Thaidene Nëné, which means Land of the Ancestors in Dënesųłıné, is the homeland of the Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation.
Thaidene Nëné is also a Indigenous protected area that spans 6.5 million acres (26,376 square kilometres) at the transition between boreal forest and tundra, and includes the east arm of Tu Nedhé (Great Slave Lake), the deepest freshwater source in North America. Thaidene Nëné also provides habitat for grizzly bears, wolves, moose, and muskox, and the critical wintering ground of Ɂetthën (caribou). Thaidene Nëné was designated by the Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation in 2019 as an Indigenous Protected Area using our own Dene Law. Through agreements with Parks Canada and the GNWT, portions of the Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area have been designated a National Park Reserve (NPR), a Territorial Protected Area (TPA), and soon a Wildlife Conservation Area (WCA).
The Thaidene Nëné Establishment Agreements, of which there are two, recognize that each party has a particular set of authorities and responsibilities. They further recognize that each party has its own set of laws through which it entered into the agreements. The Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area (25,376 km2) was designated by the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation using our own Dene Law. Within the Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area, Parks Canada designated an area of 14,305 km2 as a national park reserve (NPR) under the National Parks Act. The Government of the Northwest Territories established the first territorial protected area in the NWT, measuring 8,906 km2, by regulation under the territorial Protected Areas Act. The 3,165-square kilometre wildlife conservation area (WCA) was designated by regulation under the NWT Wildlife Act.
Management of the Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area is cooperative, with Indigenous, federal, and territorial governments all working together.
