Chipewyan /tʃɪpəˈwaɪən/,^[2] ethnonym Dene Suline, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. Dene Suline has over 11,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories,^[1] but only has official status in the Northwest Territories alongside 8 other aboriginal languages: Cree, Dogrib, Gwich’in, Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey and South Slavey.^[3]

Sounds [edit]

Consonants [edit]

The 39 consonants of Dene Suline:

The "velar" fricatives are actually uvular.

Vowels [edit]

Dene Suline has vowels of 6 differing qualities.

Most vowels can be either

• oral or nasal
• short or long

As a result, Dene Suline has 18 phonemic vowels:

Dene Suline also has 9 oral and nasal diphthongs of the form vowel + /j/.

Tone [edit]

Dene Suline has two tones:

• high
• low

Demographics [edit]

In the 2011 Canada Census 11,860 people chose Dene as their mother tongue. 70.6% were located in Saskatchewan and 15.2% were located in Alberta.^[4]

• 7,955 were in Saskatchewan ^[5]
• 1,680 were in Alberta (the Dene Tha' First Nation a Dene/South Slavey group are included in this total)
• 1,005 were in Manitoba
• 450 were in the Northwest Territories
• 70 were in British Columbia
• 45 were in the Yukon
• 20 were in Ontario

Not all were from the historical Chipewyan regions south and east of Great Slave Lake. Approximately 10,000 of those who chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011 are Dene/Chipewyan with 7,955 (80%) in Saskatchewan, 1,005 (10%) in Manitoba, 510 plus urban dwellers (6% to 7%) in Alberta and 260 plus urban dwellers (3% to 4%) in the Northwest Territories. The communities within the Dene/Chipewyan traditional areas are shown below:

Saskatchewan [edit]

The Dene (Dene Suline) speaking communities of Saskatchewan are located in the northern half of the province. The area from the upper Churchill River west of Pinehouse Lake all the way north to Lake Athabasca and from Lake Athabasca east to the north end of Reindeer Lake is home to 7410 people who chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]

Prince Albert had 265 residents who chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011, Saskatoon had 165, the La Ronge Population Centre had 55 and Meadow Lake had 30. ^[5]

3,050 were in the Lake Athabasca-Fond du Lac River area including Black Lake and Wollaston Lake in the communities of:

• Fond-du-Lac 705 out of 874 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.^[5]
• Stony Rapids 140 out of 243 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Black Lake (Chicken 224) 1040 out of 1070 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Uranium City
• Camsell Portage
• Wollaston Lake
• Wollaston Post (Lac La Hache 220) 1165 out of 1251 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.

3,090 were in the Clearwater River area including Lac La Loche, Descharme Lake, Garson Lake and Turnor Lake in the communities of:

• La Loche 2,300 out 2,611 chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]
• Clearwater River 720 out of 778 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Black Point
• Bear Creek
• Garson Lake
• Descharme Lake
• Turnor Lake
• Turnor Lake (Birch Narrows First Nation) 70 out of 419 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.

830 were in the upper Churchill River area including Peter Pond Lake and Churchill Lake in the communities of:

• Dillon (Buffalo River Dene Nation) 330 out of 764 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]
• St. George's Hill, Saskatchewan 85 out of 100 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Michel Village 55 out of 66 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Buffalo Narrows 35 out of 1153 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Patuanak 35 out of 64 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Patuanak (Wapachewunak 1920) 265 out of 482 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Beauval (La Plonge 192) 25 out of 115 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.

Manitoba [edit]

Two isolated communities are in northern Manitoba.

• Lac Brochet (197 A) 720 out of 816 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]
• Tadoule Lake (Churchill 1) 170 out of 321 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.

Alberta [edit]

The Wood Buffalo-Cold Lake Economic Region in the north eastern portion of Alberta from Fort Chipewyan to the Cold Lake area has the following communities. 510 residents of this region chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]

• Fort Chipewyan 45 out of 847 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]
• Fort McKay 30 out of 562 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Janvier (Janvier 194) 145 out of 295 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Janvier South 35 out of 104 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Cold Lake 149, Alberta 105 out of 594 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.
• Cold Lake 149 B, Alberta 25 out of 149 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011.

Northwest Territories [edit]

Three communities are located south of Great Slave Lake in Region 5. 260 residents of Region 5 chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]

• Fort Smith 30 out of 2093 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]
• Fort Resolution 95 out of 474 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]
• Lutselk'e 120 out of 295 residents chose Dene as their mother tongue in 2011. ^[5]

See also [edit]

• Chipewyan Syllabics
• Chipewyan people

References [edit]

Bibliography [edit]

External links [edit]

• Chipewyan at Ethnologue
• First Voices Dene Community Portal
• Our Languages: Dene (Saskatchewan Indian Cultural Centre)
  • history & background
  • reservations
  • reservation maps
  • preservation/revitalization
  • alphabet
  • grammar
  • terms/phrases (includes sound files)
• OLAC resources in and about the Chipewyan language

Aboriginal peoples in Canada portal