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{{for multi|the Diné people native to the Southwestern US|Navajo||Dene (disambiguation)}}
{{Indigenous Peoples of Canada}}

[[File:Hareskin canoe.jpg|thumb|Gahwié got’iné, a Sahtú (North Slavey) people of Canada]]
{{Short description|Indigenous people in northern Canada}}
{{use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|people='''Dene'''|country=[[Denendeh]]}}

The '''Dene''' people ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|d|ɛ|n|eɪ|}}) are an [[Indigenous peoples in Canada|Indigenous]] group of [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] who inhabit the northern [[Boreal forest of Canada|boreal]], [[subarctic]] and [[Arctic]] regions of Canada. The Dene speak [[Northern Athabaskan languages]] and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people".<ref>{{harvp|Sapir|1915|p=558}}</ref> The term ''"Dene"'' has two uses:

Most commonly, ''"Dene"'' is used narrowly to refer to the [[Athabaskan languages|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).<ref name="DeneNation">{{Cite web|title=About Us |url=https://denenation.com/about/ |access-date=2024-07-11 |website=Dene Nation |quote=Geographical conditions in Denendeh have created the groups of people who make up the Dene Nation ─ Denesoline (Chipewyan), Tlicho (Dogrib), Deh Gah Got’ine (Slavey) K’ashot’ine (Hareskin) and Dinjii Zhuh (Gwich’in, once called Loucheux).}}</ref>{{efn|The listed Athabaskan tribes are the ''Eastern group'' in Jeff Leer's classification;{{cn|date=August 2023}} but in [[Keren Rice]]'s classification they part of the ''Northwestern Canada group''.{{cn|date=August 2023}} }}

''"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]].{{efn|Southern Athabaskan speakers also refer to themselves by similar words: [[Navajo|Diné]] (Navajo) and [[Apache|Indé]] (Apache).{{cn|date=August 2023}} }}

The Dene people are known for their oral storytelling.<ref name="denecanenc">{{Cite web |title=Dene |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/dene |access-date=2025-02-07 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref>

== Location ==
Dene are spread through a wide region. They live in the [[Mackenzie River|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]].<ref name="denecanenc"/><ref>{{cite web |title=First Nations culture areas index |publisher=The [[Canadian Museum of History|Canadian Museum of Civilization]] |url=http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090822195445/http://www.civilization.ca/cmc/exhibitions/tresors/ethno/etb0170e.shtml |archive-date=22 August 2009}}</ref>

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]]. One such feud was recounted by English explorer [[Samuel Hearne]] in 1771 as the [[Bloody Falls massacre]], where a band of Chipewyan and "Copper Indian" Dene men ambushed and killed 20 Inuit camped by the mount of the Coppermine River. In 1996, Dene and Inuit representatives participated in a healing ceremony at [[Bloody Falls]] to reconcile the centuries-old grievances.<ref>{{cite news |title=CBC's David McLauchlin dies at 56 |date=May 26, 2003 |website=[[CBC News]] |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cbc-s-david-mclauchlin-dies-at-56-1.382941}}</ref><ref name=kugluk>{{cite web |title=Kugluk (Bloody Falls) Territorial Park |publisher=Hamlet of Kugluktuk |url=https://kugluktuk.ca/p/parks |access-date=June 7, 2024}}</ref>

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

== Ethnography ==
{{More citations needed|section|date=July 2023}}
The Dene include six main groups:<ref name="DeneNation" />
*[[Chipewyan]] (Denesuline), living east of [[Great Slave Lake]], and including the [[Sayisi Dene]] living at [[Tadoule Lake]], Manitoba.
*[[Tłı̨chǫ]] (Dogrib), living between Great Slave and [[Great Bear Lake|Great Bear]] Lakes.
*[[Yellowknives]] (T'atsaot'ine), living north of Great Slave Lake.
*[[Slavey]] (Deh Gah Got'ine or Deh Cho), living southwest of Great Slave Lake and into Alberta and British Columbia.
*[[Sahtu]] (Sahtúot’ine), including the Locheux, Nahanni, and Bear Lake peoples, living along the [[Mackenzie River]] (Deh Cho) near Great Bear Lake.
*[[Gwichʼin]] (Dinjii Zhuh), in the [[Gwich'in Tribal Council|Gwich'in Settlement Region]].

