The Délı̨nę First Nation is a

Dene The Dene people () are an indigenous group of First Nations who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada. The Dene speak Northern Athabaskan languages. ''Dene'' is the common Athabaskan word for "people". The term "Dene" h ...

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

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. ...

. The band's main community is

Délı̨nę The Charter Community of Délı̨nę (North Slavey: ) is located in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, on the western shore of Great Bear Lake and is northwest of Yellowknife. Délı̨nę means "where the waters flow", a ref ...

, the only populated place on

Great Bear Lake Great Bear Lake ( den, Sahtú; french: Grand lac de l'Ours) is a lake in the boreal forest of Canada. It is the largest lake entirely in Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron are larger but straddle the Canada–US border), the fourth-largest i ...

. All of its powers and responsibilities were assumed by the

Délı̨nę Got'ı̨nę Government The Charter Community of Délı̨nę (North Slavey: ) is located in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, on the western shore of Great Bear Lake and is northwest of Yellowknife. Délı̨nę means "where the waters flow", a r ...

in 2016, but the federal government still recognizes the band for

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' (, long name ''An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians'') is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still ...

enrollment purposes. The Délı̨nę First Nation is a member of the Sahtu Dene Council. Under the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, it shares title to 41,437 square kilometers of land in the

Sahtu Region The Sahtu Region is an administrative region in Canada's Northwest Territories. Coterminous with the settlement region described in the 1993 Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, of the Sahtu is collectively owned by its Indi ...

. In addition to this regional agreement, the band also ratified a Délı̨nę Final Self-Government Agreement in 2014. The resulting Délı̨nę Got'ı̨nę Government began operating on September 1, 2016, assuming all previous responsibilities of the Délı̨nę First Nation, Délı̨nę Land Corporation, and the Charter Community of Délı̨nę. This merger of a First Nation and a municipality is unique in the Northwest Territories. With

Parks Canada Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the Structure of the Canadian federal government, agency of the Government of Canada whic ...

, the band jointly governs Saoyú-ʔehdacho, Canada's largest National Historic Site.

References

First Nations in the Northwest Territories Dene governments {{NorthwestTerritories-stub