The Sahtu Dene and Métis Comprehensive Agreement
In July 1993, the Sahtu Dene and Métis voted to approve the Sahtu Dene and Métis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement. After being approved by the governments of Canada and the Northwest Territories, the Agreement was signed on September 6, 1993, in Tulita (formerly known as Fort Norman). The Sahtu Dene and Métis Land Claim Settlement Act came into effect on June 23, 1994
Under the Agreement, the Sahtu Settlement Area was designated and the Sahtu Dene and Métis received title to 41,437 square kilometres of land in the Northwest Territories, an area slightly larger than Vancouver Island (subsurface rights are included on 1,813 square kilometres of this land).
The Agreement confirmed that the Sahtu Dene and Métis have the right to hunt and fish throughout the Sahtu Settlement Area and the exclusive right to trap there. They have guaranteed participation in institutions of public government regarding renewable resources management, land use planning, and land and water use with the Settlement Area, as well as environmental impact assessment and review within the Mackenzie Valley.
The Sahtu Dene and Métis received financial payments totalling $130 million over a fifteen-year period, as well as a share of resource royalties paid to governments each year by operators in the Mackenzie Valley.
The Agreement provides for the negotiation of self–government agreements that will be brought into effect through federal and/or territorial legislation.
The process and requirements for creating a new national park or national park reserve within the Sahtu Settlement Area is defined in Chapter 16 of the Sahtu Dene and Métis Comprehensive Agreement (1993). It sets out a process and requirements for the establishment of a national park or national park reserve within the Sahtu Settlement Area, including negotiation of an Impact and Benefit Plan. A national park or reserve cannot be established in the Settlement until an Impact and Benefit Plan has been completed.