Yellowknives

This article is about the First Nations people in the Northwest Territories. For other uses, see Yellowknife (disambiguation).

The Yellowknives, Yellow Knives, Copper Indians, Red Knives or T'atsaot'ine are Aboriginal peoples of Canada, one of the five main groups of the Dene indigenous people that live in the Northwest Territories 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.

Ethnography

The historic Yellowknives lived north of the Great Slave Lake and traveled, hunted, and traded as far east as Hudson's Bay where early European explorers such as Samuel Hearne encountered them in the 1770s. The Yellwknives helped lead Hearne through the arctic tundra from Hudson's Bay to the Arctic Ocean 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.

The Yellowknives and the Dogrib who also lived on the north shores of Great Slave Lake were ancestral enemies and 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 N'Dilo was created in the mid 1950s on the tip of Latham Island. The Yellowknives Dene First Nation was formed in the 1990s 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 Dene group has come forward claiming themselves as direct descendants of the historic 'Yellowknife Indian' tribes, asserting their independence from the Dogrib-Chipewyan Yellowknives Dene First Nation. They are considered a distinct people and are still seeking recognition today under Treaty 8.

Notes

Further reading

• Canada. Yellowknives Dene First Nations Treaty & Entitlement: Important Times for Yellowknives About Treaty. --. [Yellowknife, N.W.T.: Govt. of the N.W.T.], 1993.
• Canada. Yellowknife 1993: Aboriginal Peoples in the Capital of the NWT : Final Report. --. [Yellowknife, N.W.T.: Govt. of the N.W.T.], 1993.
• Fumoleau, René. Denendeh: A Dene Celebration. Yellowknife, Denendeh, N.W.T.: Dene Nation, 1984. ISBN 0969184107
• Northwest Territories. Dene Kede = Dene Zhatie = Dene Náoweré Dahk'é : Education, a Dene Perspective. Yellowknife, N.W.T.: Education, Culture and Employment, Education Development Branch, 1993.
• Yellowknives Dene First Nation Elders Advisory Council. Weledeh Yellowknives Dene: A Traditional Knowledge Study of Ek'ati. [Northwest Territories]: Yellowknives Dene First Nation, 1997.

External links

• Catholic Encyclopedia article