaho; nv, Diné or ') are a Native American people of the Southwestern United States. With more than 399,494 enrolled tribal members , the Navajo Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United ...
(Navajo) and
Indé Indé is the municipal seat of the municipality of Indé in the Mexican state of Durango. As of 2010, the town had a population of 659. The village of Indé was founded in 1547. References Populated places in Durango Populated plac ...
(Apache).


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 Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...
. Their homeland reaches to western Yukon, and the northern part of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alaska and the southwestern United States. Dene were the first people to settle in what is now the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
. 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. 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: * Tsuu T'ina, aka the Sarcee, currently located near Calgary, Alberta. * The Beaver people (Danezaa or Dunneza) of northeastern British Columbia and neighbouring regions of northwestern Alberta. * The Tahltan, Kaska, and Sekani people of the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Another group in this region, the Tsetsaut people, lived in the Portland Canal area of the northernmost
BC Coast , settlement_type = Region of British Columbia , image_skyline = , nickname = "The Coast" , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = British ...
near the border with Alaska. They are now extinct. * The Dakelh (Carrier) peoples of the Northern and Central Interior of British Columbia, and their subgroup the Wet'suwet'en * The Tsilhqot'in people of the eponymous Chilcotin District of the
Central Interior of British Columbia Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
* The extinct Nicola Athapaskans, aka the Stuwix ("strangers" in the Shuswap language), migrated south from northern BC into the Nicola Valley region in the late 18th century and were absorbed into the Nicola people, an alliance of Nlaka'pamux and Okanagan peoples. * The Gwich'in and Tanana and other peoples of Yukon and Alaska are also considered to be Dene, which is to say part of the family of Athapaskan-speaking peoples. 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 Chipewyan or Denesuline (ethnonym: ), often simply called Dene, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. Dënësųłinë́ has nearly 12,000 s ...
is spoken by 89% of the residents.


Notable Dene

* Thanadelthur (c. 1697 – 5 February 1717) a woman of the Chipewyan Nation, a guide and interpreter, who was instrumental in forging a peace agreement between the Chipewyan and the Cree people * Ethel Blondin-Andrew, former MP for Western Arctic (Northwest Territories) *
Leela Gilday Leela Gilday is a Dene-Canadian singer songwriter, born and raised in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She has released five solo albums since 2002, two of which have won the Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. Early life Gild ...
, Canadian folk singer, Juno winner * Jimmy Herman (1940-2013) actor, '' Dances with Wolves'' * Matonabbee (c. 1737–1782), guide for Samuel Hearne's expedition to the Coppermine River * Tahmoh Penikett, actor, ''
Battlestar Galactica ''Battlestar Galactica'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Glen A. Larson. The franchise began with the Battlestar Galactica (1978 TV series), original television series in 1978, and was followed by a short-run sequel se ...
'' and '' Dollhouse'' * Eric Schweig, actor, '' The Last of the Mohicans'' *
Jim Boucher Jim Boucher ( or ; (born February 29, 1956) is a Cree and Dene Indigenous Canadian businessman and political leader. As an elected chief, he represented the Fort McKay First Nation (FMFN), (1986–1994, 1996–2019). He established the Fort ...
, politician, businessman * Shannon Smallwood, justice of the Supreme Court of the
Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
* Be'sha Blondin, elder and founder of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation


See also

* Athabaskan languages * Alaskan Athabaskans (Alaskan Dene, Tinneh), Athabaskan peoples of the interior of Alaska * Navajo Nation (Diné), southern Athabaskan people * Apache people (Inde), southern Athabaskan people *
Hupa Hupa (Yurok language term: Huep'oola' / Huep'oolaa = "Hupa people") are a Native American people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in northwestern California. Their endonym is Natinixwe, also spelled Natinook-wa, meaning "Peopl ...
, California Athabaskan people *
Cahto people The Cahto (also spelled Kato, especially in anthropological and linguistic contexts) are an indigenous Californian group of Native Americans. Today most descendants are enrolled as the federally recognized tribe, the Cahto Indian Tribe of the L ...
, California Athabaskan people *
Mattole people The Mattole, including the Bear River Indians, are a group of Native Americans in California. Their traditional lands are along the Mattole and Bear Rivers near Cape Mendocino in Humboldt County, California. A notable difference between the Ma ...
, California Athabaskan people *
Wailaki The Eel River Athabaskans include the Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl, and Sinkyone (Sinkine) groups of Native Americans that traditionally live in present-day Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties on or near the Eel River and Van Duzen River o ...
, California Athabaskan people * Galice language-speakers (Oregon Athabaskan): Chetco, Tolowa, Coquille, Tututni


References


Further reading

* Abel, Kerry M. ''Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene History''. McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history, 15. Montreal: Buffalo, 1993. * Bielawski, E. ''Rogue Diamonds: Northern Riches on Dene Land''. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2004. * Holland, Lynda, Celina Janvier, and Larry Hewitt. ''The Dene Elders Project: Stories and History from the Westside''. La Ronge, Sask: Holland-Dalby Educational Consulting, 2002. * Marie, Suzan, and Judy Thompson. ''Dene Spruce Root Basketry: Revival of a Tradition''. Mercury series. Hull, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2002. * Marie, Suzan, and Judy Thompson. ''Whadoo Tehmi Long-Ago People's Packsack: Dene Babiche Bags : Tradition and Revival''. Mercury series. Gatineau, Québec: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 2004. * Moore, Patrick, and Angela Wheelock. ''Wolverine Myths and Visions: Dene Traditions from Northern Alberta''. Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990. * Ryan, Joan. ''Doing Things the Right Way: Dene Traditional Justice in Lac La Martre, N.W.T.''. Calgary: University of Calgary Press, 1995. * Sharp, Henry S. ''Loon: Memory, Meaning, and Reality in a Northern Dene Community''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2001. * Watkins, Mel. ''Dene Nation, the Colony Within''. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977. * Wake, Val. White Bird Black Bird, Charleston, South Carolina, Booksurge, 2008


External links


Dene Nation



Dene Crafts: Explore photographs, a comprehensive bibliography, and a brief history of Dene Crafts.

Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 Vol. I
(1902 ed.)
Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 Vol. II
(1903 ed.)

NWT Historical Timeline, Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre {{First Nations in Alberta Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization