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 an Indigenous protected area that spans 26,376 square kilometres at the transition between boreal forest and tundra, including the east arm of Tu Nedhé (Great Slave Lake), the deepest freshwater lake in North America. Thaidene Nëné also provides habitat for sas cho (grizzly bears), nunı (wolves), denı́e (moose), and yutthéjëré (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. The Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation signed establishment agreements with Parks Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. These agreements 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.
Within the Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area (25,376 km2), 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, which was passed in 2019. 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.
