K’asho Got’ine are Dene people traditionally occupying territory along the lower Mackenzie River valley of the Northwest Territories. Fort Good Hope and Déline (Fort Franklin) are now the major population centres of the K'asho Got'ine.
Pre-Contact History
The K'asho Got'ine (Hare) are Dene people
whose ancestors lived in small, nomadic bands along the lower Mackenzie
River valley of the Northwest
Territories. The K'asho Got'ine had a precontact population of
700-800. They pursued a hunting,
fishing and gathering way of life centered on caribou, moose,
freshwater fish,
small game and berries,
and exploited a territory from the Yukon border
to forested zones west and northwest of Great
Bear Lake. (See also Indigenous
Territory.)
Several cultural features distinguished the K'asho
Got'ine from neighbouring Gwich'in, Shita
Got'ine, Slavey and Tlicho.
They spoke their own Dene dialect and were noted for their timid relations with
other Indigenous groups.
The name Hare, given by early Europeans, reflected their
heavy dependence on the snowshoe hare for food and clothing. Since the hare
goes through a population cycle every 7 to 10 years, the Indigenous population
periodically experienced devastating starvation.
They had a rich oral folklore,
and participated in drum dances and competitive gambling. Their communities
were held together by kinship ties on both the father's and the mother's side.
Though the K'asho Got'ine lacked formal leaders, outstanding hunters
and shamans had considerable influence. The K'asho Got'ine were
governed by an ethic that balanced sharing and interdependence with autonomy
and freedom. There was no concept of individual ownership of land, and people
were free to hunt and fish in any part of their territory.
European Contact
First recorded contact with Europeans came during the
explorations of Alexander
Mackenzie in 1789. Early in the 19th century the K'asho
Got'ine were drawn into the fur trade as
forts spread north along the Mackenzie River. Their trading activities were
centered on Fort Good Hope and also on Forts Norman and Franklin. A Roman
Catholic mission
was established in 1859 at Fort Good Hope, and the people's conversion to Christianity
began. For much of the 19th century and until the decline of fur prices after the
Second
World War, most of the K'asho Got'ine combined trapping with
subsistence hunting.
Treaty 11 and Land Claims
Treaty 11,
signed by K'asho Got'ine and the federal
government in 1921, has been a source of controversy: according to the
treaty's terms, the K’asho Got’ine retained the right to hunt, fish and trap in
their traditional lands, but present-day First
Nations leaders argue that they did not give up title
to their ancestral territory. (See also Numbered
Treaties).
Through land claims
negotiations with the federal government during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s,
the K'asho Got'ine – along with other Dene groups
– have sought to re-establish greater sovereignty
over portions of their territory.
Contemporary Life
While the people continue to live off the resources of their
lands, many have been attracted to the amenities of a settled life in larger
towns. A notable exception to this trend was the creation, in the early 1960s,
of a new village at Colville Lake, 142 km northeast of Fort
Good Hope, in an area rich with game and fish. Fort Good Hope and Déline (Fort
Franklin) are now the major population centres of the K'asho Got'ine.