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Dene

Indigenous people in northern Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

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Gahwié got’iné, a Sahtú (North Slavey) people of Canada

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Most commonly, "Dene" is used narrowly to refer to the Athabaskan speakers of the Northwest Territories in Canada who form the Dene Nation: the Chipewyan (Denesuline), Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib), Yellowknives (T'atsaot'ine), Slavey (Deh Gah Got'ine or Deh Cho), Sahtu (Sahtúot’ine), and Gwichʼin (Dinjii Zhuh).[2][a]

"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.[b]

The Dene people are known for their oral storytelling.[3]

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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.[3][4]

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 at Bloody Falls to reconcile the centuries-old grievances.[5][6]

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

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Ethnography

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The Dene include six main groups:[2]

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 Organization (UNPO) seeking recognition for their ancestral cultural and land rights.

The largest population of Chipewyan language (Dënesųłinë́ or Dëne) 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 Dënesųłinë́ language is spoken by 89% of the residents.[8]

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Notable Dene

See also

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Footnotes

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

References

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Further reading

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