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| Tłı̨chǫ people | |
|---|---|
| Group | Tłı̨chǫ people |
| Regions | Northwest Territories |
| Languages | Tłı̨chǫ, English |
| Religions | Traditional beliefs, Christianity |
| Related | Dene, Sahtu, Gwichʼin |
Tłı̨chǫ people The Tłı̨chǫ people are an Indigenous Dene group of the Northwest Territories associated with communities such as Behchokǫ̀, Whatì, Gamètì, and Wekweètì and connected to broader networks including the Dene Nation, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and Métis National Council. They maintain ties to regional institutions such as the Government of the Northwest Territories, Canada, the Tłı̨chǫ Government established under the Tłı̨chǫ Land Claims and Self-Government Agreement, and organizations like the Assembly of First Nations, while engaging with actors including Parks Canada, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The Tłı̨chǫ people inhabit the boreal forest and tundra around Great Slave Lake and are culturally linked to neighboring Dene groups such as the Sahtu Dene, Chipewyan (Denesuline), and Gwichʼin while interacting with settlers, Hudson's Bay Company, Anglican Church of Canada, and Roman Catholic Church missionaries. Their traditional territories overlap with areas administered by the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, Canadian National Parks, and with infrastructure projects by the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline proponents, Northern Frontier, and Arctic Sovereignty initiatives. Prominent figures and institutions that have intersected with Tłı̨chǫ history include leaders who engaged with Prime Ministers, Commissioners of the Northwest Territories, Supreme Court of Canada cases, and treaty negotiations influenced by the Indian Act and modern land claims jurisprudence.
Tłı̨chǫ oral traditions recount migration and seasonal rounds across landscapes tied to Slavey, Yellowknife, and Dene populations and interactions with explorers such as Samuel Hearne, Alexander Mackenzie, and fur traders associated with the Hudson's Bay Company and North West Company. Contact periods involved missions from the Church Missionary Society, Oblates of Mary Immaculate, and Methodist missionaries, leading to demographic shifts influenced by smallpox epidemics, the fur trade economy, and treaties such as Treaty 8 precedents, litigation in the Supreme Court of Canada, and modern settlements including the Tłı̨chǫ Agreement. Colonial-era forces including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and policies from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada shaped community responses alongside Indigenous rights movements represented by the Assembly of First Nations, Aboriginal Rights advocates, and land claim negotiators like the Native Women’s Association of Canada. The modern establishment of the Tłı̨chǫ Government involved negotiations with the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Indigenous Languages Act context, and collaborations with institutions such as the University of Saskatchewan and University of Alberta for research and capacity-building.
Tłı̨chǫ speak a Dene language in the Northern Athabaskan family, related to Denesuline, Sahtu, and Slavey dialects and studied by linguists at institutions like the University of British Columbia, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and McGill University. Language revitalization efforts involve programs with First Peoples' Cultural Council, Indigenous Languages Act funding, Aurora College (now University of the Arctic partners), and community schools collaborating with the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (Northwest Territories), the Canadian Heritage language initiatives, and UNESCO frameworks. Written materials and orthographies have been developed with input from scholars affiliated with the Canadian Museum of History, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, and the Dene cultural organizations; media output appears on CBC North, APTN, and in publications by McClelland & Stewart and University of Toronto Press.
Tłı̨chǫ cultural life centers on hunting, fishing, trapping, and craft traditions including caribou hunting with techniques comparable to practices documented among the Saami, Inuit, Cree, and Métis; ceremonial life includes practices recorded alongside potlatch traditions, Dene healing, and Christian observances introduced by Anglican and Roman Catholic missionaries. Artistic expressions involve beadwork, hide tanning, drum-making, storytelling, and crafts promoted through bodies like the Canada Council for the Arts, Indigenous Works, and northern galleries such as the Art Gallery of Ontario and Musée canadien de l'histoire. Festivals and gatherings connect to events like the Mackenzie Valley Cultural Roundtable, Arctic Arts Summit, and regional celebrations supported by Polar Knowledge Canada and the Indigenous Music Awards; elders and storytellers collaborate with museums including the Canadian Museum of Nature and Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre.
Traditional Tłı̨chǫ social structures feature clan-based and family networks analogous to kin systems among Haida, Anishinaabe, and Inuit communities, with leadership roles comparable to chiefs recognized in historical accounts by explorers and agents of the Hudson's Bay Company. Contemporary governance is exercised through the Tłı̨chǫ Government, which interfaces with the Government of Canada, Government of the Northwest Territories, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act institutions like the Wekʼèezhìi Renewable Resources Board and Tłı̨chǫ Yamozha Lands Corporation. Legal and political matters have been shaped by decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada, federal legislation, land claim frameworks influenced by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, and participation in bodies such as the Dene Nation and Inuit Circumpolar Council.
Economic activities combine traditional subsistence—caribou hunting, fishing on Great Slave Lake, trapping—with engagement in wage employment in mining projects like Diavik Diamond Mine, Ekati Diamond Mine, and potential Mackenzie Valley Pipeline developments; partnerships exist with companies such as Rio Tinto, Dominion Diamonds, and territorial contractors. Community enterprises include tourism initiatives working with Parks Canada, cultural tourism operators, and co-management arrangements involving the Wekʼèezhìi Land and Water Board and Aboriginal Financial Institutions supported by Aboriginal Affairs funding, the Northern Projects Management Office, and Indigenous Services Canada programs. Education and training collaborations occur with Aurora College, Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program, and private sector stakeholders like De Beers and Cameco for capacity-building in environmental monitoring and mine reclamation.
Contemporary issues include land and resource governance debates involving the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act, environmental assessments by the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board, impacts from climate change documented by Natural Resources Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada, and social challenges echoed in reports by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Political engagement spans interactions with the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly, federal ministers, the Privy Council, and international forums such as the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues and the Arctic Council; advocacy groups include Indigenous Climate Action, Amnesty International Canada, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Health, education, and infrastructure priorities are addressed through Health Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Public Health Agency of Canada, and partnerships with non-governmental organizations like Médecins Sans Frontières and the Canadian Red Cross.
Category:Indigenous peoples in the Northwest Territories