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Dene children in La Loche, Saskatchewan in the 1940s
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The Dene Suline language or the Chipewyan language
Approximately 11,000 of the 11,860 people who chose Dene as their mother tongue in the 2011 Canada Census are Dene/Chipewyan from the historical
Chipewyan regions south and east of
Great Slave Lake. 7,955 or 72% were in Saskatchewan, 1,005 were in Manitoba, 510 plus urban dwellers in Alberta and 260 plus urban dwellers in the Northwest Territories.
The communities within the Dene/Chipewyan traditional areas are shown below:
La Loche and the adjoining village of Clearwater River have the largest concentration of Dene Suline speakers in Canada with 3,020 or 27% of the total.
Saskatchewan
Most of Dene (Dene Suline) speaking communities of Saskatchewan are located in the northern half of the province. The area from the upper
Churchill River west of
Pinehouse Lake all the way north to
Lake Athabasca and from Lake Athabasca east to the north end of
Reindeer Lake is home to 7410 people who chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
3,050 were in the
Lake Athabasca-
Fond du Lac River area including
Black Lake and
Wollaston Lake in the communities of:
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19% of the Dene/Chipewyan speaking population of Canada live in Fond du Lac, Stony Rapids and Black Lake.
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12% of the Dene/Chipewyan speaking population of Canada live in Wollaston Lake.
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3,090 were in the Clearwater River area including Lac La Loche, Descharme Lake, Garson Lake and Turnor Lake in the communities of:
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39% of the Dene/Chipewyan speaking population of Canada live in the villages on this map of the Upper Churchill River.
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830 were in the upper
Churchill River area including
Peter Pond Lake and
Churchill Lake in the communities of:
Manitoba
Alberta
- Fort Chipewyan 45 out of 847 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
- Fort McKay 30 out of 562 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
- Janvier (Janvier 194) 145 out of 295 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
- Janvier South 35 out of 104 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
- Cold Lake 149) 105 out of 594 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
- Cold Lake 149 B) 25 out of 149 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
Northwest Territories
- Fort Smith 30 out of 2093 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
- Fort Resolution 95 out of 474 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
- Lutselk'e 120 out of 295 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
The Dene/Chipewyan and the caribou
The Dene/Chipewyan followed the caribou herds. The map below shows caribou migrations and in red are archaeological sites.
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