Lands, Water & Environment Department

Protecting Denendeh’s lands, waters, and wildlife through Dene Knowledge, sovereignty, and partnership.

The mandate for the Dene Nation’s Lands, Water and Environment Department is to retain sovereignty by strengthening the Dene spiritual beliefs and cultural values in Denendeh on land, water, and environment issues. The department provides advice and support on these issues to the Dene National Chief and Executive, and manages related environmental projects.

Water is at the heart of Dene life and Denendeh — it is sacred, it connects our communities, and its health is inseparable from the health of the land and the caribou, fish, and people who depend on it.

We work in partnership with the Assembly of First Nations, Arctic Athabaskan Council, Ecology North, Pembina, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, and Federal and Territorial Governments.

On this page

• Water
• WBI Project
• Dene Mapping
• Climate Change
• Caribou Committee
• ACRC
• Contaminants

Current Focus Areas

Water

Water flows through every part of Denendeh — the Dehcho (Mackenzie River), its tributaries, and the lakes and wetlands that sustain fish, wildlife, and communities. The Dene Nation works to protect water quality and quantity, assert Dene water rights and jurisdiction, and ensure decisions about shared waters include Dene Knowledge and consent.

Denendeh Watershed Map

A map of the water that moves through Denendeh — the Dehcho, two great lakes, and everything they feed on the way to the Arctic Ocean.

Nagwichoonjik Water Summit

Details and outcomes from the Water Summit.

Dene Nation Western Boreal Initiative (WBI)

The Dene Nation has completed research and discussions for the WBI Caribou project — a multi-year initiative integrating Dene Knowledge into conservation efforts for Boreal caribou, a species listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act, supported by a contribution agreement with Environment and Climate Change Canada.

This project was not to collect and document Dene Knowledge, as this must be earned by following protocols in person — it was used to determine how Dene Knowledge could be used to protect the species and its critical habitat.

Challenges & Modifications

The project faced numerous unforeseen challenges — the deaths of Elders, natural disasters, Covid-19 restrictions, political changes, and wildfire evacuations — requiring extensions and modifications. Despite this, the project was completed in four out of five regions.

Dene Mapping Project

The original map was completed in the 1970s and 1980s in our communities and at the University of Alberta. The data was transferred to a now-outdated software program, and we are in the process of updating it for community use — data our communities have the right to, to support land management, economic development, hunting and trapping, and major developments.

Dene Economy

The Dene Nation strongly supports traditional activities such as hunting and trapping as a crucial part of our northern economy, alongside a sustainable tourism industry.

Climate Change

Climate change in the north is increasing faster than in any other region in the world. The Dene are deeply concerned for the wellbeing of future descendants’ coexistence with the land, and are working closely with other governments and organizations to reduce impacts.

Dene Nation Chiefs Caribou Committee (DNCCC)

Established to address concerns from population decline of caribou herds in the NWT. In October 2006, motion #06/07-006 was passed at the Dene Nation’s Special Assembly in Fort Good Hope requesting the implementation of the DNCCC, with membership including one representative from each of the five regions.

Arctic Peoples, Culture, Resilience and Caribou (ACRC)

Approved as an International Polar Year project in 2008 to learn more about the effects of and responses to declining caribou populations in northern Canada, led by a network including the Arctic Athabaskan Council, Gwich’in Council International, Dene Nation, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and the Inuit Circumpolar Council–Canada.

Northern Contaminants Program

Established in 1991 in response to concerns about human exposure to elevated contaminant levels in wildlife important to the traditional diets of Northern Aboriginal peoples. Early studies indicated a wide spectrum of substances.