The Yellowknives, Yellow Knives, Copper Indians, Red Knives or T'atsaot'ine ( Dogrib: ''T'satsąot'ınę'') are

indigenous peoples of Canada In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...

, one of the five main groups of the First Nations Dene who live in the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

of Canada. The name, which is also the source for the later community of Yellowknife, derives from the colour of the tools made from copper deposits.

History

The historic Yellowknives lived north and northeast of the Great Slave Lake (''Tinde'e'' - "Great Lake") around the

Yellowknife River The Yellowknife River is a river in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It flows south and empties into Yellowknife Bay, part of Great Slave Lake, at the city of Yellowknife. The lake is drained by the Mackenzie River into the Arctic Ocean as part ...

and Yellowknife Bay (''Weledeh Cho'' - " Inconnu River") and northward along the

Coppermine River The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, and flows generally north to Coronation Gulf, a ...

, northeast to the Back River (''Thlewechodyeth'' or ''Thlew-ee-choh-desseth'' - "Great Fish River") and east to the

Thelon River The Thelon River ('' iu, Akilinik'', "on the other side") stretches across northern Canada. Its source is Whitefish Lake in the Northwest Territories, and it flows east to Baker Lake in Nunavut. The Thelon ultimately drains into Hudson Bay at C ...

(or ''Akilinik''). They used the major rivers of their traditional land as routes for travel and trade as far east as

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

, where early European explorers such as Samuel Hearne encountered them in the 1770s. The Yellowknives helped lead Hearne through the

Canadian Arctic tundra The Canadian Arctic tundra is a biogeography, biogeographic designation for Northern Canada's terrain generally lying north of the tree line or Taiga, boreal forest, that corresponds with the Scandinavian Montane Birch forest and grasslands, Scan ...

from Hudson Bay to the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

in search of the legendary copper deposits that the Yellowknives, or 'Copper Indians', had a hand in mining and trading for tools. Later European explorers who encountered and traded with Copper Indians marked on their maps the 'Yellowknife River,' which drains into Great Slave Lake from headwaters originating near the headwaters of the Coppermine River, a traditional travel corridor. In the early 1800s and 1900s, the Yellowknives were the largest and most powerful tribe in the geographic area. The Yellowknives and the Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib), who also lived on the north shores of Great Slave Lake, were ancestral enemies. In the 1830s it was reported that the Dogrib almost wiped out the Yellowknives, the remnants of which - although opinions vary - either scattered south of Great Slave Lake or inter-married with the Dogrib. Following the discovery of gold in the Yellowknife area, a great mix of Dogrib, Chipewyan, and remnant Yellowknife members congregated and settled in the community or within the traditional villages of Dettah or Trout Rock. With government funding, the Dene village of Ndilǫ was developed in the mid 1950s on the tip of Latham Island (the southern point of Yellowknife's Old Town). The Yellowknives Dene First Nation was formed in 1991 (formerly known as Yellowknife B Band) following the collapse of a territorial-wide comprehensive land claim negotiation. They currently negotiate a land claim settlement for their lands as part of the Akaitcho Land Claim Process. Another organized Dene group has come forward claiming to be direct descendants of the historic 'Yellowknife Indian' tribes, and asserting independence from the mixed Dogrib-Chipewyan Yellowknives Dene First Nation. Considered a distinct people, they are still seeking government recognition today under

Treaty 8 Treaty 8, which concluded with the June 21, 1899 signing by representatives of the Crown and various First Nations of the Lesser Slave Lake area, is the most comprehensive of the one of eleven Numbered Treaties. The agreement encompassed a la ...

. Chief Snuff of the Yellowknives signed Treaty 8 in 1899. Chief Snuff lived on the south shore and east arm of Great Slave Lake. The people who lived on the

Taltson River The Taltson River is a roughly river in the Northwest Territories of Canada that drains into the Great Slave Lake. There are three hydroelectric power control structures on the river, and one power station. Name The river was formerly known as t ...

were dubbed the ''Rocher River People'' in the 1920s. Chief Snuff had a cabin located about ten miles from

Rocher River Rocher River is an abandoned community in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community was situated near the mouth of the Taltson River (aka Rocher River, or Roche River), which drains into Great Slave Lake. Dene tradi ...

on a little piece of land beside the water, called Snuff Channel, connected to the Taltson River. The Yellowknives continued to reside in this area until the early 1960s, when they were forced to relocate after their schoolhouse was burned down in a fire. Shortly after, the Taltson River hydro dam was built. The last chief of the ''Rocher River Yellowknives'' was Chief Pierre Frise in the 1960s; he was strongly opposed to the building of the Taltson River dam. During this point the original Yellowknives were dispersed to Fort Resolution, Yellowknife, and other areas of Canada.

Yellowknives First Nations

All First Nations with Yellowknives descendants are organized in the ''Akaitcho Treaty 8 Tribal Corporation'' and in the ''

Akaitcho Territory Government The Akaitcho Territory Government is a First Nations organization representing the Dene people of the Northwest Territories, Canada.Tłı̨chǫ. Communities: Dettah, Ndilǫ, and Yellowknife. The Dettah-Ndilǫ- Tłįchǫ Yatıì, a dialect spoken in the communities of Dettah and Ndilǫ, developed from intermarriage between Yellowknives and Tłı̨chǫ peoples) * Deninu K'ue First Nation (''Deninu Kue'' (pronounced "Deneh-noo-kweh"), means "moose island"). It is a settlement corporation in the

South Slave Region The South Slave Region is one of five administrative regions in the Northwest Territories of Canada. According to Municipal and Community Affairs the region consists of seven communities with the regional office situated in Fort Smith and a sub ...

of the Northwest Territories. The community is situated at the mouth of the Slave River, on the shore of Great Slave Lake, ''Deninu K'ue'' or ''Dene Nu Kwen'' are/were called Chipewyan (Denesuline) and Yellowknives, which came to Fort Resolution to trade their furs. * Lutsel K'e Dene First Nation (''Lutselk'e'', pronounced "Loot-sel-kay") also spelled ''Lutsel K'e'' ("place of the Lutsel", the

cisco Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, ...

, a type of small fish), is a designated authority in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories. The community is located on the south shore near the eastern end of Great Slave Lake and until 1 July 1992, it was known as Snowdrift. The First Nation was formerly known as the ''Snowdrift Band''. The most northerly Chipewyan First Nation, once nomadic

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

hunters, this band included some Chipewyan and Yellowknives who settled permanently at the

trading post A trading post, trading station, or trading house, also known as a factory, is an establishment or settlement where goods and services could be traded. Typically the location of the trading post would allow people from one geographic area to tr ...

established in 1925 by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...

near today's Łutselk'e. In 1954 they moved to the community of

Łutselk'e Łutselkʼe (, Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé: ; "place of the ", the cisco, a type of small fish), also spelt ''Łutsel Kʼe'', is a "designated authority" in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on th ...

.History and Culture of Lutsel K'e
Main languages in the community are Chipewyan and English.

Notes

External links

Catholic Encyclopedia articleWeledeh Yellowknives Dene - A History
{{authority control Dene peoples First Nations in the Northwest Territories

History

Yellowknives First Nations

Notes

Further reading

External links