The overwhelming majority of Dene Tha’ speak Dene as their first language. Naturally then, each person usually has a Dene name and an English name. “Before the missionaries came, the Dene newborns were named by the elders.
Surnames were unknown after the child became of age, their names were changed to the names of animals that they first killed. A number of children were named for their behavior or whatever their parents wanted to call them. Nowadays, these old names sound funny to recall,” said Louise Hooka Nooza.
Places within the Dene Tha’ traditional territory also have Dene names. One difficulty in identifying these Dene place names is that different family groups have their own names for places. As a result, there may be more than one name for a particular place.