News: Saoyú-ʔehdacho Celebration
On April 14, 2009, Parks Canada and Délįne announced that Saoyú-ʔehdacho would become a permanently protected National Historic Site, the first area so designated under the PAS process. A celebration with the Minister responsible for Parks Canada Jim Prentice in attendance was held in Délįne to celebrate the historic event.
Throughout this journey, Délįne has remained strong and persistent in its vision to protect the stories and the land of Saoyú-ʔehdacho. Home to the Sahtugot’ine, the Dene of Great Bear Lake, Saoyú-ʔehdacho consists of the two major peninsulas (Grizzly Bear Mountain and the Scented Grass Hills, in English respectively) on the west arm of Great Bear Lake. Their landscape is rich in history and culture, and helps to define who the Sahtugot’ine are as a people.
Parks Canada designated Saoyú-ʔehdacho as a National Historic Site of Canada in 1998. This designation formally recognized the cultural landscape of Saoyú - ʔehdacho as part of the collective Canadian heritage. In 1999, the community of Délįne entered Saoyú-ʔehdacho into the NWT Protected Areas Strategy, an eight-step multi partner process that helps communities identify and protect natural and cultural areas. Through the process, Délįne Land Corporation worked closely with Délįne First Nation, Délįne Renewable Resources Council, Parks Canada, the NWT PAS Secretariat, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT), Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), and the NWT Chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS-NWT). It was the second candidate area to be proposed under the strategy, and the first area to receive interim protection. With so many “firsts” and having no previous examples to learn from, Saoyú-ʔehdacho led the way in building the NWT Protected Areas Strategy, vividly described by some participants as "being the first ones to set the snowshoe trail…and in deep snow."
Nine years later, a final agreement for permanent protection was reached and signed by Délįne and Parks Canada, who will now co-operatively manage Saoyú-ʔehdacho through a co-operative management board.
Protecting the lands that hold the stories of Saoyú-ʔehdacho will ensure the rich oral history natural heritage can continue to enrich the lives of the Sahtugot’ine and be shared with all Canadians for generations to come. Congratulations Délįne and Parks Canada on the permanent protection of this National Historic Site.
Photos from the Celebration
Press Releases & Coverage
- Saoyú-ʔehdacho becomes a Protected National Historic Site through the Protected Areas Strategy Process (GNWT Release)
- Government of Canada announces the protection of Canada’s largest national historic site (Government of Canada Release)
- Great Bear Lake Cultural Landscape Fully Protected as National Historic Site (CPAWS Release)
-
Canadian Boreal Initiative Applauds Protection Around NWT's Great Bear Lake
(CBI Release)
- National historic site in N.W.T. to be protected: Prentice (CBC)
- NWT Site Gets Permanent Federal Protection (CJCD)
- Aires protégées : Saoyú et ʔehdacho, le cœur battant de la culture du Sahtu (L'aquilon)
