Sahtu Region

Sahtu Region
Sahtu Region
Administrative region
	Norman Range and Kelly Lake
	Norman Wells Fort Good Hope Tulita Deline Colville Lake
	Location within the Northwest Territories
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Territorial riding	Sahtu
Settlement area	Sahtu
Regional office	Norman Wells
Population (2016)
• Total	2,554
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (DST)

The Sahtu Region is an administrative region in Canada's Northwest Territories. Coterminous with the settlement region described in the 1993 Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, 41,437 km² (15,999 sq mi) of the Sahtu is collectively owned by its Indigenous Sahtu (Dene) and Métis inhabitants. Although the region's population is predominantly First Nations, a significant non-Indigenous presence exists in Norman Wells, the regional office,^[1] established in 1920 to serve the only producing oilfield in the Canadian Territories. Considered to be of vital strategic importance during World War II in the event of a Japanese invasion of Alaska, the region's petroleum resources were exploited by the United States Army with the Canol pipeline, but the project never became necessary and ultimately operated for less than one year.

Since the abandonment of the Canol project, development within the region has been more limited than in the rest of the territory. Although plans have long existed for pipelines and highways to parallel the Mackenzie River through the Sahtu en route to the Arctic Ocean, the landmark Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry recommended that a moratorium be placed on construction until local Indigenous land claims could be settled. To this day, no all-weather roads connect the Sahtu with the rest of Canada, and the contiguous North American pipeline network finds its northernmost terminus at Norman Wells, which was connected to Zama City, Alberta in 1984. Ground transportation is seasonally provided by a network of winter and ice roads, while the abandoned Canol route now forms part of the Trans Canada Trail system.^[3]

Etymology

Sahtú is the Dene name of Great Bear Lake, the largest lake entirely in Canada, which is entirely contained within the Sahtu Region. The name is also used by the area's First Nations inhabitants to describe themselves and their language, the Sahtú Dene people (historically known as the North Slavey or Hareskins).^[4] It has been further adopted by the Sahtu Dene Council and the Sahtu Secretariat, both Indigenous institutions which share administrative responsibilities with the Government of the Northwest Territories within the region.

Communities

The Sahtu Region consists of five communities, with no permanent population recorded outside their boundaries. Norman Wells, the regional capital, was founded in the early 20th century in order to exploit local oil deposits and has a majority non-Indigenous population. The other communities of the Sahtu are predominantly First Nations.

Communities of the Sahtu Region
Community			Demographics (2016)
Name^[5]		Type^[6]	Census^[7]	Aboriginal population profile^[8]
Official	Traditional	Type^[6]	Total	First Nations	Métis	Inuit	Other
Colville Lake	K'áhbamı̨́túé	Settlement Corporation	129	105	0	0	25
Deline	Délı̨ne	Charter Community	533	490	25	15	75
Fort Good Hope	Rádeyı̨lı̨kóé	Charter Community	516	430	35	30	130
Norman Wells	Tłegǫ́htı̨	Town	778	250	70	25	560
Tulita	Tulı́t’a	Hamlet	477	325	55	0	135