Fibbie Tatti

Fibbie Tatti was born to the Sahtuotine First Nation on Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. She is a writer and storyteller, and a fluent speaker and passionate advocate for the North Slavey Language. She has spent more than 50 years advancing Indigenous Language and cultural revitalization across the Northwest Territories and beyond. 

Fibbie began her career in the 1970s as a Community Development Officer and a Land Use and Occupancy Researcher and Co-ordinator for the Dene Nation, where her close work with Elders helped cultivate her skills as an interpreter. 

Fibbie also worked with the Government of the Northwest Territories Department of Education for more than two decades, where she shepherded the publication of numerous Dene-language children’s books. She also played a key role in the development of The Dene Kede curriculum, a K–9 school curriculum created with Dene Elders, teachers, and language specialists. This acclaimed work served as inspiration for other jurisdictions across Canada to develop their own Indigenous language curricula.  

From 1985–1986  she served as co-chair of the NWT Task Force on Aboriginal Languages and from 2000–2003 as the NWT Languages Commissioner, where she advocated for the preservation and recognition of all 11 official languages in the Northwest Territories. She also contributed to Indigenous-language broadcasting in the North through CBC Radio and Television. 

Fibbie holds a Master’s Degree in Indigenous Language Revitalization from the University of Victoria and was granted an Honourary Doctor of Laws Degree from Concordia University in 2020. Fibbie continues to work with—and on behalf of—the Dene in the development and enhancement of their languages and culture.