Tadoule Lake (Chipewyan: ᕞᐡ ᗀᐅᐟᕄ ᕤᐧᐁ, T’es he úli túé) is an isolated northern community in Manitoba reachable by plane, snowmobile, dog team sleds, and in winter by winter road. In 1973, the Sayisi Dene moved here to return to their Barren-ground Caribou hunting life.[1]
The name appears as Tos-da-ool-le in the T.B. Johnson report of 1890, and as Tas-da-ool-le on the Arrowsmith map of 1832. Of Chipewyan origin Tes-He-Olie Twe, it may be translated as "floating charcoal" for the floating cinders and burnt wood resulting from an early forest fire or "Ashes floating on the lake".[2] The modern spelling has been in common usage since 1914.[3]
The community is located on the northwest shore of Tadoule Lake by the Seal River and is centered within the winter range of the Qamiuriak Caribou Herd (barren-ground caribou).[4] Tadoule Lake is served by Tadoule Lake Airport for air transportation and the Peter Yassie Memorial School for K-12 education.[5]
The Sayisi Dene First Nation Relocation Settlement Trust has funded annual children's summer camps intended to promote literacy since 2016, which are well attended by the community.[6]
In recent years, Tadoule Lake is exploring the possibility of youth wilderness expeditions for the community to explore the Seal River Watershed. The Sayisi Dene and neighbouring Inuit and Cree communities are attempting to establish the watershed in which Tadoule Lake is located in to become an Indigenous Protected Conservation Area.[7][8][9]
During 2021 Western North America heat wave, on July 2 and 3, 2021, the record high temperature of 38.1 °C (100.6 °F) was registered.[10]
History
editIn 1969, some Duck Lake Dene began discussing the possibility of becoming self-reliant and returning to the ancestral lifestyle after the forced 1956 relocation of the Dene community originally at Little Duck Lake.[4] A few families left Churchill and Dene Village to move to North Knife Lake in 1969. More would move from Churchill, this time to South Knife Lake in 1971.
In 1973, the Duck Lake Dene, North Knife Lake and South Knife Lake Dene moved north to Tadoule Lake.
Fred Bruemmer visited the community in 1977 as a Globe and Mail journalist and noted that Tadoule Lake had 58 log cabins built across an area of more than 1.5 kilometres and a welcoming community that hosted him for weeks.[11]
By the 1990s, the Duck Lake Dene saw it could succeed in its new environment and changed their legal name from "Churchill, Band of Caribou-eater Chipewyan" to "Sayisi Dene First Nation (Tadoule Lake, Manitoba)".[12][1][13][14]
In 2016, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett attended a formal apology ceremony at Tadoule Lake, with the government awarding more than $33 million in compensation to the Sayisi Dene. Most of the money was put in trust for community development.[11]
In recent years, concerns about drug smuggling and bootlegging have prompted the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), an advocacy organization of 26 First Nations who are signatories to the Numbered Treaties with the Canadian government, to call for renewed efforts to addressing these issues in Tadoule Lake.[15]
The community postal address and postal code for Tadoule Lake is: General Delivery, Tadoule Lake, Manitoba R0B 2C0.
Demographics
editThe registered population of the Sayisi Dene First Nation living in Tadoule Lake as of February 2023 was 314, with an additional 586 members living off-reserve.[16] The territory of Sayisi Dene consists of Churchill 1, IRI with 212.10 hectares[17] and is governed by a Chief and three councillors.[17] The Sayisi Dene are represented by the Keewatin Tribal Council, which represent eleven First Nations reserves in Northern Manitoba.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Michael Riordon (2005). An Unauthorized Biography of the World: Oral History on the Front Lines, Ts'eouli -- Floating Ashes. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Between the Lines. Archived from the original on August 19, 2006. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
- ^ Manitoba First Nations Education Resource Centre Inc. - Traditional First Nations Community Names
- ^ Hamilton, William (1978). The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names. Toronto: Macmillan. p. 65. ISBN 0-7715-9754-1.
- ^ a b "Sayisi Dene – Keewatin Tribal Council".
- ^ "PETER YASSIE MEMORIAL SCHOOL Sayisi Dene First Nation (Sayisi Dene Education Authority)".
- ^ "SAYISI DENE FIRST NATION ONGOING PROJECTS".
- ^ The Path to Reconciliation Act Annual Progress Report (PDF). Manitoba Indigenous and Northern Relations. December 2020. p. 26.
- ^ Reddy, Strini. "HONOURING INDIGENOUS PEOPLES". Rotary Club of Winnipeg.
- ^ Meza, Felix. "Summer Harvesting Program Eases Burden of Pandemic in Tadoule Lake". Oceans North. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
- ^ "71334: Tadoule Lake Cs, Man (Canada)". ogimet.com. OGIMET. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
- ^ a b "Manitoba's Sayisi Dene: Forced relocation, racism, survival". CBC News. August 15, 2016.
- ^ "Employer Info: Sayisi Dene Education Authority". educationcanada.com. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
- ^ "The Sayisi Dene (Manitoba)" (Indian and Northern Affairs Canada). Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved October 12, 2007.
- ^ "IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST: The first 25 years of The Public Interest Law Centre" (PDF). publicinterestlawcentre.ca. Archived from the original (Public Interest Law Centre, Winnipeg, Manitoba, 25th Anniversary, 1982-2007) on June 21, 2007. Retrieved October 13, 2007.
- ^ "Tadoule Lake, MKO call on governments to address alcohol and drug smuggling in community". CHTM 102.9 FM.
- ^ "First Nation Profiles". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. November 14, 2008.
- ^ a b "AANDC (Sayisi Dene First Nation )". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
- ^ "2011 Community Profiles". 2011 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. March 21, 2019. Retrieved April 6, 2013.
- ^ "2006 Community Profiles". 2006 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. August 20, 2019.
- ^ "2001 Community Profiles". 2001 Canadian census. Statistics Canada. July 18, 2021.
Further reading
edit- Bussidor, Ila and Bilgen-Reinart, Űstűn."Night Spirits - The Story of the Relocation of the Sayisi Dene" The University of Manitoba Press ISBN 0-88755-643-4
- Davison, W. L. Geology Tadoule Lake. 1962.
- Dredge, L. A., F. M. Nixon, and R. J. Richardson. Tadoule Lake, Manitoba surficial geology. Preliminary series (Geological Survey of Canada), map 1981–17. 1982.