{"id":735889,"date":"2026-06-14T09:13:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T09:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735889\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T09:13:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T09:13:42","slug":"thaidene-nene-partners-gather-in-lutselke-to-celebrate-first-relationship-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/735889\/","title":{"rendered":"Tha\u0131den\u00e9 N\u00ebn\u00e9 partners gather in \u0141utselk’e to celebrate first relationship plan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.<\/p>\n

The community of \u0141utselk’e and fellow signatories \u2014 Parks Canada, the N.W.T. M\u00e9tis Nation, and the territorial government \u2014 gathered in \u0141utselk’e Wednesday to celebrate the first relationship plan developed for the Tha\u0131den\u00e9 N\u00ebn\u00e9\u2019 Indigenous Protected Area.<\/p>\n

Tha\u0131dene N\u00ebn\u00e9 Bad\u0131 X\u00e1 is a relationship plan that outlines a vision and five overarching goals to be achieved over the next 10 years. It\u2019s different from a management plan typically created to determine how a protected area will be used and protected.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a relationship with the land, the water, animals, and everything that\u2019s within Tha\u0131dene N\u00ebn\u00e9, as well as the people that use the land,\u201d said Adeline Jonasson, chair for Tha\u0131dene N\u00ebn\u00e9 X\u00e1 D\u00e1 Y\u00e1\u0142t\u0131, the operational management board of the protected area.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Indigenous knowledge, language and culture are foundational to the relationship plan and are embedded in every section, objective and target starting with the first goal: \u201cpromote nuw\u00e9 ch\u2019an\u0131e,\u201d which is the principle that describes Dene values and knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"JunieJunie Catholique gave opening remarks and led a feeding the fire ceremony with the community, dignitaries and guests at the Tha\u0131dene N\u00ebn\u00e9 Bad\u0131 X\u00e1 celebration in \u0141utselk’e on June 10. (Kaila Jefferd-Moore\/CBC)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur history, laws, language, spirituality, and ways of life flow from and are written in the land, \u201d said Iris Catholique, manager of the protected area for the \u0141utsel K’e Dene First Nation. \u201cWhile Tha\u0131dene N\u00ebn\u00e9 Bad\u0131 X\u00e1 is something new \u2026 it is grounded in old ways. It\u2019s grounded in relationships, in respect, in care, in collaboration, and in ceremony.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Some of the targets include developing a monitoring and research plan, creating a tourism strategy, and building a visitor centre and shared office in \u0141utselk’e.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe work is not finished but the foundation is strong and it was built the right way,\u201d said N.W.T. Environment and Climate Change Minister Jay Macdonald. \u201cTogether we have created something worthy of this place.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jonasson said she was thinking of ancestors, elders, families and community members that use the land and pass teaching on to their children.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I thought about the future, cause all this is for the yu\u0301nethe\u0301 xa\u0301 \u2026 that\u2019s what our elders told us: it\u2019s for the future. We want to make sure the land is here for the future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Rules and regulations vary within the protected area, due in part to the collaborative governance model and the protection of sacred cultural areas. Within the boundaries of the protected area are national park reserve lands, territorial park lands, and a wildlife reserve.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Tha\u0131den\u00e9Tha\u0131den\u00e9 N\u00ebn\u00e9\u2019 Indigenous Protected Area includes a handful of locations that are off-limits to visitors unless an Indigenous member of one of the signatory partners for the protected area, or accompanied by a Land Guardian or Parks Canada staff. Other areas are marked for commercial leases to continue uninterrupted. (Parks Canada)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certain areas that [visitors] would have to have help with,\u201d said Jonasson, referencing “zones” identified in the relationship plan with restricted or no access, due to safety concerns for visitors or for the preservation of unique, threatened, or endangered natural or cultural features.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Registration through Parks Canada is required in the national park reserve as is a fishing licence, and hunting is not permitted for non-Indigenous visitors. Indigenous rights-holders may exercise their harvesting rights throughout the protected area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to this article Estimated 3 minutes The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":735890,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,66],"class_list":["post-735889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=735889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/735889\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/735890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=735889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=735889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=735889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}