The Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę Government in Norman Wells has signed its final self-government agreement with Canada and the Northwest Territories.
The signing, announced in a news release on Thursday, ends 20 years of negotiations.
Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę members ratified the final agreement earlier this year, leading to a summer celebration in the Sahtu community.
TGG is entering a transition period with the goal of launching its government in early 2026, President Sherry Hodgson told Cabin Radio last month.
Work ahead of TGG includes developing new laws, designing governance structures and holding workshops with community members to decide how the government will function.
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Meanwhile, territorial and federal legislation will be introduced to make the final agreement legally binding.
Hodgson said self-government means being able to make independent decisions across a wide range of areas like land, justice, and education, and building a system rooted in local values and priorities.
In Wednesday’s news release, Hodgson called the final agreement “Canada’s formal recognition of the identity, culture, and inherent right to self-government of the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę.”
“We will do our best to use it to preserve, protect, exercise, and advance the inherent and treaty rights of the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę for the benefit of all our people living in Canada, here today,” she was quoted as saying.
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“But our youth are the future, and this agreement provides our youth with the foundations to do the same when they take on the task of preserving, protecting, exercising and advancing our rights.”
Crown-Indigenous relations minister Rebecca Alty, who is the NWT’s MP, said the agreement was “about restoring the community’s power to make decisions that best support their people, strengthen their culture, and create new opportunities for jobs and economic growth.”
NWT Premier RJ Simpson said the agreement “restores decision-making power to the Tłegǫ́hłı̨ Got’įnę and shows what reconciliation looks like in practice.”
The TGG will not govern the Town of Norman Wells, which remains a fully separate entity. However, a provision exists allowing the TGG to replace the town government – and assume its municipal-level responsibilities – if TGG members ever represent 70 percent or more of Norman Wells’ population.
While the town and TGG co-exist, the town will be obliged to consult with the TGG on municipal policies and bylaws. The TGG can “force consultation with the GNWT and GNWT can disallow the offending bylaw” in some circumstances.
The elected TGG president must reside in Norman Wells.
