Thaidene Nëné, Canada's Newest National Park Reserve
Meaning “Land of the Ancestors” in Dënesųłıné Yatı, Thaıdene Nëné is an Indigenous protected area that guards nearly 27,000 square kilometres of spectacular and pristine waterways, forests and Canadian Shield. The area spans from the glorious East Arm of Great Slave Lake to the Barrenlands. To get there, you can hop on a scheduled or charter flight to Łutsel K’e from Yellowknife.
Here’s why you need to visit:
Fishing
Thaıdene Nëné is an angler’s paradise. Christie Bay crawls with succulent Whitefish, Lake Trout, Inconnu and more. McLeod Bay, meanwhile, shelters Lake Trout a century old and as fat as a fire hydrant. All around the East Arm, Arctic Grayling leap as the base of inflowing waterfalls and Northern Pike ply shallow bays and channels. Whether you’re flyfishing at the mouth of the Hoarfrost, sinking your line into the seemingly bottomless depths offshore of Łutsël K’é, angling from a paddleboard, or trolling behind your kayak, you’ll gather fish stories to last a lifetime.
Big waters to explore
Thaıdene Nëné boasts stunning landscapes, but the waterscape is also a wonder to behold. Aquamarine McLeod Bay, glutted by streams gushing from the Barrenlands, is clear as glass and cold as fresh-melted snow. Christie Bay, with its dark, abyssal canyons that drop 600 metres (2,000 feet) below the surface, holds secrets dating from the ice age. Wildbread Bay, ringed by cliffs, is a watery amphitheatre, accessible through the fabled keyhole of “The Gap.” Hearne Channel is a liquid corridor teeming with fish and waterfowl. These are just a few of the thousands of coves, cayes and creeks to explore in Thaıdene Nëné.
Dënesųłıné heritage
Thaıdene Nëné is the heart of the Łutsël K’é Dene homeland, the place where the ancestors laid down the sacred, ethical, and practical foundations of their way of life. Thaidene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area also encompasses numerous ancient and contemporary sites of spiritual and cultural importance to Deninu Kųę́ First Nation, Yellowknives Dene First Nation, and Northwest Territory Métis Nation. The deep intimacy that has existed between the people and the land since time immemorial continues from the East Arm up to the Barrenlands.
The Barrenlands
Though plucky trees stud the shoreline of the East Arm, the windswept Arctic plains are never far away. Follow legendary Pike’s Portage from Fort Reliance to Artillery Lake and you’ll suddenly emerge onto the Barrens – an otherworldly zone of glacial eskers, rock-ribbed hills, and artifacts from the Dënesųłıné and Caribou Inuit cultures. Here are the headwaters of storied rivers like the Thelon and Coppermine, Arctic species such as barren ground grizzlies and muskoxen, and an ecosystem utterly unlike the relatively plush, friendly environs of Great Slave Lake.
Lodges
Thaıdene Nëné is where Northern sportfishing began. Way back in 1938, Manitoban businessman C.C. Plummer founded Plummer’s Lodge at Taltheilei (“open water”) Narrows, the gateway to McLeod Bay. Nearly 90 years later this renowned fishing mecca still draws sportsmen from all over the world. It shares Great Slave Lake’s East Arm with several other first-rate fishing destinations, including Trophy Lodge near Reliance, Indian Mountain Lodge near Utsingi Point, and Frontier Fishing Lodge just outside of Łutsël K’é.
Pethei, Kahochella and Douglas Peninsulas
Study a map of Great Slave Lake and you’ll see it: a great ragged claw, slitting the East Arm in two. This is the fearsome spur formed by the Pethei, Kahochella and Douglas Peninsulas: an imperious prong of basalt buttresses, rising sheer from the blue-green waters. At the tip of the claw, a stunning lookout, Utsingi Point, pokes westward, toward the constellation of islands at the mouth of the East Arm. All along it, boaters will find a paradise of camping, hiking and fishing spots, and more scenery than you can shake a gnarled stick at.
Łutsel K'e
This welcoming Dënesųłıné community (formerly called Snowdrift for its location near the mouth of the Snowdrift River) is the operational hub of Thaıdene Nëné Indigenous Protected Area. The town is proudly traditional, with the Dënesųłıné Yatı language widely spoken and traditional hunting, trapping and fishing serving as the economic mainstay. It’s also home to several famous Northerners, including celebrated painter John Rombough and the revered priest, historian and activist René Fumoleau.
Historic Fort Reliance
Desnétcheé, the mouth of the Lockhart River, has always been an important place for Dënesųłıné. Built as a winter camp by George Back during his 1833 overland expedition down the river that now bears his name, Fort Reliance lies at the eastern extremity of Great Slave Lake, on the brink of the Barrenlands. The Hudson’s Bay Company rebuilt the fort in 1855, and it was later used by an American hunter, Charles “Buffalo” Jones – who, contrary to his name, kept live muskoxen here. Visitors can explore the old stone chimneys. Fort Reliance was designated a national historic site in 1953. Work is underway to collaboratively rewrite the interpretation of Fort Reliance with local Dene and Métis.
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