Dāne Spring Newsletter — 2021 INTRODUCTION Message from the President . 1 Message from the Vice President . 3 News Release – Tahltan Nation United Against Hate, Fear and Misinformation . 4 Save the Dates . 5 2020 Achievements . 7 ANNOUNCEMENTS COVID-19 Update . 11 Tahltan Nation Text Alert Service . 12 Tahltan Nation Opposes Doubleview Gold Corps’ Operations . 13 Tahltan Central Government & Skeena Investment Agreement . 19 Dease Lake Airport Upgrades . 21 Tahltan Territory Mount Edziza Conservancy (Spectrum Property) . 23 Tahltan Predator Policy Remains in Effect . 29 New Tahltans / Condolences . 33 NEW BOARD MEMBERS / STAFF Amanda Quash – Goodzama Family Representative . 36 Ursula Abramczyk – Archivist . 37 Ryma Aneliunas – GIS Analyst . 38 TAHLTAN ONTRACK Tahltan OnTrack . 39 TahltanWorks becomes Tahltan OnTrack . 41 TAHLTAN STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI) . 44 The TSI Steering Committee . 49 The TSI Project Team . 53 TSI Projects . 56 DIRECTORS’ REPORTS Lands – Nalaine Morin . 60 Wildlife – Lance Nagwan . 61 Fisheries – Cheri Frocklage . .. 63 Language – Pamela Labonte . 67 Culture & Heritage – Sandra Marion . 73 Education & Training – Cassandra Puckett . 75 Employment & Contracting – Ann Ball . 77 Membership & Genealogy – Shannon Frank . 79 Dease Lake Community – Freda Campbell . 80 PERSONAL PROFILES Elder – Bill McPhee . 82 Culture – Sheldon Dennis . .. 83 Healthy Active Tahltans – Cagney Etzerza & Teagan Young . .. 85 Inspiring Young Tahltans– Alicia Asp & Isaac Etzerza . 97 UPDATES TNDC Update . 91 Tahltan Forestry Update . 93 Contents 1910 Declaration of the Tahltan Tribe WE THE UNDERSIGNED MEMBERS OF THE TAHLTAN TRIBE, speaking for ourselves, and our entire tribe, hereby make known to all whom it may concern, that we have heard of the Indian Rights movement among the Indian tribes of the Coast, and of the southern interior of B.C. Also, we have read the Declaration made by the chiefs of the southern interior tribes at Spences Bridge on the 16th July last, and we hereby declare our complete agreement with the demands of same, and with the position taken by the said chiefs, and their people on all the questions stated in the said Declaration, and we furthermore make known that it is our desire and intention to join with them in the fight for our mutual rights, and that we will assist in the furtherance of this object in every way we can, until such time as all these matters of moment to us are finally settled. We further declare as follows: FIRSTLY – We claim the sovereign right to all the country of our tribe—this country of ours which we have held intact from the encroachments of other tribes, from time immemorial, at the cost of our own blood. We have done this because our lives depended on our country. To lose it meant we would lose our means of living, and therefore our lives. We are still, as heretofore, dependent for our living on our country, and we do not intend to give away the title to any part of same without adequate compensation. We deny the B.C. government has any title or right of ownership in our country. We have never treatied with them, nor given them any such title. (We have only very lately learned the B.C. government makes this claim, and that it has for long considered as its property all the territories of the Indian tribes in B.C.) SECONDLY – We desire that a part of our country, consisting of one or more large areas (to be selected by us), be retained by us for our own use, said lands and all thereon to be acknowledged by the government as our absolute property. The rest of our tribal land we are willing to relinquish to the B.C. government for adequate compensation. THIRDLY – We wish it known that a small portion of our lands at the mouth of the Tahltan river, was set apart a few years ago by Mr. Vowell as an Indian reservation. These few acres are the only reservation made for our tribe. We may state we never applied for the reservation of this piece of land, and we had no knowledge why the government set it apart for us, nor do we know exactly yet. FOURTHLY – We desire that all questions regarding our lands, hunting, fishing, etc., and every matter concerning our welfare, be settled by treaty between us and the Dominion and B.C. governments. FIFTHLY – We are of the opinion it will be better for ourselves, also better for the governments and all concerned, if these treaties are made with us at a very early date, so all friction, and misunderstanding between us and the whites may be avoided, for we hear lately much talk of white settlements in the region and the building of railways, etc., in the near future. Signed at Telegraph Creek, B.C., this eighteenth day of October, nineteen hundred and ten, by NANOK, Chief of the Tahltans NASTULTA, alias Little Jackson GEORGE ASSADZA, KENETL, alias Big Jackson And eighty other members of our tribe. TAHLTAN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – SPRING