CE-067 conventionDeclaration detailLevel http://ica-atom.org/doc/RS-2#5.4 corporateBody Dene Nation conventionDeclaration Dene peoples conventionDeclaration conventionDeclaration Time immemorial - ongoing The Dene are spread across an immense terrain of land to the north that stretches from the Alaska coast extending through Yukon territory and beyond the Mackenzie Delta region in the Arctic Circle and almost reaching the Hudson Bay in the east. The Dene peoples know these lands as Denendeh. "To support the Dene Territories and Dene Communities in upholding the rights and interests of the Dene, including rights and interests arising from Dene use and occupation of lands, the “Denendeh,” and Dene rights and interests arising from Treaties."

Dene Elders keep the history of the Dene through stories and oral histories reaching back to the earliest days of the land, when people and animals were equals. Dene peoples have developed their cultural identities over generations, defining relationships with the lands where they lived. The Dene know these lands as Denendeh. The Dene people are spread out across Denendeh. They form part of a larger group known in anthropology as the Athapaskan people. Driven to respond to the Federal Government's White Paper of 1969, sixteen Chiefs united to form the Indian Brotherhood of the Northwest Territories in October 1969. The organization's first president was Morris Lafferty of Fort Simpson. His successor was Mona Jacobs of Fort Smith, NT. Ms. Jocabs assumed a role as interim president of the organization. She was given responsibility to protect the rights and interests of the Dene under treaty. in 1973, the Dene realized a significant achievement in the recognition of their rights when the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development established an office in Yellowknife. This was formal federal government recognition of the rights of the Dene. In July 1976, the Dene published the Dene Declaration and Manifesto. This document called for the recognition of a separate nation of Dene within the Mackenzie Valley. The Declaration called for the establishment of a separate Dene-contolled government. Later in 1976, the Metis Association stated that it could not support this goal on philosophical grounds and announced it wished to develop its own claim. The federal government provided funding to enable the Metis to make its own claim. This was done with the strategic intention of recognizing all regional aspirations before negotiations began. The strategy was to create only one final settlement for Indigenous claims in the Mackenzie Valley. The 1982 Constitution initiated negotiations with Dene representatives concerning the sovereignty and self-determination of the Dene people.

Submission from the Dene Nation 1990-01-01 2000-12-31

1990-2000