Remembering Our Relations

Wood Buffalo National Park is located in the heart of Dénes¿luné homelands, where Dené people have lived from time immemorial. Central to the creation, expansion, and management of this park, Canada 's largest at nearly 45, 000 square kilometers, was the eviction of Dénes¿luné people from their home, the forced separation of Dene families, and restriction of their Treaty rights. Remembering Our Relations tells the history of Wood Buffalo National Park from a Dene perspective and within the context of Treaty 8. Oral history and testimony from Dene Elders, knowledge-holders, leaders, and community members place Dénes¿luné voices first. With supporting archival research, this book demonstrates how the founding, expansion, and management of Wood Buffalo National Park fits into a wider pattern of promises broken by settler colonial governments managing land use throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By prioritizing Dénes¿luné histories Remembering Our Relations deliberately challenges how Dene experiences have been erased, and how this erasure has been used to justify violence against Dénes¿luné homelands and people. Amplifying the voices and lives of the past, present, and future, Remembering Our Relations is a crucial step in the journey for healing and justice Dénes¿luné peoples have been pursuing for over a century.