Chipewyan or Dënesųłinë́, often simply called Dëne, is the language spoken by the Chipewyan people of northwestern Canada. It is categorized as part of the Northern Athabaskan language family. It has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. It has official status only in the Northwest Territories, alongside 8 other aboriginal languages: Cree, Tlicho, Gwich'in, Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey and South Slavey.
Dënesųłinë́ sign at La Loche Airport
Welcome signs by the La Loche Airport
Close-up of Dënesųłinë́ and English sign
The Chipewyan are a Dene Indigenous Canadian people 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 hail from what is now Western Canada.
A Chipewyan woman and child set out to hunt muskrat in Garson Lake, Saskatchewan
Album with photos of Chipewyan woman and boy
Denesuline children by canoe in La Loche
Sign in Denesuline at La Loche Airport