Tłı̨chǫ Government

The Tłı̨chǫ Government, or Tłı̨chǫ Ndekʼàowo (also rendered Tlicho Government and Tlicho Ndekʼaowo), is a First Nations organization representing the Tłı̨chǫ Nation, Dene people of the Northwest Territories, Canada, and covering much of their traditional territory, Tłı̨chǫ Ndé, within the larger Dene Country of Denendeh. The devolved government was created in 2005 when the Tłı̨chǫ Nation ratified the Tłı̨chǫ Agreement with the Government of Canada.

Through this agreement certain rights relating to lands, resources and self-government were defined including Tłı̨chǫ Government ownership of "39,000 km² of land located between Lake Tıdeè and the Great Bear Lake including surface and subsurface rights, the ability to define its membership known as Tłı̨chǫ citizens, jurisdiction over lands and resources across Tłı̨chǫ Ndé and establishment of the Wekʼèezhìı Land and Water Board and the Wekʼèezhìı Renewable Resources Board and a share of mineral royalties from the Mackenzie Valley." The word Tlı̨chǫ [tɬʰĩtʃʰõ] means 'dog rib'.

The traditional area of the Tłı̨chǫ described by Chief Monfwi during the signing of Treaty 11 in 1921, was called Monfwı̀ Gogha Dè Nı̨htł'è [mõfwì goɣa dè nĩhtɬ'è]. Wekʼèezhìi, the management area defined by the Tłı̨chǫ Agreement, is an area larger than the land owned by the Tłı̨chǫ. Wekʼèezhìi "shares boundaries with the Sahtu Settlement Area and Nunavut, and includes the four Tłı̨chǫ member communities of Gamèti, Wekweètì, Whatì and Behchokǫ̀." The area includes the Ekati and Diavik Diamond Mines.