The federal government is taking steps toward creating and protecting Canada's largest national historic site, on the shores of Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories, Environment Minister Jim Prentice said Tuesday.

The site, to be called the Saoyú and Ehdacho National Historic Site of Canada, covers 5,565 square kilometres — roughly the size of Prince Edward Island — on two peninsulas at Great Bear Lake, according to a release issued Tuesday afternoon.

The area was designated as a national historic site in 1996.

Prentice said a land transfer agreement has been reached between Parks Canada and the federal Indian and Northern Affairs Department, in which the surface title of the site will be transferred to the federal parks agency.

The transfer will allow the area to be protected as a national historic site under the National Parks Act.

"I'm proud that our government is helping to ensure the long-term preservation of a unique part of Canada's North and its heritage," Prentice stated in the release.

"Elders will continue to have the opportunity to transmit their knowledge and experience to the younger generation of Sahtugot'ine [Dene of Great Bear Lake], ensuring opportunities for the preservation of their history, language and culture."

Management agreement a first in North

Prentice added that a co-operative management agreement between the federal government, the Déline Land Corp. and the Déline Renewable Resources Council will make the historic site Canada's first northern national historic site to be co-operatively managed by Parks Canada and aboriginal groups.

The site will also be the first federally protected area established under the Northwest Territories Protected Areas Strategy.

The management agreement earmarks $8.75 million in federal funding over 10 years to develop and operate the site.

Arriving Tuesday afternoon in Déline, a community of about 525 on the shores of Great Bear Lake, Prentice will attend a community feast and celebratory festivities in the evening.

Historic status to help protect lake

Designating the areas as a national historic site brings the Dene of Déline one step closer to protecting Great Bear Lake, said Déline Land Corp. president Peter Menacho.

Saoyú and Ehdacho, meaning "Grizzly Bear Mountain" and "Scented Grass Hills" respectively in the Slavey language, are key to preserving the lake — one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world — for future generations, Menacho said.

"Now it's been identified as a national historical site," Menacho told CBC News before Tuesday's announcement.

"These are based on cultural values. These are based on the importance of the Sahtugot'ine, how they value their land and how they cherish [it], and how they wanted to protect the biggest assets … the Great Bear Lake."

Menacho said Caribou Point is another important historical area that the community is trying protect under the Bear Lake Water Management Plan.