{"id":101659,"date":"2026-01-28T13:41:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=101659"},"modified":"2026-01-28T13:41:54","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T18:41:54","slug":"arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Arctic sovereignty, collaboration key takeaways from Dene National Assembly, says AFN national chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Kody Ferron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWT News\/North Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak condemned U.S. President Donald Trump and emphasized Arctic sovereignty at the 2026 Dene National Assembly. \u201cIt was a beautiful assembly. We talked about the Dene, Dene sovereignty, their work in the North, their work in keeping Canada together, and being on the land,\u201d said Woodhouse Nepinak. \u201cCanada needs to remember that they have to include the Dene in everything that\u2019s related to Arctic sovereignty, and to make sure that they\u2019re included in those discussions.\u201d In regards to other issues that arose during the assembly, held from Jan. 20-22 in Fort Good Hope,Woodhouse Nepinak said, \u201cIt was good to hear the language, good to see (Dene) hand games, and talk about many issues&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F28%2Farctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Kody Ferron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWT News\/North Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak condemned U.S. President Donald Trump and emphasized Arctic sovereignty at the 2026 Dene National Assembly. \u201cIt was a beautiful assembly. We talked about the Dene, Dene sovereignty, their work in the North, their work in keeping Canada together, and being on the land,\u201d said Woodhouse Nepinak. \u201cCanada needs to remember that they have to include the Dene in everything that\u2019s related to Arctic sovereignty, and to make sure that they\u2019re included in those discussions.\u201d In regards to other issues that arose during the assembly, held from Jan. 20-22 in Fort Good Hope,Woodhouse Nepinak said, \u201cIt was good to hear the language, good to see (Dene) hand games, and talk about many issues... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F01%2F28%2Farctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Arctic sovereignty, collaboration key takeaways from Dene National Assembly, says AFN national chief - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Arctic sovereignty, collaboration key takeaways from Dene National Assembly, says AFN national chief - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Kody Ferron, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, NWT News\/North Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak condemned U.S. President Donald Trump and emphasized Arctic sovereignty at the 2026 Dene National Assembly. \u201cIt was a beautiful assembly. We talked about the Dene, Dene sovereignty, their work in the North, their work in keeping Canada together, and being on the land,\u201d said Woodhouse Nepinak. \u201cCanada needs to remember that they have to include the Dene in everything that\u2019s related to Arctic sovereignty, and to make sure that they\u2019re included in those discussions.\u201d In regards to other issues that arose during the assembly, held from Jan. 20-22 in Fort Good Hope,Woodhouse Nepinak said, \u201cIt was good to hear the language, good to see (Dene) hand games, and talk about many issues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-28T18:41:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Arctic sovereignty, collaboration key takeaways from Dene National Assembly, says AFN national chief\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-28T18:41:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":395,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/01\\\/28\\\/arctic-sovereignty-collaboration-key-takeaways-from-dene-national-assembly-says-afn-national-chief\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arctic sovereignty, collaboration key takeaways from Dene National Assembly, says AFN national chief - 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