The Sahtu Region is an

administrative region Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

in Canada's

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. ...

. Coterminous with the settlement region described in the 1993 Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, of the Sahtu is collectively owned by its Indigenous Sahtu (

Dene The Dene people () 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". The term "Dene" h ...

) and

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United States. They have a shared history and culture which deri ...

inhabitants. Although the region's population is predominantly

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

, a significant non-Indigenous presence exists in Norman Wells, the regional office,Sahtu Region
/ref> established in 1920 to serve the only producing oilfield in the Canadian Territories. Considered to be of vital strategic importance during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

in the event of a Japanese invasion of Alaska, the region's petroleum resources were exploited by the United States Army with the

Canol pipeline The Canol Project was constructed during World War II to ensure a supply of oil for the defense of Alaska and the North American west coast. The project was completed in two years at an astronomical cost and was abandoned less than a year later. ...

, but the project never became necessary and ultimately operated for less than one year. Since the abandonment of the Canol project, development within the region has been more limited than in the rest of the territory. Although plans have long existed for pipelines and highways to parallel the Mackenzie River through the Sahtu en route to the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, ...

, the landmark Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry recommended that a moratorium be placed on construction until local Indigenous land claims could be settled. To this day, no all-weather roads connect the Sahtu with the rest of Canada, and the contiguous North American pipeline network finds its northernmost terminus at Norman Wells, which was connected to Zama City,

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

in 1984. Ground transportation is seasonally provided by a network of

winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in Polar regions of Earth, polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring (season), spring. The tilt of Axial tilt#Earth, Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a Hemi ...

and

ice road An ice road or ice bridge is a human-made structure that runs on a frozen water surface (a river, a lake or a sea water expanse).Masterson, D. and Løset, S., 2011, ISO 19906: Bearing capacity of ice and ice roads, Proceedings of the 21st Inte ...

s, while the abandoned Canol route now forms part of the

Trans Canada Trail The Trans Canada Trail, officially named The Great Trail between September 2016 and June 2021, is a cross-Canada system of greenways, waterways, and roadways that stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic oceans. The trail extends ...

system.

Etymology

Sahtú is the

name of

Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the boreal forest of Canada. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest i ...

, the largest lake entirely in Canada, which is entirely contained within the Sahtu Region. The name is also used by the area's First Nations inhabitants to describe themselves and their language, the Sahtú Dene people (historically known as the North Slavey or Hareskins). It has been further adopted by the Sahtu Dene Council and the Sahtu Secretariat, both Indigenous institutions which share administrative responsibilities with the

Government of the Northwest Territories The Politics of Northwest Territories involves not only the governance of the Northwest Territories but also the social, economic and political issues specific to the territory. This includes matters relating to local governance and governance by ...

within the region.

Communities

The Sahtu Region consists of five communities, with no permanent population recorded outside their boundaries. Norman Wells, the regional capital, was founded in the early 20th century in order to exploit local oil deposits and has a majority non-Indigenous population. The other communities of the Sahtu are predominantly

References

External links

Sahtu Region at Municipal and Community Affairs
{{coord, 65, 16, 52, N, 126, 49, 53, W, region:CA-NT_type:adm1st_scale:3000000, display=title, name=Sahtu Region centred on Norman Wells