Slavey Explained
The Slavey (also Awokanak, Slave, and South Slavey) are a First Nations group of Indigenous peoples in Canada. They speak the Slavey language, a part of the Athabaskan languages. Part of the Dene people, their homelands are in the Great Slave Lake region, in Canada's Northwest Territories, northeastern British Columbia, and northwestern Alberta.
Name
Cree exonym "slave"
Slavey or just Slave is a translation of Awokanak,[2] the name given to Dene by the Cree "who sometimes raided and enslaved their less aggressive northern ".[3] [4] [5] The names of the Slave River, Lesser Slave River, Great Slave Lake, and Lesser Slave Lake all derive from this Cree name. Esclaves remains incorporated in the French names of these geographical features, since the French traded with the Cree before the English did. The people now called Slavey in English were not necessarily taken as slaves in that period.
Dehcho autonym
The name Slavey is seldom used by the people themselves, who call themselves Dene. Indigenous ethnonyms for South Slavey people and language are Dehcho, Deh Cho Dene ("Mackenzie River People") or Dene Tha.[6]
Though most Athabaskan peoples call themselves Dene, those in the Northwest Territories tend to use it for their particular group specifically. However, the northern Slavey are also known in English as the Sahtú, while the southern band are known as the Deh Cho.[7]
Groups
The South Slavey live in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and the southern Northwest Territories. First Nations of South Slavey people:[8]
- The Fort Nelson First Nation (Treaty 8)[9] in British Columbia. Own name: Dene "the people", for language Dene k'e. Historical literature Fort Nelson Indian Band, Fort Nelson Slavey Band, Fort Nelson Indians.
- The Dene Tha' First Nation in Alberta. Own name: for people Dene Tha or Dene Dháa "ordinary people", for language Dene Dháh. Historical literature by a number of names, including the following: Upper Hay River Band; Hay Lake(s) Band; Hay River Indians; Slave Band; Slavey Indians at Hay Lake(s); Upper Hay River Post Indians; and Bistcho Lake Tribe.
- The Dehcho First Nations (also called Deh Cho Dene – "Mackenzie River Dene"[10]) in the Northwest Territories:
The Sahtu, Sahtu Dene ("Great Bear Lake People") or North Slavey people live exclusively in the Northwest Territories. They speak the North Slavey language.
The Navajo people (Diné) of the Four Corners region of the Southwestern United States are said to be descended from the Nahani, who lived where the Nahanni National Park Reserve is, and also the Slavey of Northern Canada.[12]
In popular culture
Most residents of Lynx River, the fictional town in which CBC drama North of 60 is set, are Slavey. Though the word itself is seldom mentioned in dialogue (band members generally identifying themselves as Dene), the town is located in Slavey territory and on one occasion a character proposes a toast before the assembled members in the Slavey language.
See also
Further reading
- Asch, Michael. Slavey Indians. S.l: s.n, 1978.
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Aboriginal Ancestry Responses (73), Single and Multiple Aboriginal Responses (4), Residence on or off reserve (3), Residence inside or outside Inuit Nunangat (7), Age (8A) and Sex (3) for the Population in Private Households of Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2016 Census - 25% Sample Data. Government of Canada. www12.statcan.gc.ca. 25 October 2017. en. 2017-11-23.
- Web site: Slave African-American, Abolitionists, Emancipation Britannica . 2023-10-03 . www.britannica.com . en.
- Waldman, Carl (2006). Facts on File Library of American History - Encyclopedia of Native American tribes. Infobase Publishing. p. 275. .
- Pritzker, Barry (2000). A Native American encyclopedia : history, culture, and peoples. Oxford University Press. p. 512. .
- Web site: Yellowknife hotel with 'slave' in name stokes conversation on reclaiming Indigenous names.
- Book: Rice, Sally . 2009 . The Linguistics of Eating and Drinking . Athapaskan eating and drinking verbs and constructions . Newman, J. . 109–152 . Amsterdam, NL; Philadelphia, PA . John Benjamins. Contemporary, indigenous ethnonyms for some of the Athapaskan languages represented in this paper are given in parentheses after the term likely to be more common in the traditional linguistic and anthropological literature: Babine (Witsuwit'en), Chipewyan (Dene Sųłiné), Navajo (Diné), Sarcee / Sarsi (Tsuu T'ina) South Slavey (Dehcho or Dene Tha), North Slave (Sahtu).
- Web site: Dehcho First Nation.
- https://docs.neb-one.gc.ca/ll-eng/llisapi.dll/fetch/2000/90464/90550/90718/547178/565873/592484/593662/D-20b_-_Bouchard_-_Kennedy_-_Dene_Tha__Presence_in_Northeastern_BC.pdf?nodeid=593761&vernum=-2 Dene Tha' Presence in Northeastern BC
- http://www.fortnelsonfirstnation.org/ Fort Nelson First Nation
- Shirleen Smith 1999. Dene treaties, anthropology and colonial relationships. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta. Edmonton, Alberta, Spring 1999. [''Chapter 2. In this chapter, I use the term "Slavey" in summarizing the ethnographic descriptions of Deh Cho Dene. I should clarify that this is not the term Dene use to describe themselves. In the Deh Cho region, Dene have a number of names for their people, for example: Dene from Acho Kue refer to themselves as Acho Dene, and the "Mountain Dene" from Fort Norman (part of the Deh Cho First Nations Council) refer to themselves as the Begade Shotagotine. A much more detailed discussion of Dene names is warranted for future work.'']
- http://www.ssdec.nt.ca/Dictionary/dict_home2.html South Slavey Topical Dictionary Kátłʼodehche Dialect
- For example, the Great Canadian Parks website suggests the Navajo may be descendants of the lost Naha tribe, a Slavey tribe from the Nahanni region west of Great Slave Lake. Web site: Nahanni National Park Reserve. Great Canadian Parks. 2007-07-02.
