At the time the Northwest Territories were brought under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada, 47% of the non-native population spoke French.

However, in 1892, the Northwest Territories (which at the time covered the Canadian Prairies west of Southern Manitoba) abolished French as an official language.

While current figures show the average stay of francophones in the region is increasing, the trend towards outward migration continues.

The Franco-Ténois also deal with substantial pressures to assimilate, brought on by the isolation of Northwest Territories communities and the existence of a plurality of languages and cultures there among which English takes precedence.

The Franco-Ténois community is served by a weekly French language newspaper, l'Aquilon, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in January 2006.

[citation needed] In 1988, a group of francophone parents in Yellowknife called for the creation of a French first-language education program.

The group of parents sued the government, forcing the creation of the first French language program in 1989, with an initial class of nine children.

A polar bear posed passant regardant is perched upon the curve, meant to resemble a snowy hill (in an image reminiscent of the official logo of the Government of the Northwest Territories).