"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]
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]
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:
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.
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
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
^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]
Abel, Kerry M. (1993). Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene history. McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history. Vol. 15. Montreal, Quebec: Buffalo.
ISBN0-7735-0992-5.
Bielawski, E. (2004). Rogue Diamonds: Northern riches on Dene land. Seattle, Washington: University of Washington Press.
ISBN0-295-98419-8.
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.
ISBN0-921848-23-4.
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.
ISBN0-660-19248-9.
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.
ISBN0-8032-8161-7.
Ryan, Joan (1995). Doing Things the Right Way: Dene traditional justice in Lac La Martre, N.W.T. Calgary, Alberta: University of Calgary Press.
ISBN1-895176-62-X.
Sharp, Henry S. (2001). Loon: Memory, meaning, and reality in a Northern Dene community. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.
ISBN0-8032-4292-1.
Watkins, Mel (1977). Dene Nation – the Colony Within. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press.
ISBN0-8020-2264-2.
Wake, Val (2008). White Bird Black Bird. Charleston, South Carolina: Booksurge.
ISBN1-4392-0345-8.