Remembering Our Relations

Wood Buffalo National Park is located in the heart of Dnesun homelands, where Den people have lived from time immemorial. Central to the creation, expansion, and management of this park, Canada 's largest at nearly 45, 000 square kilometers, was the eviction of Dnesun people from their home, the forced separation of Den families, and restriction of their Treaty rights. Remembering Our Relations tells the history of Wood Buffalo National Park from a Den perspective and within the context of Treaty 8. Oral history and testimony from Den Elders, knowledge-holders, leaders, and community members place Dnesun voices first. With supporting archival research, this book demonstrates how the founding, expansion, and management of Wood Buffalo National Park fits into a wider pattern of promises broken by settler colonial governments managing land use throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. By prioritizing Dnesun histories Remembering Our Relations deliberately challenges how Den experiences have been erased, and how this erasure has been used to justify violence against Dnesun homelands and people. Amplifying the voices and lives of the past, present, and future, Remembering Our Relations is a crucial step in the journey for healing and justice Dnesun peoples have been pursuing for over a century.