Although the above-named groups are what the term "Dene" usually refers to in modern usage, other groups who consider themselves Dene include:
* [[Tsuutʼina Nation|Tsuutʼina]] (Tsuu T'ina),<ref>{{cite web |title=Dene History |website=Tsuu T'ina Nation |url=http://www.tsuutina.ca/page.aspx?pageID=6-8 |access-date=2009-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090308130249/http://www.tsuutina.ca/page.aspx?pageID=6-8 |archive-date=March 8, 2009 }}</ref> a.k.a. the Sarcee, currently located near [[Calgary]], [[Alberta]].
* The [[Dane-zaa]] (Danezaa, Dunne-za, or Tsattine) of northeastern [[British Columbia]] and neighbouring regions of northwestern Alberta.
* The [[Tahltan]], [[Kaska Dena]], and [[Sekani]] peoples of the northern area of the [[British Columbia Interior]]. Another group in this region, the [[Tsetsaut]], lived in the [[Portland Canal]] area of the northernmost [[British Columbia Coast|BC Coast]] near the border with [[Alaska]]. They are now extinct.
* The [[Dakelh]] (Carrier) peoples of the northern and central [[British Columbia Interior]], and the [[Wetʼsuwetʼen]], a Dakelh branch
* The [[Tsilhqotʼin]] peoples of the eponymous [[Chilcotin Country]] of the central British Columbia Interior
* The extinct [[Nicola Athapaskans]], or 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 [[Syilx]] (Okanagan peoples).
* The [[Tanana Athabaskans]] 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 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 {{nowrap|[[La Loche]]}}
and the adjoining [[Clearwater River Dene Nation]]. In 2011, the combined population was 3,389 people. The Dënesųłinë́ language is spoken by 89% of the residents.<ref>
{{cite web
 | title=History of La&nbsp;Loche
 | series=La&nbsp;Loche 2011 census
 | website=PortageLaLoche
 | url=https://sites.google.com/site/portagelaloche/home/la-loche-2011-census
 | date= 2012-11-15
}}
</ref>

== Notable Dene ==
* [[Thanadelthur]] ({{circa|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 [[Northwest Territories (electoral district)|Western Arctic]] (Northwest Territories)
* [[Georges Erasmus]], National Chief of the [[Assembly of First Nations]] (1985–1991)
* [[Leela Gilday]], Canadian folk singer, [[Juno Awards|Juno]] winner 
* [[Jimmy Herman]] (1940-2013) actor, ''[[Dances with Wolves]]''
* [[Matonabbee]] ({{circa|1737}}–1782), guide for [[Samuel Hearne]]'s expedition to the [[Coppermine River]]
* [[Tahmoh Penikett]], actor, ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]'' and ''[[Dollhouse (TV series)|Dollhouse]]''
* [[Eric Schweig]], actor, ''[[The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film)|The Last of the Mohicans]]''
* [[Jim Boucher]], politician, businessman
* [[Shannon Smallwood]], justice of the Supreme Court of the [[Northwest Territories]]
* [[Beʼsha Blondin]], elder and founder of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation
* [[Glen Coulthard]], professor of Indigenous studies and political science at the [[University of British Columbia]]
* [[Chelazon Leroux]], drag performer, model

== See also ==
*[[Alaskan Athabaskans]] (Alaskan Dene, Tinneh), Athabaskan peoples of the interior of Alaska
*[[Navajo Nation]] (Diné), southern Athabaskan peoples
*[[Apache]] (Inde), southern Athabaskan peoples
*[[Hupa]], California Athabaskan peoples
*[[Cahto]], California Athabaskan peoples
*[[Mattole]], California Athabaskan peoples
*[[Eel River Athapaskan peoples]] (Wailaki), California Athabaskan peoples
*[[Galice language]]-speakers (Oregon Athabaskan): [[Chetco people|Chetco]], [[Tolowa]], [[Coquille people|Coquille]], [[Tututni]]

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation |last=Sapir |first=Edward |author-link = Edward Sapir |year=1915 |title=The Na-Dene languages: A preliminary report |journal=American Anthropologist |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=534–558 |jstor=660504 |doi=10.1525/aa.1915.17.3.02a00080|doi-access=free }}.

