The Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, signed in September 1993 by Pauline Browes

Pauline Browes

Pauline Browes, PC is a Canadian politician. She was a Member of Parliament between 1984 and 1993.An educator by training, Browes was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons as the Progressive Conservative Member of Parliament for Scarborough Centre in the 1984 federal election that brought...

, then Minister

Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (Canada)

The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development is the Minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet who heads two different departments...

 of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada

The Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for policies relating to Aboriginal peoples...

, the Chiefs of the Sahtu

Sahtu

The Sahtú are an Aboriginal peoples of Canada Dene people living in the vicinity of Great Bear Lake , Northwest Territories, Canada...

 First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

, and the Presidents of the Métis

Métis people (Canada)

The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

 Councils marking the resolution of the Sahtu Dene and Metis claims to the Sahtu area

Sahtu Region

The Sahtu Region is one of five administrative regions in the Northwest Territories in Canada. The region consists of five communities with the regional office situated in Norman Wells. With the exception of Norman Wells the communities are predominately First Nations.-Communities:The Sahtu Region...

 in Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

's Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada.Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south...

. The land claims agreement came into effect on June 23, 1994. This agreement is a treaty which is protected by Section 35

Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982

Section thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982 provides constitutional protection to the aboriginal and treaty rights of Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The section, while within the Constitution Act, 1982 and thus the Constitution of Canada, falls outside the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms...

 of the Constitution of Canada

Constitution of Canada

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law in Canada; the country's constitution is an amalgamation of codified acts and uncodified traditions and conventions. It outlines Canada's system of government, as well as the civil rights of all Canadian citizens and those in Canada...

.

The agreement includes recognizing Sahtu Dene and Metis ownership of 41,437 km² of land in the Mackenzie River Valley

Mackenzie River

The Mackenzie River is the largest river system in Canada. It flows through a vast, isolated region of forest and tundra entirely within the country's Northwest Territories, although its many tributaries reach into four other Canadian provinces and territories...

. This includes subsurface or mineral rights

Mineral rights

- Mineral estate :Ownership of mineral rights is an estate in real property. Technically it is known as a mineral estate and often referred to as mineral rights...

 to 1,813 km² of land.

The Government of Canada

Government of Canada

The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...

 agreed to negotiate self-government

Self-governance

Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization.It may refer to personal conduct or family units but more commonly refers to larger scale activities, i.e., professions, industry bodies, religions and political units , up to and including autonomous regions and...

 agreements on a community by community basis with the five Sahtu communities of Colville Lake

Colville Lake, Northwest Territories

Colville Lake is a settlement corporation located in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located 50 km north of the Arctic Circle, on a lake of the same name, and is northeast of Norman Wells.Population is 126 according to the 2006 Census, of which the majority...

, Fort Good Hope

Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories

Fort Good Hope is a charter community in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located on a peninsula between Jackfish Creek and the east bank of the Mackenzie River, about 145 km northwest of Norman Wells. The two principal languages are North Slavey and English...

, Tulita

Tulita, Northwest Territories

Tulita, which in Dene language means "where the rivers or waters meet," is a hamlet in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It was formerly known as Fort Norman, until 1 January 1996...

, Deline

Deline, Northwest Territories

The Charter Community of Délįne is located in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada on the western shore of Great Bear Lake and is northwest of Yellowknife. Délįne means "where the waters flow", a reference to the headwaters of the Great Bear River, Sahtúdé.The population as of the...

, and Norman Wells

Norman Wells, Northwest Territories

Norman Wells is the regional centre for the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada...

.

The Sahtu Dene and Metis received a tax-free payment of $75 million (1990 dollars) over a 15-year period. The receive a share of annual resource revenues from development in the Mackenzie Valley as per the agreement, including a share in Norman Wells oil and gas royalties. The Sahtu Dene Council

Sahtu Dene Council

The Sahtu Dene Council is a council that represents the Sahtu people of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The council is in negotiations with the Government of Canada for a land claims settlement, the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, for the four Dene communities in the...

 must be consulted before lands are opened up for oil or gas exploration, development or production takes place; and before any mineral exploration requiring a land use permit or water licence takes place.

Negotiated terms regarding the 1944 oil production under the Norman Wells Proven Area Agreement

Norman Wells Proven Area Agreement

The Norman Wells Proven Area Agreement, signed in 1944 by the federal government and Imperial Oil Limited, grants Imperial Oil the exclusive right and privilege to drill for, mine, win and extract all of the petroleum and natural gas from this field for three terms of 21 years...

 are found in Chapter 9.

The Sahtu Dene and Metis maintain exclusive right to trap and the right to hunt and fish throughout in a 280,238 square kilometre area which includes Great Bear Lake

Great Bear Lake

Great Bear Lake is the largest lake entirely within Canada , the third or fourth largest in North America, and the seventh or eighth largest in the world...

.