Wood Buffalo National Park is located in the heart of Dénesųłıuné homelands, where Dene people have lived from time immemorial. Central to the creation, expansion, and management of this park, Canada 's largest at nearly 45, 000 square kilometers, was the eviction of Dénesųłıuné people from their home, the forced separation of Dene families, and restriction of their Treaty rights.
Remembering Our Relations tells the history of Wood Buffalo National Park from a Dené perspective and within the context of Treaty 8. Oral history and testimony from Dene Elders, knowledge-holders, leaders, and community members place Dénesųłıuné voices first. With supporting archival research, this book demonstrates how the founding, expansion, and management of Wood Buffalo National Park fits into a wider pattern of promises broken by settler colonial governments managing land use throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
By prioritizing Dénesųłıuné histories Remembering Our Relations deliberately challenges how Dene experiences have been erased, and how this erasure has been used to justify violence against Dénesųłıuné homelands and people. Amplifying the voices and lives of the past, present, and future, Remembering Our Relations is a crucial step in the journey for healing and justice Dénesųłıuné peoples have been pursuing for over a century.
Authors
- Pages
- 344
- Published in
- Calgary, CA
Table of Contents
- Front Cover 1
- Half Title Page 2
- Series Page 3
- Full Title Page 4
- Copyright Page 5
- Contents 6
- List of Figures 8
- Abbreviations 10
- Acknowledgements 12
- Foreword 16
- Preface 20
- ACFN Elders’ Declaration on Rights to Land Use(8 July 2010) 22
- Community Member Biographies 24
- Dedication 34
- Introduction: nuhenálé noréltth’er 36
- 1 | nuhenéné hoghóídi 72
- ORAL HISTORY 86
- 2 | t’ahú tsąba nálye nį yati nedhé hólį,eyi bek’éch’á ejere néné hólį 102
- ORAL HISTORY 108
- 3 | t’ahú ejeré néné hólį ú t’ahú nuhghąnįh łą hílchú 124
- ORAL HISTORY 148
- 4 | 1944 k’e nánį denesųłiné ɂená bets’įnųłtsa k’eyághe ts’én nílya 162
- ORAL HISTORY 167
- 5 | edeghą k’óíldé íle ajá ú nuhenéné thų́bek’e náidé 180
- ORAL HISTORY 196
- 6 | t’ąt’ú náídé nuhghą hílchú ląt’e kúlíąłų́ dene k’ezí náídé 214
- ORAL HISTORY 1
- 7 | t’a nuhél nódher sí nuhenéné bazį́chu t’ąt’ú nuheba horená duhų́, eyibeghą dene héł hoílni 236
- ORAL HISTORY 1
- Conclusion: t’ąt’ú erihtł’ís hóhlį eyibet’á dene néné chu tu ghą k’óíldeha dúé 270
- APPENDIX 1 | Building a Community-Directed Work of Oral History 282
- APPENDIX 2 | List of Oral History Interviews From2020–2021 294
- APPENDIX 3 | Digital Copies of Archival Documents 296
- Notes 300
- Bibliography 328
- Index 338
- Back Cover 344
