The Liard River First Nation, also known as the Liard First Nation (pronounced "lee-ahrd") is a First Nation in the southeastern Yukon in Canada. Its main centres are Upper Liard and Watson Lake along the Alaska Highway. The language originally spoken by the people of this First Nation was Kaska and the First Nation is a member of the Kaska Tribal Council which is pursuing land claims in the Yukon and northern British Columbia. Their Indian and Northern Affairs Canada band number is 502. [1]
Its registered population in June 2011 was 1,152. [2]
Indian reserves under the governance of the Liard First Nation are: [3]
The Liard River of the North American boreal forest flows through Yukon, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows 1,115 km (693 mi) southeast through British Columbia, marking the northern end of the Rocky Mountains and then curving northeast back into Yukon and Northwest Territories, draining into the Mackenzie River at Fort Simpson, Northwest Territories. The river drains approximately 277,100 km2 (107,000 sq mi) of boreal forest and muskeg.
Sekani or Tse’khene are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the Rocky Mountain Trench. The neighbors of the Sekani are the Babine to the west, Dakelh to the south, Dunneza (Beaver) to the east, and Kaska and Tahltan, to the north, all Athabaskan peoples. In addition, due to the westward spread of the Plains Cree in recent centuries, their neighbors to the east now include Cree communities.
Telegraph Creek is a small community located off Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek. The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to approximately 250 members of Tahltan First Nation and non-native residents. The town offers basic services, including Anglican and Catholic churches, a general store, a post office, a clinic with several nurses on-call around the clock, two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, and a K-9 school. Steep river banks and rocky gorges form the terraced nature of the geography.
The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language, originally spoken by the Kaska, is an Athabaskan language.
Dease Lake is a small community in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is 230 km south of the Yukon border on Stewart–Cassiar Highway at the south end of the lake of the same name. Dease Lake is the last major centre before the Alaska Highway while driving northbound, and also the junction to Telegraph Creek and the Grand Canyon of the Stikine. Dease Lake Indian Reserve No. 9 is nearby and is under the governance of the Tahltan First Nation band government.
The Kechika River is a tributary of the Liard River, about 300 kilometres (190 mi) long, in northern British Columbia, Canada. The Kechika flows generally northwest through the northernmost section of the Rocky Mountain Trench before turning east to join the Liard, a major branch of the Mackenzie River system. The river's 22,700 km2 (8,800 sq mi) drainage basin is characterized by high glaciated peaks, boreal forest, and open tundra. With no settlements, roads or dams along its course, the Kechika is considered "one of British Columbia's finest examples of wilderness and undisturbed wildlife habitat."
Good Hope Lake is a First Nations community in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, located on Highway 37 not far south of the border with the Yukon and located east of the semi-abandoned mining town of Cassiar, British Columbia. As of the 2006 Census, there are 41 people living in Good Hope Lake, down from 75 in 2001. The band government of the Dease River First Nation is located in Good Hope Lake, and is a member government of the Kaska Tribal Council.
Lower Post is an aboriginal community in northern British Columbia, Canada, located on Highway 97, the Alaska Highway, approximately 15 miles southeast of Watson Lake, Yukon. Its historical mile designation is Mile 620. It is located near the confluence of the Dease and Liard Rivers.
The Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation, formerly known as Canoe Creek Band/Dog Creek Indian Band, created as a result of merger of the Canoe Creek Band and Dog Creek Band is a First Nations government of the Secwepemc (Shuswap) Nation, located in the Fraser Canyon-Cariboo region of the Central Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was created when the government of the then-Colony of British Columbia established an Indian reserve system in the 1860s. It is a member government of the Northern Shuswap Tribal Council.
The Lil'wat First Nation, a.k.a. the Lil'wat Nation or the Mount Currie Indian Band, is a First Nation band government located in the southern Coast Mountains region of the Interior of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is a member of the Lillooet Tribal Council, which is the largest grouping of band governments of the St'at'imc or Stl'atl'imx people. Other St'at'imc governments include the smaller In-SHUCK-ch Nation on the lower Lillooet River to the southwest, and the independent N'quatqua First Nation at the near end of Anderson Lake from Mount Currie, which is the main reserve of the Lil'wat First Nation, and also one of the largest Indian reserves by population in Canada.
The T'it'q'et also known as the T'it'k'it, the Tl'itl'kit and as the Lillooet Indian Band, is a First Nations government located in the Central Interior-Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia.
The Stikine Country, also referred to as the Stikine District or simply "the Stikine", is one of the historical geographic regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, located inland from the central Alaska Panhandle and comprising the basin of the Stikine River and its tributaries. The term Stikine–Iskut is also fairly common to describe the area, and references the Iskut River, the Stikine's largest tributary and describable as its south fork.
Nahani is an Athapaskan word used to designate native groups located in British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory between the upper Liard River and the 64th parallel north latitude. While these native groups do not necessarily have anything in common, the Canadian government used the term "Nahani" until the 1970s to refer to them collectively. The group term applied to several distinct tribes:
McDames Creek 2 is a Statistics Canada census designation for what is properly known as McDames Creek Indian Reserve No. 2, which flanks both sides of the Dease River at its confluence with McDame Creek in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. It was named for the 19th-century gold rush prospector Harry McDame. The reserve is under the administration of the Liard First Nation, a government of the Kaska Dena people and a member government of the Kaska Tribal Council.
The Kaska Dena Council is a tribal council formed of five band governments of the Kaska Dena people in northern British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and Northwest Territories, Canada.
The Dease River First Nation, also known as the Dease River Nation, is a band government of the Kaska Dena people in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Their offices are located in Good Hope Lake, British Columbia, which is on the Stewart-Cassiar Highway to the east of the abandoned mining town of Cassiar. The registered population of the band is 162.
The Tahltan First Nation, also known as the Tahltan Indian Band, is a band government of the Tahltan people. Their main community and reserves are located at Telegraph Creek, British Columbia. Their language is the Tahltan language, which is an Athabaskan language also known as Nahanni, is closely related to Kaska and Dunneza. Their Indian and Northern Affairs Canada band number is 682. The Tahltan First Nation is joined with the Iskut First Nation in a combined tribal council-type organization known as the Tahltan Nation.
Blue River 1 is the Statistics Canada census-area designation for what is properly termed the Blue River Indian Reserve No. 1, an Indian reserve in the Cassiar Country of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the left bank of the river of the same name at that river's confluence with the Dease River and is under the administration of the Liard First Nation, a member of the Kaska Tribal Council.
Kaska Nation is a tribal council of First Nations in northern British Columbia, southern Yukon, and the southwestern Northwest Territories in Canada.
The Indigenous peoples of Yukon are ethnic groups who, prior to European contact, occupied the former countries now collectively known as Yukon. While most First Nations in the Canadian territory are a part of the wider Dene Nation, there are Tlingit and Métis nations that blend into the wider spectrum of indigeneity across Canada. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, indigenous peoples and their associated nations retain close connections to the land, the rivers and the seasons of their respective countries or homelands. Their histories are recorded and passed down the generations through oral traditions. European contact and invasion brought many changes to the native cultures of Yukon including land loss and non-traditional governance and education. However, indigenous people in Yukon continue to foster their connections with the land in seasonal wage labour such as fishing and trapping. Today, indigenous groups aim to maintain and develop indigenous languages, traditional or culturally-appropriate forms of education, cultures, spiritualities and indigenous rights.