Northwest Territories Flashcards
6 cards from real CANADIAN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Northwest Territories flashcards as text
Which Indigenous land claim agreement, signed in 1921 and covering a large portion of the Northwest Territories, was notably NOT honoured by the Canadian government for decades regarding resource revenue sharing?
Answer: Treaty 11
Treaty 11 (1921) was signed with Dene peoples in the Mackenzie River valley. The Canadian government long failed to honour its spirit, particularly regarding land and resource rights. This became central to the Dene Nation's political activism and eventually contributed to modern land claim negotiations in the NWT.
The Northwest Territories uses a consensus-style legislature without formal political parties. What is the correct term for the process by which the Premier and Cabinet ministers are selected in this system?
Answer: Elected by secret ballot among all Members of the Legislative Assembly
In the NWT's consensus government, after a territorial general election, all elected MLAs gather and vote by secret ballot among themselves to select the Premier and Cabinet ministers. There are no party caucuses to dictate selections — each MLA votes independently, making it a uniquely democratic and non-partisan process.
The Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (1974–1977), led by Justice Thomas Berger, was groundbreaking for what specific reason regarding Indigenous peoples?
Answer: It concluded that pipeline construction should be delayed to allow land claims to be settled first
Justice Berger's inquiry recommended a 10-year moratorium on pipeline construction in the Mackenzie Valley, concluding that Indigenous land claims must be settled before such a major project could proceed. This was a landmark moment in Canadian environmental and Indigenous rights history, prioritizing treaty rights over industrial development.
Yellowknife became the capital of the Northwest Territories in 1967. What was the primary administrative reason for this change from the previous capital?
Answer: The NWT gained a fully elected legislature in 1967 requiring a permanent seat of government
In 1967, the NWT's legislative assembly transitioned to a fully elected body, and the federal government simultaneously moved the territorial administration from Ottawa to Yellowknife. This devolution of governance required a permanent territorial capital located within the territory itself. Yellowknife was chosen as the largest and most accessible community.
The NWT and Nunavut share a boundary established in 1999. Which river or geographic feature most closely follows the boundary between the two territories in the Kitikmeot region?
Answer: The Back River watershed divide
The boundary between the NWT and Nunavut in the Kitikmeot region follows the Back River watershed divide (also described in part by the geographic boundary agreed upon during the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement process). The boundary was carefully negotiated to respect traditional Inuit and Dene/Métis land use areas rather than following a simple meridian.
Under the NWT's Official Languages Act, how many official languages does the territory recognize?
Answer: 11
The Northwest Territories recognizes 11 official languages: English, French, Chipewyan (Dëne Sųłiné), Cree, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey, and Tłı̨chǫ (Dogrib). This is the highest number of official languages of any Canadian province or territory, reflecting the NWT's extraordinary Indigenous linguistic diversity.