Gran Lago del Esclavo
The north arm of Great Slave Lake is the traditional territory of the Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib), a northern Dene (formerly called Athapaskan) group. Explorer Samuel Hearne was the first European to encounter Dogrib-speaking people while crossing the lands north of Great Slave Lake in 1772. Later, in 1789, trader Alexander Mackenzie traveled by canoe very close to their territory while trading with the Yellowknives, another First Nations peoples, along the north arm of the big lake.