subdivisions including the
Got'iné (labelled here as "North Slavey"),
Tłı̨chǫ ("Dogrib"),
Gwichʼin, and others There are multiple Indigenous territories overlapping the current borders of the Northwest Territories. These include
Denendeh,
Inuvialuit Settlement Region (
Inuvialuit Nunangit Sannaiqtuaq), and both
Métis and
Nêhiyawak countries (Michif Piyii and ᓀᐦᐃᔮᓈᕁ
nêhiýânâhk, respectively). Of these, Denendeh and
the Dene nations are the most prominent with the rest of the Dene country ("Dene-ndeh" or Deneland) covering much of what is now
Alaska,
British Columbia, and the northern regions of the
prairie provinces. Some of its constituent territories include
Tłı̨chǫ Country,
Got'iné Néné,
Dehchondéh, and
Gwichʼin Nành, amongst others including those of the
Dënë Sųłinë́ (Nëné, "land"),
Dane-z̲aa (Nanéʔ), and the
T'satsąot'ınę (Ndé). Historically, Dene have lived across Denendeh and what is now the NWT since the era of
Yamoria and Yamozha. : Inuvialuit Nunangit Along the northern coast live one of the subdivisions of
Inuit: the
Inuvialuit, a conglomerate of several Inuvialuit peoples, including the
Uummarmiut,
Kangiryuarmiut, and
Siglit. Their country, variously called
Inuvialuit Nunangit,
Inuvialuit Nunungat, or
Inuvialuit Nunangat corresponds to the
Inuvialuit Settlement Region and forms part of the greater
Inuit Nunangat. Amongst the other Inuit, there are also the
Copper Inuit who inhabit their traditional territory,
Inuinnait Nunangat, between the
Kitikmeot and
Inuvik Regions. To the south are the
Cree First Nations and
Métis. In 1670, the
Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) was formed from a royal charter, and was granted a commercial monopoly over
Rupert's Land. Present day Northwest Territories laid northwest of Rupert's Land, and was known as the
North-Western Territory. Although not formally part of Rupert's Land, the HBC made regular use of the region as a part of its trading area. The
Treaty of Utrecht saw the British become the only European power with practical access to the North-Western Territory, with the French surrendering their claim to the Hudson Bay coast. Europeans have visited the region for the purposes of
fur trading, and exploration for new trade routes, including the
Northwest Passage. Arctic expeditions launched in the 19th century include the
Coppermine expedition. In 1867, the first
Canadian residential school opened in the region in Fort Resolution. The opening of the school was followed by several others in regions across the territory, thus contributing to it reaching the highest percentage of students in residential schools compared to other area in Canada. caught by a storm in
Coronation Gulf, August 1821 and
Rupert's Land, 1859 The present-day territory came under the authority of the
Government of Canada in July 1870, after the
Hudson's Bay Company transferred
Rupert's Land and the
North-Western Territory to the British Crown, which subsequently transferred them to Canada, giving it the name the North-West Territories. This immense region comprised all of today's Canada except British Columbia, an early form of
Manitoba (a small square area around
Winnipeg), early forms of present-day Ontario and Quebec (the coast of the
Great Lakes, the
Saint Lawrence River valley and the southern third of modern
Quebec), the
Maritimes (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick),
Newfoundland, the
Labrador coast, and the
Arctic Islands (except the southern half of
Baffin Island). After the 1870 transfer, some of the North-West Territories was whittled away. The province of
Manitoba was enlarged in 1881 to a rectangular region composing the modern province's south. By the time British Columbia joined Confederation on July 20, 1871, it had already (1866) been granted the portion of North-Western Territory south of
60 degrees north and west of
120 degrees west, an area that comprised most of the
Stickeen Territories (and a portion of the Peace River country). The North-West Territories Council was created in 1875 for more local government in the North-West Territories. At first wholly made up of appointed members, it got its first elected members in 1882 and became wholly elected in 1888 when the council was reorganized as the Legislative Assembly of the North-West Territories.
Frederick Haultain, an Ontario lawyer who practised at Fort Macleod from 1884, became its chairman in 1891 and Premier when the Assembly was reorganized in 1897. The modern provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta were created in 1905. Contemporary records show Haultain recommended that part of the NWT split off to become the present provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan become a single province, named Buffalo. The long-serving NWT member for Yorkton, Dr.
Thomas Alfred Patrick, supported the creation of two provinces in that area. The Canadian government of Sir Wilfrid Laurier chose to draw up the provinces roughly according to Patrick's guidance. In the meantime, the
British Arctic Territories were transferred to Canada and added to the North-West Territories in 1880. The province of
Ontario was enlarged north-westward in 1882. Quebec was also extended northwards in 1898. Yukon was also made a separate territory that year and eventually gained additional territorial powers with the 2003
Yukon Act. One year after the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created in 1905, the
Parliament of Canada renamed the "North-West Territories" as the
Northwest Territories, dropping all
hyphenated forms of it. Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec acquired the last addition to their modern landmass from the Northwest Territories in 1912. This left only the districts of
Mackenzie,
Franklin (which absorbed the remnants of
Ungava in 1920) and
Keewatin within what was then given the name Northwest Territories. In 1925, the boundaries of the Northwest Territories were extended all the way to the
North Pole on the
sector principle, vastly expanding its territory onto the northern
ice cap. Between 1925 and 1999, the Northwest Territories covered a land area of —larger than one-third of Canada in terms of area. On April 1, 1999, a separate
Nunavut territory was formed from the eastern Northwest Territories to represent the Inuit. ==Demography==