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TheDene people (/ˈdɛneɪ/) are anIndigenous group ofFirst Nations who inhabit the northernboreal,subarctic andArctic regions of Canada. The Dene speakNorthern Athabaskan languages and it is the common Athabaskan word for "people".^[1] The term"Dene" has two uses:

Most commonly,"Dene" is used narrowly to refer to theAthabaskan speakers of theNorthwest Territories in Canada who form theDene Nation: theChipewyan (Denesuline),Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib),Yellowknives (T'atsaot'ine),Slavey (Deh Gah Got'ine or Deh Cho),Sahtu (Sahtúot’ine), andGwichʼin (Dinjii Zhuh).^[2][a]

"Dene" is sometimes also used to refer to all Northern Athabaskan speakers, who are spread in a wide range all acrossAlaska andnorthern Canada.^[b]

The Dene people are known for their oral storytelling.^[3]

Dene are spread through a wide region. They live in theMackenzie Valley (south of theInuvialuit), and can be found west ofNunavut. Their homeland reaches to westernYukon, and the northern part ofBritish Columbia,Alberta,Saskatchewan,Manitoba,Alaska and thesouthwestern United States.^[3][4]

Dene were the first people to settle in what is now theNorthwest Territories. Innorthern Canada, historically there were ethnic feuds between the Dene and theInuit. One such feud was recounted by English explorerSamuel Hearne in 1771 as theBloody 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 atBloody Falls to reconcile the centuries-old grievances.^[5][6]

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

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The Dene include six main groups:^[2]

• Chipewyan (Denesuline), living east ofGreat Slave Lake, and including theSayisi Dene living atTadoule Lake, Manitoba.
• Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib), living between Great Slave andGreat 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 theMackenzie River (Deh Cho) near Great Bear Lake.
• Gwichʼin (Dinjii Zhuh), in theGwich'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 (Tsuu T'ina),^[7] a.k.a. the Sarcee, currently located nearCalgary,Alberta.
• TheDane-zaa (Danezaa, Dunne-za, or Tsattine) of northeasternBritish Columbia and neighbouring regions of northwestern Alberta.
• TheTahltan,Kaska Dena, andSekani peoples of the northern area of theBritish Columbia Interior. Another group in this region, theTsetsaut, lived in thePortland Canal area of the northernmostBC Coast near the border withAlaska. They are now extinct.
• TheDakelh (Carrier) peoples of the northern and centralBritish Columbia Interior, and theWetʼsuwetʼen, a Dakelh branch
• TheTsilhqotʼin peoples of the eponymousChilcotin Country of the central British Columbia Interior
• The extinctNicola Athapaskans, or Stuwix ("strangers" in theShuswap language), migrated south from northern BC into theNicola Valley region in the late 18th century and were absorbed into theNicola people, an alliance ofNlaka'pamux andSyilx (Okanagan peoples).
• TheTanana Athabaskans and other peoples ofYukon andAlaska 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 theUnrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) seeking recognition for their ancestral cultural and land rights.

The largest population ofChipewyan language (Dënesųłinë́ or Dëne) speakers live in the northern Saskatchewan village ofLa Locheand the adjoiningClearwater River Dene Nation. In 2011, the combined population was 3,389 people. The Dënesųłinë́ language is spoken by 89% of the residents.^[8]

• 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 theCree people
• Ethel Blondin-Andrew, former MP forWestern Arctic (Northwest Territories)
• Georges Erasmus, National Chief of theAssembly of First Nations (1985–1991)
• Leela Gilday, Canadian folk singer,Juno winner
• Jimmy Herman (1940-2013) actor,Dances with Wolves
• Matonabbee (c. 1737–1782), guide forSamuel Hearne's expedition to theCoppermine River
• Tahmoh Penikett, actor,Battlestar Galactica andDollhouse
• Eric Schweig, actor,The Last of the Mohicans
• Jim Boucher, politician, businessman
• Shannon Smallwood, justice of the Supreme Court of theNorthwest Territories
• Beʼsha Blondin, elder and founder of the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Foundation
• Glen Coulthard, professor of Indigenous studies and political science at theUniversity of British Columbia
• Chelazon Leroux, drag performer, model

• 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,Tolowa,Coquille,Tututni

• Sapir, Edward (1915), "The Na-Dene languages: A preliminary report",American Anthropologist,17 (3):534–558,doi:10.1525/aa.1915.17.3.02a00080,JSTOR 660504.

• Dene Nation
• Athabasca Tribal Council

Wikiquote has quotations related toDene.

• "Dene Nation". Archived fromthe original on 19 May 2004.

• "People of the Deh Cho". Archived fromthe original on 15 May 2004.

• "Explore photographs, a comprehensive bibliography, and a brief history of Dene Crafts".Dene Crafts. Calgary, AB:University of Calgary. Archived fromthe original on 28 February 2009.

• Mackenzie, Alexander (1903) [August 1902].Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793. Vol. I. New York, NY: A.S. Barnes & Co. – via Gutenberg.org.

• Mackenzie, Alexander (1903) [August 1902].Voyages from Montreal Through the Continent of North America to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans in 1789 and 1793. Vol. II. New York, NY: A.S. Barnes & Co. – via Gutenberg.org.

• "1970s The rise of Aboriginal political organizations". NWT Historical Timeline.Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Archived fromthe original on 14 March 2012.

• Dene
• Indigenous peoples of the Subarctic
• Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

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