NEWSLETTER 2021 Message from the President our Tahltan members throughout 16 communities in BC, Yukon, and Alberta each year. During these meetings I was able to closely connect with many of you to gain valuable insight which has always helped me better understand the priorities and needs of our people. I pray we get to continue those visits again soon and look forward to the day when we can gather and celebrate many cultural events and various achievements we have accomplished over the past couple of years. As our TCG Team continues to grow by hiring more talented people, my position, and priorities as the TCG President has shifted and adapted each year. When I started the TCG had four employees working out of the Dease Lake Office, and today we have over 30 employees living in several locations, mostly in Northern British Columbia. As the TCG Team continues to grow we have become increasingly sophisticated and assertive with the implementation Chad Norman Day Tahltan Nation, of our Tahltan rights and title with others. Each of our TCG departments will touch on their recent successes, President, Tahltan Central Government As a new Spring season is upon us and we continue to ongoing initiatives and future plans and goals. I am live through this challenging time, I would like to applaud, so grateful for our TCG Team and to all those Tahltan once again, the efforts of all those individuals across members and allies who choose to collaborate and the Province, Country and the World who are working support us in a good way. hard to get us through this COVID-19 pandemic. Some high-level political goals I have been diligently We also are dealing with some additional challenges pursuing for Tahltan Territory include advocating for in Tahltan Territory as the residents of Telegraph Creek the Province to improve the following: continue to feel the negative impacts from the fires in 2019. 1 . safety measures and infrastructure on Highway 37 and throughout our communities; For weeks now there have been ongoing landslides which 2 . co-management and additional investment to have made the Telegraph Creek Road very dangerous ensure we have a first-class wildlife management and impossible to navigate without significant work and regime someday soon; assistance. I want to commend Chief Carmen McPhee, the 3 . an overhaul and shut down of the jade and placer Tahltan Band Council, the Province and all our industry mining industries until Tahltan benefits and laws are implemented; partners who are collaborating and working around the 4 . a renewal for a 3 year agreement between the clock to address these issues and to keep our community Province and the 3 Nations (Tahltan, Kaska, Tlingit). functional and safe through these difficult times. Given the isolated region of our homeland, coupled As the TCG prepares for our second online Annual with the relatively low population numbers, we as General Assembly due to COVID-19, I continue to be Tahltan leaders and people are often in a disadvantaged saddened that I cannot connect with our members political situation. Since the Province rarely understands in their communities. TCG takes great pride in the our distinct challenges, they often fail to create communication efforts we have made as a government important changes in a timely fashion. Therefore, it is and I always enjoyed the annual visits we made with important we as Tahltan people and communities go 1 MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT above and beyond to create and assert certain less collaborative and lacking accountability. changes ourselves. One of my favourite quotes which As a result, the TCG felt it was time to have this often guides my thinking and approach with other issue properly addressed. governments is, “Governments do not create change; they react to change.” So, we must keep working In recent months, the TNDC Shareholders signed the TNDC together to create the improvements we want to see Protocol Agreement and chose to rejoin the TNDC Board in our territory and the TCG will keep advocating with outside governments and industries to work with of Directors. These were large steps, but they are quickly us as we continue building our capacity as Tahltan leading to positive changes, both internally and externally, individuals, families, communities, governments and for the relationships between TNDC and its Shareholders, as a strong and united Tahltan Nation. industry partners and its workers who built and continue to I want to personally encourage all our Tahltan hunters, carry this corporation. who are willing and able to follow all our COVID-19 protocols, to assist our declining ungulate populations Large improvements to TNDC are underway and I am by utilizing your cultural rights to harvest predators very excited to help assist our corporate arm in its throughout Tahltan Territory.