Sahtu
Template:Otheruses2 The Sahtú (or North Slavey) are an Aboriginal Dene people living in the vicinity of Great Bear Lake (Sahtú, the source of their name), 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.[1][2] 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 (K'ahsho Got'ine District), Bear Lake (Déline District), and Mountain (Tulit'a District).[3]
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.[4]
The Déline community of the Sahtú Dene experienced great loss during Canada's participation in the Manhattan Project. The need for radioactive materials, (such as radium), to create atomic weapons was met with the deposits found near the 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.[5][6][7]
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.[8]
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.
Language
Sahtú speak the North Slavey language, which belongs to Northwestern Canada group of Northern Athabaskan languages.[9]
Notable Sahtu people
- Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Member of Parliament for the district of Western Arctic
References
- ^ Sahtu Communities
- ^ About MACA - Sahtu
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
firstnationwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793
- ^ The Dene People of Great Bear Lake Call for a Federal Response to Uranium Deaths in Deline
- ^ Deline Poisoned? Past area mining linked to cancer
- ^ Nuclear Genocide in Canada
- ^ CDUT Final Report Summary
- ^ Sahtu Dene
Further reading
- Auld, James and Robert Kershaw, Eds. The Sahtu Atlas: Maps and Stories from the Sahtu Settlement Area in Canada's Northwest Territories. [Norman Wells, N.W.T.]: Sahtu GIS Project, 2005. ISBN 0-9737630-0-0
- Blondin, George. When the World Was New: Stories of the Sahtú Dene. Yellowknife, N.W.T., Canada: Outcrop, the Northern Publishers, 1990. ISBN 1-919315-21-7
- Canada. Implementation Plan for the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement. Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1993. ISBN 0-662-21422-6
- Kuhnlein, H V, et al. 1995. "DIETARY NUTRIENTS OF SAHTU DENE/METIS VARY BY FOOD SOURCE, SEASON AND AGE". Ecology of Food and Nutrition. 34, no. 3: 183.
- Sahtu Heritage Places and Sites Joint Working Group. Rakekée Gok'é Godi = Places We Take Care of. [Yellowknife, NWT?: Sahtu Heritage Places and Sites Joint Working Group], 2000.
