Dahti Tsetso

Dahti Tsetso is the deputy director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative. She is Tłı̨chǫ Dene and played a leading role in the launch and operation of the Dehcho K'éhodi Stewardship and Guardians Program and the establishment of the Edéhzhíe Dehcho Protected Area and National Wildlife Area.

Before joining the ILI, Tsetso served as the director of Lands & Resources for Dehcho First Nations in Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories. She worked collaboratively with the Nation’s ten member communities to develop a Guardians program that approaches conservation from the Dene perspective. The Dehcho K'éhodi program is founded on honouring the Dene Laws, strengthening the Dene language, and fostering connections between Elders and youth and currently employs about 20 Guardians a year.

In her roles with Dehcho First Nations, Tsetso led a team that finalized negotiations to protect Edéhzhíe, a 14,200-square-kilometre sweep of boreal forest, headwater lakes and caribou grounds west of Yellowknife. In July 2018, the Dehcho Assembly passed a resolution to permanently protect Edéhzhíe as a Dehcho Protected Area under Dehcho Law; then held a signing ceremony with the Government of Canada to formalize an Establishment Agreement that would designate Edéhzhíe as a joint Dehcho Protected Area and National Wildlife Area.

Tsetso graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Conservation Sciences and Bachelor of Arts in Native Studies. She also holds a Diploma in Indigenous Language Revitalization from the University of Victoria. She lives in Łíídlįį Kų́ę́ (Fort Simpson), NT with her husband and three children.