Slavey

The Slavey are a First Nations group of Indigenous peoples in Canada. They speak the Slavey language, a part of the Athabaskan languages. Part of the Dene people, their homelands are in the Great Slave Lake region, in Canada's Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia, and northwestern Alberta.

Name

Cree exonym "slave"

Slave is a translation of Awokanak, the name given to the Dene by the Cree, "who sometimes raided and enslaved their less aggressive northern neighbors". The names of the Slave River, Lesser Slave River, Great Slave Lake, and Lesser Slave Lake all derive from this Cree name. Esclaves remains incorporated in the French names of these geographical features, since the French traded with the Cree before the English did. The people now called Slavey in English were not necessarily taken as slaves in that period.

Dehcho autonym

The name Slavey is seldom used by the people themselves, who call themselves Dene. Indigenous ethnonyms for South Slavey people and language are Dehcho, Deh Cho Dene or Dene Tha.
Though most Athabaskan peoples call themselves Dene, those in the Northwest Territories tend to use it for their particular group specifically. However, the northern Slavey are also known in English as the Sahtú, while the southern band are known as the Deh Cho.

Groups

The South Slavey live in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and the southern Northwest Territories. First Nations of South Slavey people:

The Fort Nelson First Nation in British Columbia. Own name: Dene "the people", for language Dene k'e. Historical literature Fort Nelson Indian Band, Fort Nelson Slavey Band, Fort Nelson Indians.
The Dene Tha' First Nation in Alberta. Own name: for people Dene Tha or Dene Dháa "ordinary people", for language Dene Dháh. Historical literature by a number of names, including the following: Upper Hay River Band; Hay Lake Band; Hay River Indians; Slave Band; Slavey Indians at Hay Lake; Upper Hay River Post Indians; and Bistcho Lake Tribe.
The Dehcho First Nations in the Northwest Territories:
*Acho Dene Koe First Nation – Fort Liard
*Deh Gáh Got'ı̨ę First Nation – Fort Providence
*Jean Marie River First Nation – Jean Marie River
*Katl'odeeche First Nation – Hay River with Hay River Reserve
*Ka'a'gee Tu First Nation – Kakisa
*Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́ First Nation – Fort Simpson
*Nahɂą Dehé Dene Band – Nahanni Butte
*Pehdzeh Ki First Nation – Wrigley
*Sambaa K'e First Nation – Sambaa K'e
*West Point First Nation – West Point, headquartered in Hay River

File:Slavey Hay River.jpg|thumb|Slavey people at Hay River, North-West Territories, in 1925
The Sahtu, Sahtu Dene or North Slavey people live exclusively in the Northwest Territories. They speak the North Slavey language.
The Navajo people of the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States are said to be descended from the Nahani, who lived where the Nahanni National Park Reserve is, and also the Slavey of Northern Canada.

In popular culture

Most residents of Lynx River, the fictional town in which CBC drama North of 60 is set, are Slavey. Though the word itself is seldom mentioned in dialogue, the town is located in Slavey territory and on one occasion a character proposes a toast before the assembled members in the Slavey language.