The Tłı̨chǫ Government is getting a boost from the federal government to protect traditional lands between Great Slave Lake and Great Bear Lake.
The area spans 22,000 km², which includes traditional trails and cultural sites.
According to a government news release, “Once complete, these two protected spaces—Gowhadõ Yek’e t’ii k’e and Tłı̨chǫ Nawoo Ké Dét’ahot’ìi —will be approximately twice the size of Cape Breton.”
The federal government is funding $2 million for the project.
The release adds, “Maintaining this culturally significant land using Indigenous traditional knowledge will also help preserve and protect habitat for wildlife, including 16 species at risk like the boreal caribou, and will preserve known migration corridors for barren-ground caribou.”
Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief George Mackenzie said in a statement, “The Tłı̨chǫ Wenek’e was developed through the eyes of our elders to protect and promote our way of life and the transfer of knowledge to future generations.”
Map of Tłı̨chǫ Lands, indicating the Traditional Use Zone and the Cultural Heritage Zone of the Other Effective Area-based Conservation Measure. (Map courtesy of Environment and Climate Change Canada).
