The goal of this project was to identify likely areas that have been used by the Sahtu people living within the vicinity of the community of Tulit'a (formerly referred to as Fort Norman). The purpose directing this exercise is to highlight the nature of land use and land settlement in the Northwest Territories. Interests in developing natural resources in the Northwest Territories has introduced the language of land use management to Dene bands and communities. Frequently the negotiation of land use between Dene people, resource developers, and federal representatives results in the re-articulation of Dene concerns into natural resource management modes of classification. In order to effectively conduct natural resource management in conjunction with aboriginal peoples within the Northwest Territories as well as the rest of Canada, it is essential to collaborate with aboriginal communities, and to develop more synthesized methods to discuss land use management in areas currently and traditionally occupied by aboriginal people. 

 

This project aims to develop an example model for representing aboriginal interests within the context of natural resource development. Many resource extraction activities are currently underway nearby Tulit'a and further development has been proposed for the future. Figure 1. displays a map of the Northwest Territories as well as the study area included in this project. The Study Area Map displays the slope surrounding Tulit'a, in which blue areas represent lower slope and brown areas represent higher slope. To accommodate the growing interests of industry as well as respect the goals and perspectives of the Sahtu people, the analysis conducted for this project strive to demonstrate the importance of aboriginal perspective when negotiating the terms of industrial development by highlighting critical areas to be considered for protection or special management in the interests of the Sahtu people. 

 

Several factors were taken into consideration when selecting criteria to best represent areas of important land use to the Sahtu people. First, trails for hunting and trapping are used almost exclusively by single families, leading to repeated visits over the course of multiple generations. Though this is the case, many family trails often overlap within the same area. Therefore, there are regions where the bulk of individuals are likely to frequent and repeatedly use. As it would be challenging and intrusive to try to represent individual trails, this project instead sought to identify high areas of traffic. 

 

The chronology and timing of trail use is intricate and inconsistent. There are a number of factors dictating the time of year, frequency, and intensity of use. For instance, some trappers might not visit their trap lines for a decade in order to allow the animal population to appropriately recover; yet, this decision could be misconstrued as declining attention and jepordize the interpretation of the legitimacy of a claim to a particular trapping area. Representation of seasonality was present in the multicriteria analysis by the ranked importance of the animal species included. Moose was ranked as the primary animal species for the hunting scheme, and beaver was represented as the primary species in the trapping scheme. Although available throughout the year, the prime season for hunting moose occurs in the fall and winter. Beaver are caught in the early spring with the beginning of icemelt. Consequently, the weighted maps produced for the hunting and trapping areas are most representative of those respective seasons. 

 

The criteria for the hunting and trapping areas produced took into consideration the time depth of the Sahtu people's habitation and techniques by which the landscape has been navigated. Tulit'a was one of the first trading posts to be established in the Northwest Territories in 1851, and has served as a major hub for fur trading throughout the year. Many family trapping trails radiate outwards from Tulit'a, and the community is also a central location for hunting activities. Dene habitation prior to the introduction of the fur trade was also taken into consideration. Sites and landmarkers mentioned in Dene oral tradition were used as navigational tools and directed people towards resources. Given the longevity of trail use in the region and the importance of stories in the oral tradition, it is very likely for trails to exist nearby these sites. 

 

A final consideration for the project took into account that trails were more likely to occur when more readily accessible by foot. Slope was used to represent areas where animals and humans could experience the most mobility and were likely to frequent. Given that the criteria for analysis lay on a spectrum and not discrete gradation of use, fuzzy membership was used to define the likelihood of an area to be exploited for hunting or trapping activities.

 

The final output of this project is a map of areas that likely experience high use in both hunting and trapping activities, historically and contemporarily. The final map displays areas that should be taken into special consideration when negotiating the terms of future natural resource management and resource development.