The Sahtú (or North Slavey) are an Aboriginal peoples of Canada Dene people living in the vicinity of Great Bear Lake (Sahtú, the source of their name), Northwest Territories, Canada. Other Sahtú communities include Déline, Northwest Territories, as well as Hare (K'ahsho Got'ine District), Bear Lake (Déline District), and Mountain (Tulit'a District).[1]
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An early description of Sahtú cultures is given in Alexander Mackenzie's journal of his voyage down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean in 1789.[1]
The Déline community of the Sahtú Dene experienced great loss during Canada's participation in the Manhattan Project. The need for radioactive materials, (such as radium), to create atomic weapons was met with the deposits found near the Great Bear Lake. The Sahtú Dene were hired to transport the ore containing radium from the Northwest Territories to be processed in Ontario or the United States. Since much of the uranium that existed in Europe was under Nazi control, the radium deposits in Canada were vital to the creation of the first atomic bombs. Unaware of the radiation's effects, the Sahtú Dene used "cloth sacks" to transport the ore. [2]
Ultimately, the devastating effects of radiation poisoning impacted the Déline community severely. A 1999 documentary by Peter Blow entitled Village of Widows detailed the experiences of the Sahtú Dene.
Sahtú speak the North Slavey language, which belongs to Northwestern Canada group of Northern Athabaskan languages.[1]
