Thaıdene Nëné Xá Dá Yáłtı is the operational management board of the Thaıdene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area. Thaıdene Nëné Xá Dá Yáłtı means “the people that speak for Thaıdene Nëné” in Dene yatı.
Board members are appointed by the Łutsël K’é Dene First Nation, Northwest Territory Métis Nation, Parks Canada, and the Government of the Northwest Territories. Following their appointment, these individuals no longer represent the parties that appointed them; they speak only for Thaıdene Nëné.
Each party designates a senior representative or representatives to attend meetings of Thaıdene Nëné Xá Dá Yáłtı and provide support to the board.
Tasked with thinking long term for the land and the people, Thaıdene Nëné Xá Dá Yáłtı provides its best guidance on planning, management, operation, monitoring, and evaluation within the protected area.
Thaıdene Nëné Xá Dá Yáłtı uses consensus to make decisions, which guide the parties in carrying out operations in fulfillment of the following objectives: to protect the land; to protect Indigenous ways of life; and to ensure future generations are able to live in relation to the land as the ancestors did.
Thaıdene Nëné Xá Dá Yáłtı builds on the model of the Archipelago Management Board piloted by the Haida in Gwaii Haanas National Park. One thing that distinguishes Thaıdene Nëné from Gwaii Haanas is that in addition to shared management and decision-making, the parties have agreed to shared operations. The parties work together to decide, for example, who will build a boardwalk or who will staff a safety patrol. Once direction is received from Thaıdene Nëné Xá Dá Yáłtı, the parties collaboratively determine how they will optimize their resources to carry out the board’s decisions.
Although decision-making and operations are shared, the parties have different responsibilities. For example, caring for sacred spaces, such as Ts’ąkuı Thedá, the spiritual heart of Thaıdene Nëné, is the responsibility of Łutsël K’é.
