Hets Eday Telling Stories www.selkirkfn.com Caring, Sharing, Respect, Teaching Fall/Winter 2018 Volume 14 • Issue 2 PRODUCTS OF OUR NORTHERN TUTCHONE CRAFTERS from the Christmas Sewing Project Nov. 23-Dec. 6, 2018 Chief’s Message .......................2-3 Citizen Development ........ 18-24 Council Highlights ................... 4-6 Lands, Resources Inside SFN News Department Updates ..........8-13 & Heritage ........................ 25-31 Health & Social Programs 14-17 Other News .......................... 35-43 A message from Chief Sharon Nelson Inye dóhúch’i (how are you) hristmas is fast approaching. CThe holiday season offers an opportunity for family and friends to gather and spend time together. During the Christmas holidays, SFN will be delivering various events for children and family-oriented activities from December 26th to January 4th. For your safety, Community Safety Officers will be hired to patrol the community throughout the holidays. In the spirit of the season, Council sends to you and your family best wishes for the holidays and all the best in training strategy, that will take addition to this, workshops were the New Year. into consideration the needs of brought in to provide employees our Citizens, government and the with new skills. It was nice to see Summer and Fall has come and private sector in our Traditional employees interacting with each gone so quickly this year. I hope Territory. This is not the first time a other, learning, and contributing you all had some time to enjoy GA has expressed the importance to the community. This is a good the beauty of our land, the Yukon, of offering training to our Citizens. start, but we can do more. SFN will family and friends. In August, we We are going to develop a be supporting an employment and had the pleasure of holding our comprehensive plan incorporating training program to create seasonal Annual General Assembly (GA) at Trades, Post Secondary as well employment opportunities for Minto Landing. It has been quite a as other training opportunities. Selkirk First Nation Citizens. few years since we hosted a GA at We encourage Citizens to come Minto. Citizens were happy to be Also, during the GA, the Capital out and attend meetings on this there and enjoyed the three days Department presented a important subject and help us of meetings and entertainment. comprehensive report on results define this plan. We believe the key An Annual report was presented, of housing and infrastructure to our Government’s success lies in including highlights from each assessments, Community Land the education and training of our department for the past year. I Use Planning and the draft Capital Citizens. encourage you to contact our Plan. In addition, Capital continues communications office and ask for We launched an employment to work on a Housing Strategy. a copy if you missed the GA. and training project this summer We realize there was a lot of which included community information provided during the The GA passed a resolution for our beautification, on-the-land, and GA and there is a need for regular Selkirk First Nation government garden/greenhouse project. In to develop a comprehensive cont’d on page 3 FALL/WINTER 2018 2 SELKIRK FIRST NATION NEWSLETTER updates on key Capital files. Rest Officer Training Program, reviewing Our government’s focus continues assured, we will provide you with the Health and Wellness Programs to be on the People, Land and information on these important and making changes to meet the Community. matters through the newsletter, our needs of Citizens. The next phase We believe the way forward is to website and Citizen engagement. will involve looking at the SFN work on plans with the Citizens. government and community to We have begun work on Planning involves taking a good identify safety concerns and draft a Community Safety and Wellness look at our current situation; plan to engage other government’s planning. Council received a report identifying strengths, weaknesses, in partnering for solutions. on the first Phase of Community opportunities and threats; and Again, we encourage Citizens to Safety and Wellness planning. The then identifying our priorities and participate in upcoming meetings next steps involve establishing a charting a course to address them. on this subject. We need your Justice Committee to implement input. Together, we can create a Mussi Cho the Justice Council, a Safety Patrol healthy community. Chief Sharon Nelson SELKIRK FIRST NATION NEWSLETTER 3 FALL/WINTER 2018 Council highlights Mineral Exploration Council for Yukon 1st AFN Regional Chief’s Summit First Nations in Mayo. The AFN Yukon region Chief Nelson and Councillors, works with all 14 Yukon First George McGinty and Milly Johnson, In June, the Council of Yukon Nations to support advancing First visited the exploration sites of the First Nations’ General Assembly Nations’ interests at a national proposed Triumph Gold mine. was held in Mayo. Attendees: level. The purpose of the summit was to formalize the modernization Triumph Gold’s Freegold Mountain Chief Nelson, Elder Emma Alfred, of the regional office by Project is located approximately Elder Danny Joe, Robert Joe, establishing rules and procedures. 