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Denesųłiné

In Treaty Six, there is one community that speaks Denesųłiné, pronounced as Den-a-sooth-leh-na, which is The Cold Lake First Nation. The people from Cold Lake First Nation, also refer to themselves as Łuéchok Túé (thluee-ee-choke-tu-ee). The Denesųłiné language drives from the Chipewyan language family. Like other language families, the Dene language has different dialects that range from Mexico all the way to Alaska (Lewis, 2010). The Denesųłiné have two distinct dialects the T and L dialect. The Denesline speak the T dialect and is based on the relationship with Nįhǫłtsinį (pronounced Knee-hoot-see-nee), meaning mother earth and the natural cycles. They feel that the the language comes from the land  (Hildner, 2001) and so they have deep respect for Nįhǫłtsinį, and so it is deeply embedded into their language and culture. As an example, the Denesųłiné people use a lunar calendar that organizes the yearly activities, see below:

Caribou News (2016)

Dene_Lunar CalendarV3.JPG

To hear the language, listen to the beginning of this video

Currently, revitalization efforts are underway to save their language. Out of approximately 4000 people from Cold Lake First Nations, only 70 people can understand and speak fluent Denesųłiné (Cold Lake First Nation, 2020), which is alarmingly low. 

 

To learn to speak Denesųłiné the following resources and places are available: 

Dene Language Program

University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quill

 

Book

Denesųłiné t’a yats’eti lak’e (Speaking Denesųłiné at the office)

 

Cold Lake First Nation Language and Culture team

https://clfns.com/language-and-culture/

Denesųłiné App

Dene App.png
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