Łutselk'e

Łutselkʼe (/ˈlʊtsəlkeɪ/, Dëne Sųłıné Yatıé: [ɬutsʰɛɮk'ɛ]; "place of the łutsel", the cisco,^[6] a type of small fish), also spelt Łutsël Kʼé, is a "designated authority"^[7] in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is on the south shore near the eastern end of Great Slave Lake and until 1 July 1992, it was known as Snowdrift, as the community lies near the mouth of the Snowdrift River.^[8]

Łutselkʼe Łutsël Kʼé; Snowdrift (pre-1992)
First Nation - Designated Authority of Łutselkʼe
Łutselkʼe on Great Slave Lake
Łutselkʼe Show map of Northwest Territories Łutselkʼe Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 62°24′19″N 110°44′19″W
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Region	North Slave
Territorial electoral district	Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh
Census division	Region 5
Government
• Chief	James Marlowe
• Senior Administrative Officer	Hanna Catholique
• MLA	Richard Edjericon
Area [1]
• Land	43.18 km2 (16.67 sq mi)
Elevation	168 m (551 ft)
Population  (2016)[1]
• Total	303
• Density	7.0/km2 (18/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−7 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Canadian Postal code	X
Area code	867
Telephone exchange	370
- Living cost	167.5A
- Food price index	184.0B
Sources: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[2] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[3] Canada Flight Supplement[4] ^A 2013 figure based on Edmonton = 100[5] ^B 2012 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[5]

History

Łutselkʼe is a First Nation community and the area was traditionally occupied by the Chipewyan Dene In 1925 the Hudson's Bay Company opened a post followed by the Roman Catholic Church. A school opened in 1960.^[9] There is a proposal ongoing for Thaidene Nene National Park Reserve, with an area of 14,000 km² (5,400 sq mi), which has the support of the community.^[10]

Demographics

Federal census population history of Lutselk'e

Year	Pop.	±%
1976	224	—
1981	253	+12.9%
1986	273	+7.9%
1991	286	+4.8%
1996	304	+6.3%
2001	322	+5.9%
2006	318	−1.2%
2011	295	−7.2%
2016	303	+2.7%
2021	333	+9.9%
Source: Statistics Canada [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][1][18]

Annual population estimates

Year Pop. ±% 1996 326 —     1997 327 +0.3% 1998 335 +2.4% 1999 352 +5.1% 2000 355 +0.9% 2001 359 +1.1% 2002 391 +8.9% 2003 399 +2.0% 2004 392 −1.8% 2005 357 −8.9% 2006 333 −6.7%	Year Pop. ±% 2007 330 −0.9% 2008 328 −0.6% 2009 316 −3.7% 2010 310 −1.9% 2011 306 −1.3% 2012 312 +2.0% 2013 307 −1.6% 2014 314 +2.3% 2015 308 −1.9% 2016 316 +2.6% 2017 330 +4.4%
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001 - 2017)[19]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Lutselk'e had a population of 333 living in 129 of its 139 total private dwellings, a change of 9.9% from its 2016 population of 303. With a land area of 42.96 km² (16.59 sq mi), it had a population density of 7.8/km² (20.1/sq mi) in 2021.^[18]

In the 2016 Census the majority of the population, 270 people, were First Nations, 10 people were Métis and 10 were Inuit.^[20] The main languages in the community are Denesuline and English.

In 2016, 115 people said they spoke an Indigenous languages as their mother tongue. Of these 115 people, 105 spoke Dene (Chipewyan or Denesuline), 5 spoke Dogrib or Tłı̨chǫ and 5 spoke North Slavey or Hare. Another 5 people gave a Chinese language as their mother tongue. A total of 295 knew English and another 5 knew both English and French.^[21]

Services

There is a two-person Royal Canadian Mounted Police detachment and health centre with two nurses in the community. There is a single grocery store, the Lutselk'e Co-op, a post office and nine lodges / outfitters in the area. Education in the community is provided by the Lutsel Kʼe Dene School, which offers a comprehensive K-12 program. Additionally, there is also a community learning centre run by Aurora College.^[22][23]

Although not accessible by road there is an airport, Lutselk'e Airport, with scheduled services from Yellowknife and an annual sealift is provided by the territorial government's ships from Hay River in the summer. Lutselk'e Water Aerodrome is available in the summer months when the lake is clear of ice.

First Nations

Łutsel Kʼe is represented by the Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation and are part of the Akaitcho Territory Government.^[24]