Negotiations with the Manitoba and Saskatchewan Denesuline are a result of the 1991 Benoanie court case in Saskatchewan and 1993 Samuel/Thorassie court case in Manitoba. These legal actions were in response to the then forthcoming Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. The Manitoba and Saskatchewan Denesuline had concerns that the Nunavut Agreement failed to adequately address the overlaps with their asserted harvesting rights north of the 60th parallel.
In 1999, the Federal Government and the Manitoba and Saskatchewan Denesuline agreed to suspend their legal action while the parties worked to reach a settlement through negotiations. The negotiations started in September 1999 (Manitoba) and in January 2001 (Saskatchewan). The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), as a defendant in this legal action, has been participating in these negotiations since April 2001.
There are 4500 Denesuline currently living in five communities located in Northern Saskatchewan (Fond-du-Lac, Black Lake, Hatchet Lake) and in Northern Manitoba (Lac Brochet, Tadoule Lake). The Denesuline often refer to themselves as the “Ethen-eldeli” or “caribou-eaters.” Caribou had an overwhelming importance to the traditional life-style and is still crucial to the lives of Denesuline.
These negotiations generally center on Denesuline harvesting rights north of 60. The area, in which the Manitoba and Saskatchewan Denesuline assert harvesting rights, is in the southeastern corner of the NWT.
On May 26, 2004, the GNWT, the Federal Government, and the Saskatchewan Athabasca Denesuline signed an Interim Measures Agreement (IMA) in their negotiations of harvesting rights in the Northwest Territories. The IMA establishes temporary measures for consultations on some land related activities while negotiations continue towards a final agreement.
Also that year, on August 5, 2004, the GNWT, the Federal Government, and the Manitoba Denesuline signed an Interim Measures Agreement (IMA) in their negotiations of harvesting rights in the Northwest Territories.
For more information regarding the Denesuline Nation, please see the following web sites:
Key Documents:
Manitoba Denesuline Interim Measures Agreement, August 2004
Manitoba Denesuline and Inuit Overlap Accord, October 2005
Manitoba Denesuline Interim Land Withdrawal Protocol, February 2007
Saskatchewan Denesuline Memorandum of Understanding, 2000
Saskatchewan Denesuline Interim Measures Agreement, May 2004