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|colwidth=25em|small=yes}}
* {{cite book |last=Abel |first=Kerry M. |year=1993 |title=Drum Songs: Glimpses of Dene history |series=McGill-Queen's studies in ethnic history |volume=15 |place=Montreal, Quebec |publisher=Buffalo |ISBN=0-7735-0992-5}}
* {{cite book |last=Bielawski |first=E. |year=2004 |title=Rogue Diamonds: Northern riches on Dene land |place=Seattle, Washington |publisher=University of Washington Press |ISBN=0-295-98419-8 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Holland |first1=Lynda |first2=Celina |last2=Janvier |first3=Larry |last3=Hewitt |year=2002 |title=The Dene Elders Project: Stories and history from the west side |place=La&nbsp;Ronge, Saskatchewan |publisher=Holland-Dalby Educational Consulting |ISBN=0-921848-23-4 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Marie |first1=Suzan |first2=Judy |last2=Thompson |year=2002 |title=Dene Spruce Root Basketry: Revival of a tradition |series=Mercury series |place=Hull, Quebec |publisher=[[Canadian Museum of History|Canadian Museum of Civilization]] |ISBN=0-660-18830-9 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Marie |first1=Suzan |first2=Judy |last2=Thompson |year=2004 |title=Whadoo Tehmi Long-Ago People's Packsack: Dene babiche bags: Tradition and revival |series=Mercury series |place=Gatineau, Quebec |publisher=[[Canadian Museum of History|Canadian Museum of Civilization]] |ISBN=0-660-19248-9 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Moore |first1=Patrick |first2=Angela |last2=Wheelock |year=1990 |title=Wolverine Myths and Visions: Dene traditions from northern Alberta |series=Studies in the anthropology of North American Indians |place=Lincoln, Nebraska |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |ISBN=0-8032-8161-7 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ryan |first=Joan |year=1995 |title=Doing Things the Right Way: Dene traditional justice in Lac La Martre, N.W.T. |place=Calgary, Alberta |publisher=University of Calgary Press |ISBN=1-895176-62-X }}
* {{cite book |last=Sharp |first=Henry S. |year=2001 |title=Loon: Memory, meaning, and reality in a Northern Dene community |place=Lincoln, Nebraska |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |ISBN=0-8032-4292-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Watkins |first=Mel |year=1977 |title=Dene Nation – the Colony Within |place=Toronto, Ontario |publisher=University of Toronto Press |ISBN=0-8020-2264-2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wake |first=Val |year=2008 |title=White Bird Black Bird |place=Charleston, South Carolina |publisher=Booksurge |ISBN=1-4392-0345-8 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://denenation.com/ Dene Nation]
* [https://www.atcfn.ca/ Athabasca Tribal Council]
{{wikiquote}}
* {{cite web |title=Dene Nation |url=http://denenation.com/ |url-status=dead <!-- presumed --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040519054051/http://denenation.com/ |archive-date=2004-05-19 }}

* {{cite web |title=People of the Deh Cho |url=http://www.artcanadacarvings.com/people_of_the_deh_cho.htm |url-status=dead <!-- presumed --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040515204806/http://www.artcanadacarvings.com/people_of_the_deh_cho.htm |archive-date=2004-05-15 }}

* {{cite web |title=Explore photographs, a comprehensive bibliography, and a brief history of Dene Crafts |website=Dene Crafts |place=Calgary, AB |publisher=[[University of Calgary]] |url=http://denecrafts.ucalgary.ca/ |url-status=dead <!-- presumed --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090228044833/http://denecrafts.ucalgary.ca/ |archive-date=2009-02-28 }}

* {{cite book |first=Alexander |last=Mackenzie |author-link=Alexander Mackenzie (explorer) |publication-date=1903 |orig-date=August 1902 |title=Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 |volume=I |place=New York, NY |publisher=A.S. Barnes & Co. |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35658 |via=Gutenberg.org}}

* {{cite book |first=Alexander |last=Mackenzie |author-link=Alexander Mackenzie (explorer) |publication-date=1903 |orig-date=August 1902 |title=Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793 |volume=II |place=New York, NY |publisher=A.S. Barnes & Co. |url=http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35659 |via=Gutenberg.org}}

* {{cite web |title=1970s The rise of Aboriginal political organizations |department=NWT Historical Timeline |publisher=[[Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre]] |url=http://www.pwnhc.ca/timeline/index_winIFix.asp?forward=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pwnhc.ca%2Ftimeline%2F1950%2FEmergingVoices_1970.html |url-status=dead <!-- presumed --> |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314080903/http://www.pwnhc.ca/timeline/index_winIFix.asp?forward=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pwnhc.ca%2Ftimeline%2F1950%2FEmergingVoices_1970.html |archive-date=2012-03-14 }}

{{First Nations in Alberta}}

[[Category:Dene| ]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic]]
[[Category:Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]