“Land, People, Language” is the second of four themes within Dene Studies curriculum in the late 1908s, including “Dene Then: Precontact,” “ “Dene History,” and “Dene Now.” It focuses on several key themes, including the relationship between Dene and the land rather than the Dene/Métis land claim, which is a part of “Dene Now.”

In addition, these documents were released prior to Dene language standardization, and the introductory section comments that while Dene languages could be a component of this course, “ways in which Dene languages are written are under development, and pronunciation is difficult to show and follow on a printed page.” (1) However, “A minimum level of language work should be done with the Dene vocabulary includedin the Readings, [including] Dene names for places and people… phrases and terms [from]… allsections of this course” and lessons drawn from community resource people, videos, and films. (1-2) Activities include discussion topics such as: “Discuss levels of responsibility for maintaining and using a language.” “Languages can grow, or they can die. Think of examples of each. What things seem to influence whether a language grows, or dies?” (26) “Trace the steps a community would follow if it wanted to establish a community language program.” (30)

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Dene Studies curriculum documents are held in the NWT Archives. See item no. N-2007-014: 1-1. 

Dene Studies Project Team. Land, People, Language, Teacher’s Guide. Yellowknife: Northwest Territories Department of Education and the Dene Nation, 1988.