Editing Chipewyan (section)

== Language ==
[[File:Chipewyan map.svg|thumb|left|Historical distribution of the Denesuline language]]
{{Infobox ethnonym|people='''Dënë Sųłinë́<br />ᑌᓀ ᓱᒼᕄᓀ'''|language=[[Chipewyan language|Dënë Sųłinë́ Yatıé<br />ᑌᓀ ᓱᒼᕄᓀ ᔭᕠᐁ]]|country=Dënë Sųłinë́ Nëné,<br/>ᑌᓀᓱᐠᒼᕄᓀ ᓀᓀ,{{indent|5}}Denendeh{{indent|5}}ᑌᓀᐣᑌᐧ}}

Denesuline (Chipewyan) speak the [[Chipewyan language|Denesuline language]], of the [[Athabaskan languages|Athabaskan]] linguistic group. Denesuline is spoken by [[Indigenous peoples in Canada]] whose name for themselves is a cognate of the word {{lang|chp-Latn|dene}} ("people"): {{lang|chp-Latn|Denésoliné}} (or {{lang|chp-Latn|Dënesųłiné}}). Speakers of the language speak different dialects but understand each other. There is a 'k', t dialect that most people speak. For example, people in Fond du lac, {{lang|chp-Latn|Gąnı kuę́}} speak the 'k' and say {{lang|chp-Latn|yaki ku}} while others who use the 't' say {{lang|chp-Latn|yati tu}}.

The name ''Chipewyan'' is, like many people of the [[Canadian Prairies]], of [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]] origin. It is derived from the [[Plains Cree language|Plains Cree]] name for them, {{lang|crk-Latn|Cīpwayān}} ({{lang|crk-Cans|ᒌᐘᔮᐣ}}), "pointed skin", from {{lang|crk-Latn|cīpwāw}} ({{lang|crk-Cans|ᒌᐚᐤ}}), "to be pointed"; and {{lang|crk-Latn|wayān}} ({{lang|crk-Cans|ᐘᔮᐣ}}), "skin" or "hide" - a reference to the cut and style of Chipewyan [[parka]]s.<ref>Campbell, Lyle (1997). ''American Indian Languages: The Historical Linguistics of Native America''. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pg. 395</ref>

Most Chipewyan people now use ''Dene'' and ''Denesuline'' to describe themselves and their language. The Saskatchewan communities of [[Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation|Fond-du-Lac]],<ref>{{cite web| title =Prince Albert Grand Council (Fond-du-Lac)| url =http://www.pagc.sk.ca/pagc.asp?ID=3| access-date =26 May 2013| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120212123739/http://www.pagc.sk.ca/pagc.asp?ID=3| archive-date =12 February 2012}}</ref> [[Black Lake Denesuline First Nation|Black Lake]]<ref>{{cite web| title =Prince Albert Grand Council (Black Lake)| url =http://www.pagc.sk.ca/pagc.asp?ID=1| access-date =26 May 2013| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20140408161847/http://www.pagc.sk.ca/pagc.asp?ID=1| archive-date =8 April 2014}}</ref> and [[Hatchet Lake Denesuline First Nation|Wollaston Lake]]<ref>{{cite web| title =Prince Albert Grand Council (Wollaston Lake)| url =http://www.pagc.sk.ca/pagc.asp?ID=4| access-date =26 May 2013| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20120212123748/http://www.pagc.sk.ca/pagc.asp?ID=4| archive-date =12 February 2012}}</ref> are a few.

Despite the superficial similarity of the names, the Chipewyan are not related to the ''Chippewa'' ([[Ojibwe]]) people.

In 2015, Shene Catholique-Valpy, a Chipewyan woman in the [[Northwest Territories]], challenged the territorial government over its refusal to permit her to use the [[Glottal stop (letter)|letter {{angbr|ʔ}}]] in her daughter's name, Sahaiʔa. The territory argued that territorial and federal identity documents were unable to accommodate the letter. Sahaiʔa's mother finally registered her name with a hyphen in place of the {{angbr|ʔ}}, while continuing to challenge the policy. Shortly afterwards, another woman named Andrea Heron also challenged the territory on the same grounds, for refusing to accept the letter {{angbr|ʔ}} in her daughter's [[Slavey language|Slavey]] name, Sakaeʔah (actually a cognate of Sahaiʔa).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Browne|first1=Rachel|title=What's in a name? A Chipewyan's battle over her native tongue|url=http://www.macleans.ca/society/life/all-in-the-family-name/|access-date=5 April 2015|work=Maclean's|date=12 March 2015}}</ref>