Sambaa K'e

For other uses, see Sambaa K'e (disambiguation).

Sambaa K'e^[6] (Slavey language: "place of trout"^{[pronunciation?]}; formerly Trout Lake) is a "Designated Authority"^[7] in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located near the Alberta border, east of Fort Liard, on the shore of the lake also known as Sambaa K'e. It has no all-weather road, but can be reached by winter road early in the year or by air (Sambaa K'e Aerodrome) year-round.

Sambaa K'e
First Nation (Designated Authority) (Sambaa K'e Dene Band)
Sambaa K'e Show map of Northwest Territories Sambaa K'e Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 60°26′33″N 121°14′43″W
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Region	Dehcho Region
Constituency	Nahendeh
Census division	Region 4
Trading post	1796
Settlement	Late 1960s
Government
• Chief	Dolphus Jumbo
• Band Manager	Ruby Jumbo
• MLA	Kevin Menicoche
Area [1]
• Land	119.51 km2 (46.14 sq mi)
Elevation	495 m (1,624 ft)
Population  (2016)[1]
• Total	88
• Density	0.7/km2 (2/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
Canadian Postal code	X0E 1Z0
Area code	867
Telephone exchange	206
- Living cost	162.5A
- Food price index	144.1B
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 2015 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[5]

On June 21, 2016, the settlement officially changed its name from "Trout Lake" to "Sambaa K'e", its name in the Slavey language, meaning "place of trout".^[6]

Demographics

Federal census population history of Sambaa K'e

Year	Pop.	±%
1976	57	—
1981	59	+3.5%
1986	54	−8.5%
1991	66	+22.2%
1996	68	+3.0%
2001	70	+2.9%
2006	86	+22.9%
2011	92	+7.0%
2016	88	−4.3%
2021	97	+10.2%
Source: Statistics Canada [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][1][15]

Annual population estimates

Year Pop. ±% 1996 74 —     1997 74 +0.0% 1998 67 −9.5% 1999 72 +7.5% 2000 69 −4.2% 2001 76 +10.1% 2002 75 −1.3% 2003 78 +4.0% 2004 83 +6.4% 2005 86 +3.6% 2006 91 +5.8%	Year Pop. ±% 2007 93 +2.2% 2008 97 +4.3% 2009 99 +2.1% 2010 97 −2.0% 2011 95 −2.1% 2012 100 +5.3% 2013 101 +1.0% 2014 102 +1.0% 2015 104 +2.0% 2016 105 +1.0% 2017 106 +1.0%
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001 - 2017)[16]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Sambaa K’e had a population of 97 living in 49 of its 49 total private dwellings, a change of 10.2% from its 2016 population of 88. With a land area of 118.01 km² (45.56 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.8/km² (2.1/sq mi) in 2021.^[15]

The majority of its 2016 population (80 people) are First Nations and 45 report South Slavey as a first language.^[1]

First Nations

The Dene of the community are represented by the Sambaa K'e First Nation and belong to the Dehcho First Nations.^[17]

Services

The community has a small general store and a health centre and no RCMP.^[18] Canada Post mail arrives weekly by charter plane. Residents can order books, movies and CDs through the Borrow by Mail program offered by the NWT Public Library Services.^[19] There is a small airport, Sambaa K'e Aerodrome, and in the summer Trout Lake Water Aerodrome is in operation.^[4]

The community runs the Sambaa K'e Fishing Lodge, an authentic northern fishing experience, in the summer months.