Chipewyan , ethnonym
Dënesuliné , is the
language spoken by the
Chipewyan people of northwestern
Canada. It is categorized as part of the
Northern Athabaskan language family. Dënesuliné has nearly 12,000 speakers in Canada, mostly in
Saskatchewan,
Alberta,
Manitoba and
the Northwest Territories, but only has
official status in the Northwest Territories alongside 8 other
aboriginal languages:
Cree,
Dogrib,
Gwich’in,
Inuktitut,
Inuinnaqtun,
Inuvialuktun,
North Slavey and
South Slavey.