Chipewyan
 Dene High School, La Loche, Saskatchewan  Lutsel K'e Dene School, Lutselk'e, NWT |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (11,130 or 27,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut) |
|
| Languages | |
| English, Denesuline | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Animism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Dene, Yellowknives, Tłı̨chǫ, Slavey, Sahtu |
The Chipewyan (Denésoliné or Dënesųłı̨né, meaning "people of the barrens") are an aboriginal Dene ethnolinguistic group of the Athabaskan language family, whose ancestors are identified with the Taltheilei Shale archaeological tradition. They are part of the Northern Athabascan group of peoples, and come from what is now Western Canada.
The French-speaking missionaries to the northwest of the Red River Colony referred to the Chipewyan people as Montagnais in their documents written in French. Montagnais (in French) therefore has often been mistakenly translated to Montagnais (in English), which refers to the Innu of northern Quebec, and not the Dene (Chipewyan people).
Chipewyan peoples live in the region spanning the western Canadian Shield to the Northwest Territories and including part of northern parts of the provinces of Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
The following list of First Nations band governments had in August 2016 a total registered membership of 25,519, with 11,315 in Saskatchewan, 6,952 in Alberta, 3,038 in Manitoba and 4,214 in the Northwest Territories. All had Denesuline populations; however, several had a combination of Cree and Denesuline members (see the Barren Lands First Nation in Manitoba and the Fort McMurray First Nation in Alberta).
There are also many Dene (Dënesųlı̨ne)-speaking Métis beghárehék’ą tąnısts’ęn beyası́ communities located throughout the region. The Saskatchewan village of La Loche, for example, had 2,300 residents who in the 2011 census identified as speaking Dene (Denesuline) as their native language. About 1,800 of the residents were Métis and about 600 were members of the Clearwater River Dene Nation.
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