Sahtu


The Sahtú or North Slavey are a Dene First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living in the vicinity of Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. The Sahtú peoples live in Colville Lake, Deline, Fort Good Hope, Norman Wells and Tulita which form the Sahtu Region of the NWT. The Dene of the region are represented by the Sahtu Dene Council who, in 1993, signed the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement. Sahtú groups include the Hare Dene, Bear Lake Dene, and Mountain Dene. They call themselves also Ɂehdzo Got’ı̨ne.

Ethnography

An early description of Sahtú cultures is given in Alexander Mackenzie's journal of his voyage down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean in 1789.
Although there are close interrelationships among the Dene communities, they are culturally and linguistically distinct. The K’ahsho Got’ine are now centred in Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake. The Shita Got’ine have joined with the K’áálǫ Got’ine in the community of Tulit’a. The Sahtúot’ine are named after Sahtú/Great Bear Lake, and are based in Deline. Métis people, descendants of relationships established between Dene people and fur traders, reside in all five communities of the region. The Hareskin Dene called themselves K'a so Got’ine/Katoo Got’ine or K’ahsho Got’ine/K'áshot’ Got’ine.
The Déline community of the Sahtú Dene experienced great loss during Canada's participation in the Manhattan Project. The need for radioactive materials,, to create atomic weapons was met with the deposits mined from the Eldorado Mine at Port Radium on Great Bear Lake. The Sahtú Dene were hired to transport the ore containing radium from the Northwest Territories to be processed in Ontario or the United States. Since much of the uranium that existed in Europe was under Nazi control, the radium deposits in Canada were vital to the creation of the first atomic bombs. Unaware of the radiation's effects, the Sahtú Dene used cloth sacks to transport the ore.
The number of deaths caused by radiation is disputed by the Government of Canada. The government report says that the people of Deline did not handle yellowcake but sulfur powder. The level of exposure to uranium ore without modern safety standards is expected to cause a small number of excess cancer deaths.
Ultimately, the devastating effects of radiation poisoning impacted the Déline community severely. A 1999 documentary by Peter Blow entitled Village of Widows detailed the experiences of the Sahtú Dene.

Today's Sahtu Dene First Nations

Sahtu Dene Council
  • Behdzi Ahda' First Nation
  • Délı̨nę First Nation – ″Where the Water Flows", pronounced ′day-li-neh′, located near the headwaters of the Bear River, where it rushes out of Great Bear Lake to the Mackenzie River, a place nearby where the lake seldom freezes over was a fishing place for the Sahtúot’ine/Sahtugotine , reserve: Fort Franklin Settlement, Population: 981, Sahtú Dene families are often related to K'ahsho Got'ine , Gwich’in and Shita Got'ine
  • Fort Good Hope First Nation, headquartered in Fort Good Hope, called Rádeyîlîkóé – "Where the Rapids Are" by the local K'ahsho Got'ine , is located on a peninsula between Jackfish Creek and the east bank of the Mackenzie River, about 145 km
  • Tulita Dene First Nation – they are as Begade Shotagotine , Begaa Deh Shuh Tah Got’ie or as Begaee Shuhagot'ine '' also members of the Dehcho First Nations of the South Slavey

    Language

Sahtú speak the North Slavey language, which belongs to northwestern Canada group of Northern Athabaskan languages.

Notable Sahtu people