CHEROKEE-L Archives

From: "Blue Panther" <>
Subject: Chipewyan - Brief Notes
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 2004 09:14:15 -0600

Chipewyan - Brief Notes

Chipewyan (Dene) Nation: Northern nomadic tribe whose territory stretched
from the Churchill river north to the tundra and from Hudson Bay in the east
to Great Slave Lake and part of Alberta in the west. Although a numerous
people, they had very little internal social or governmental structure.
Their language defined them as a community and their leadership was rarely
defined and quite flexible. The Chipewyan name is derived from a Cree term
meaning "pointed skins" that some believe refers to the way these particular
peoples made and wore their shirts and others interpret as a comment upon
how the Chipewyan prepared their furs for trade. Chipewyan culture valued
flexibility and personal freedom and they, unlike most other Plains peoples,
had no system of organized warfare although they did consider both the Cree
and the Inuit to be enemies. After the arrival of the white-man in their
region, the Chipewyan population was decimated by smallpox which claimed a
reported 90% of their peoples. In 1898 the Chipewyan signed Treaty #8 along
with the Cree and Beaver. Under the terms of the treaty the Chipewyan were
allowed to obtain land in individual allotments as they shared no official
community and did not wish to confine themselves to reserves.

From Blue Panther Keeper of Stories.

This thread:

• Chipewyan - Brief Notes by "Blue Panther" <>