Nahanni Butte
Nahanni Butte
Tthenáágó | |
|---|---|
First Nations/Dene Band - Designated Authority (Nahanni Butte Dene Band) | |
| The Band Office in Nahanni Butte The Band Office in Nahanni Butte | |
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| Country | Canada |
| Territory | Northwest Territories |
| Region | Dehcho Region |
| Constituency | Nahendeh |
| Census division | Region 4 |
| Government | |
| • Chief | Steve Vital |
| • Band Manager | Soham Srimani |
| • MLA | Shane Thompson |
| Area | |
| • Land | 78.99 km2 (30.50 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 182 m (597 ft) |
| Population (2016)[1] | |
• Total | 87 |
| • Density | 1.1/km2 (2.8/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−07:00 (MST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−06:00 (MDT) |
| Canadian Postal code | X0E 0C1 & X0E 2N0 |
| Area code | 867 |
| Telephone exchange | 602 |
| - Living cost | 147.5A |
| - Food price index | 139.4B |
| Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[2] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[3] Canada Flight Supplement[4] ^A 2013 figure based on Edmonton = 100[5] ^B 2015 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[5] | |
Nahanni Butte (/nəˈhæni/ nə-HAN-ee; Slavey language: Tthenáágó [t̪θɛnáːkó] "strong rock") is a "Designated Authority"[6] in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located at the confluence of the Liard and South Nahanni Rivers in the southwestern part of the NWT.
Although it was not normally accessible by road, a winter road was constructed yearly until an all-season road was completed in October 2010 as far as the Liard River. Access from there is by river taxi in summer and ice road in winter; there are no plans for a vehicle ferry.
History
[edit | edit source]
Pre-European period
[edit | edit source]The Naha and Kaska Dena roamed the area,[7] for what sources point out to be millennia (allegedely up to 10.000 years ago).[8]
Prior to European exposure, the Dene people were highly mobile around the Deh Cho (Mackenzie River) region. Men were mainly hunters, women used to mostly stay at home and do housework. Usually, people would travel in smaller extended-family groups from one place to another, never to settle indefinitely.[8]
The Naha tribe, used to aggressively raid settlements built by the other ethnic groups, leading to a war in an unspecified date which in turn led to the migration of a significant part of the Naha in the area now inhabited by the Navajo.[8]
Contemporary period
[edit | edit source]During the 1800s, most Dene families left their nomadic lifestyles and settled into more permanent communities, often close to the trading posts on the banks of the river;[8] however most of the locals only became permanently settled in the late 1950s when the federal government forcefully relocated people from nearby Netla River in the area.[7]
Due to the locals tradition of closeness to nature and sites that are rich in terms of folklore, the area over the 60s generated a folklore of its own and various myths, such as one about a Bigfoot-like creature called a Nuk-luk which was allegedly seen in the area in the year 1964.[7] This tradition of creating rumours and myths regarding the surrounding areas though, seems to be dating as far back as the early 1900s.[9]
Demographics
[edit | edit source]Annual population estimates | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001 - 2017)[18] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Nahanni Butte had a population of 81 living in 33 of its 39 total private dwellings, a change of -6.9% from its 2016 population of 87. With a land area of 79.42 km2 (30.66 sq mi), it had a population density of 1.0/km2 (2.6/sq mi) in 2021.[17]
In 2016, there were 80 First Nations people and 40 people speak a Slavey language.[1]
First Nations
[edit | edit source]The Dene of the community are represented by the Nahɂą Dehé Dene Band and belong to the Dehcho First Nations.[19]
See also
[edit | edit source]References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
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- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 27 November 2025 to 0901Z 22 January 2026.
- ^ a b Nahanni Butte - Statistical Profile at the GNWT
- ^ Differences in Community Government Structure
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- ^ a b Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Population Estimates By Community from the GNWT
- ^ Dehcho First Nations Archived 2007-02-03 at the Wayback Machine
