Carcross/Tagish First Nation announce Land and Water Proclamation

Wednesday was a historic day in Carcross, Yukon, as a new Land and Water Proclamation was delivered under the guidance of elders — one that offers a collaborative approach to managing the traditional territory of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation.

The proclamation is the foundation for protecting resources on traditional Carcross/Tagish land in what is now the Yukon and northern British Columbia.

The proclamation was read by three people.

The elders' statement describing the foundation of the proclamation was in Tlingit read by Sean McDougall, who is also known by his Tlingit name Ltaguhàa, and translated to English by Roberta Wally.

The final piece of the proclamation was read by Deputy Haa Shaa Du Hen, or deputy chief, Maria Benoit in English.

"Any uses of our lands, waters and all other resources within our traditional territories must be legitimized and valid, sanctioned by our council," read Benoit.

"Any future uses must be with our appropriate prior and informed consent."

People who don't comply with the guidelines will be "challenged and disputed in our peacemakers, courts, and/or in the mainstream courts as deemed appropriate by CTFN," read Benoit.

"Our land and water is intrinsic to who we are as people and essential to maintain our health, culture and tradition," said Benoit at the ceremony.

Mark Wedge is a senior Carcross/Tagish First Nation negotiator. He said the First Nation consulted elders and also negotiated with the Canadian government on the British Columbia side.

"Those borders were not our borders," he said. "And the land, and the animals and the water, they don't recognize those borders… But we have to look after this land."

Wedge said they want to work with the governments and people to ensure their traditional land continues to be maintained, and reeducate people so they understand the relationship between resources and human made tools.

"Too long we've been relying, asking other governments to sort of protect our land, to watch over the land," said Wedge during the ceremony.

"Our elders have said, in a good way, we have to figure out how to make sure that Indigenous knowledge, those traditional patterns, are brought forward... This is how we can begin."

New initiatives 

During the two-and-a-half-hour ceremony, the Carcross/Tagish First Nation also introduced two tools to further the proclamation's guidelines.

"A lot of times information comes to us referred to as 'consultation' where governments are making plans for this land and then try to consult with us," said Wedge.

Now, governments, companies, and people can use the online platform called "Nations Connect," a tool that teaches how to connect, contact and work with Indigenous communities.

The second tool is a document called "How We Walk the Land and Water" which is a land relationship plan.

Dexter Kotylak, who presented the latter document, said the plan includes information from many sources.

"We've also been gathering expert knowledge from both knowledge holders and scientists and, of course, everything that we do involves engagement with the community," he said.