Saoyú-ʔehdacho
| Saoyú-ʔehdacho | |
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 Location of Saoyú-ʔehdacho in Northwest Territories
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| Location | Northwest Territories, Canada |
| Coordinates | 65°20′01″N 121°00′06″W / 65.333508°N 121.001639°WCoordinates: 65°20′01″N 121°00′06″W / 65.333508°N 121.001639°W |
| Governing body | Parks Canada, Déline First Nation |
| Official name: Saoyú-ʔehdacho National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Designated | 1997 |
Saoyú-ʔehdacho (also known as Sahoyue-Edacho, Sahoyúé-§ehdacho, Saoyú and Æehdacho and Grizzly Bear Mountain and Scented Grass Hills) is a cultural landscape in the Northwest Territories, Canada, comprising two peninsulas in Great Bear Lake. The site has great cultural and spiritual significance for the Sahtu people, as it is considered sacred land and it features prominently in their oral histories.
Saoyú-ʔehdacho is 5,587 square kilometres (2,157 sq mi) in size, approximately the size of the province of Prince Edward Island, and consists of two peninsulas: Saoyú (Grizzly Bear Mountain) and ʔehdacho (Scented Grass Hills). The peninsulas are both characterized by flat summits, approximately 725 and 650 metres (2,379 and 2,133 ft) above sea level respectively. The perimeters of both promontories feature a series of raised beaches, formed by the post-glacial rebound, which contain the majority of the known evidence of human occupation of the lands, including archaeological resources related to pre-contact occupation from over 5000 years ago.
Saoyú-ʔehdacho was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1997, on the basis that the landscape, its cultural resources (including graves, trails and cabins) and its associated oral histories contribute to an understanding of the origin, spiritual values, lifestyle and land-use of the Sahtu Dene. In 2001 and 2005, the federal government enacted withdrawal orders under the Territorial Lands Act, prohibiting the registration of new mineral claims or other third party interests against the Saoyú-ʔehdacho lands. In 2007, Parks Canada entered into an agreement with the Déline First Nation to permanently protect and cooperatively manage the site, with surface title to the Crown lands portion of the site (constituting 80% of the overall land) transferred to Parks Canada from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada in 2009. In 2011, an Order in Council increased the legal protection for Crown-owned portions of the site by applying regulatory protections under the National Parks Act to the lands.
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