70 km northwest of Carmacks Youth Councillor Morris Morrison, within the Dawson Range in SFN’s Councillors Dean Gill, George traditional territory. The Dawson McGinty and Elder Councillor Milly Mental Wellness Hub Range is also host to GoldCorp’s Johnson. Office in Carmacks Coffee deposit and Casino’s Copper CYFN is leading a political deposit. Triumph Gold recognizes campaign to get the federal Mental Wellness and Substance Use that they are partly located in government to forgive the loans Services provides a wide range of Traditional Territory of SFN and given to Yukon First Nations services in all Yukon communities. would like to discuss entering into when they were negotiating their The Carmacks office is a hub, an exploration agreement. Council agreements. SFN has sent a providing specialist services to Pelly needs to consider this further. letter to the Honorable Minister Crossing, Ross River and Faro. Council also toured Goldstrike Carolyn Bennet and is asking for The Carmacks office will be staffed Resources’ Plateau project east full reimbursement of the modern with: treaty negotiation loans that were of Mayo. Newmont, one of the • Mental Wellness and Substance repaid by SFN. world’s largest gold producers, has Use Counsellor agreed to invest $53 million with CYFN is establishing an Elders • Clinical Counsellor Goldstrike Resources to develop Council and a Youth Council and its flagship Plateau property. Selkirk First Nation is very proud • Mental Health Nurse Newmont has completed the to announce that SFN Citizen and • Two Child and Youth 2018 exploration program and Youth Councillor Morris Morrison Counsellors the results will be released when has been selected to represent all assays have been compiled Youth at the CYFN Leadership Chief Nelson and Chief Blackjack and interpreted by Goldstrike and table. Congratulations Morris! had a preliminary meeting Newmont. SFN will continue to with Minister Frost to discuss monitor developments on the 1st Assembly of First working together on the programs project. Newmont committed Nations Regional offered by the hub as both of our to meet with SFN, post this communities are experiencing exploration season, to discuss their Chief’s Summit similar needs. findings and future plans. Following the CYFN’s AGA, the Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief, Kluane Adamek, hosted the cont’d on page 5 FALL/WINTER 2018 4 SELKIRK FIRST NATION NEWSLETTER Council highlights cont’d from page 4 AFN RECOGNISING YUKON WOMEN LEADERS (PHOTO) AFN SUMMIT JUNE 2018. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CHIEF SHARON NELSON, FORMER REGIONAL CHIEF MARY JANE JIM, FORMER GRAND CHIEF RUTH MASSIE, CHIEF DORIS BILL, CHIEF ROBERTA JOSEPH, REGIONAL CHIEF KLUANE ADAMEK, FORMER GRAND CHIEF AND YUKON COMMISSIONER JUDY GINGELL, CHIEF KRISTINA KANE AND MINISTER JEANIE DENDYS. Infrastructure Granite Canyon also indicated that Pembridge Resources has elected to terminate Council met with the Yukon SFN received a letter from the their agreement for the sale of the Government representative to Yukon Government confirming the Minto Mine. discuss SFN’s infrastructure relinquishment of Granite Canyon Council has had discussions priorities for the next 3 years. Since as a potential hydro-electric with the SFN Lands Department, the Yukon Government receives and water storage site. We will Capstone, Yukon Government, infrastructure funds from the continue to work with YG through Selkirk Development Corp. and federal government, YG is asking the formal process of identifying Pembridge about the future of communities for their priorities. flood areas that also need to be the mine. In the short term, the This is to ensure that YG allocates relinquished. focus will be on environmental the money in a way that reflects monitoring during this care and these priorities. SFN informed YG Minto Mine maintenance phase. SFN is of the development of the 10- hopeful that the Water Board will year Capital Plan, the Community Capstone Mining Corp. announced make their requirements clear Land Use Plan and the Asset on October 11 that they were to Capstone for the care and Assessment. These important suspending mining and milling maintenance. In the long-term plans will guide our government activity and are placing the Council has asked Capstone to in prioritising our infrastructure Minto Mine into temporary care needs. and maintenance. Capstone cont’d on page 6 SELKIRK FIRST NATION NEWSLETTER 5 FALL/WINTER 2018 Yukon’s Premier, Cabinet members and First Nations Chiefs met in September, at the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Community Hall for the third Yukon Forum of 2018. This meeting marks one year of implementing the Joint Action Plan of the Yukon Forum. Leaders received updates on the progress of several joint working groups including child welfare, fish and wildlife, and land use planning.