 | ||
The Slavey (also Slave) are a First Nations aboriginal people of the Dene group, indigenous to the Great Slave Lake region, in Canada's Northwest Territories, and extending into northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta.
Contents
Name
The name is seldom used by the Slavey, who call themselves Dene. Indigenous ethnonyms for South Slavey people and language are Dehcho, Deh Cho Dene (″Mackenzie River People″) or Dene Tha.
Though most Athabaskan peoples call themselves Dene, those in the Northwest Territories tend to mean it for themselves only. However, the northern Slavey are also known in English as the Sahtú, while the southern band are known as the Deh Cho.
The Cree named their enemies as slaves, as they often took captives and enslaved them. 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, as the French traded with the Cree before the English did. The people now known as Slavey in English were not necessarily taken as slaves in that period.
Groups
The South Slavey live in northwestern Alberta, northeastern British Columbia, and the southern Northwest Territories. First Nations of South Slavey people:
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.