Tahltan Central Council - Mandate and Vision

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Four central principles guide the actions of the Tahltan Central Council:

• self-determination for the Tahltan people
• environmental stewardship which includes protecting the land and Tahltan culture
• ensuring the people benefit from the land and resources and the development of healthy communities

In all its decision making, the TCC's priority is to ensure Tahltan people are involved in the planning, management and decision-making with respect to land and resources in Tahltan Territory.
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Source: http://www.tahltan.org/s/Mandate.asp

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Declaration of the Tahltan Tribe (1910)

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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 make by the chiefs of of the southern interior tribes at Spences Bridge of the 16th July last, and we hereby declare our complete agreement with the demands of the 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 unsettled. We further declare as follow:

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, dependant 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 treated with them nor given them any such title. (We have only lately learned the B.C. government make this claim, and that it has for long considered as it property all the territories of the Indian tribes of 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. government.

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 settlement in this 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, KENETI, alias Big Jackson

And eighty other members of the tribe.

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2005 Moratorium Declaration

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Tahltan Moratorium Heats Up The Northwest

These words, in a statement issued by the Elders of the Tahltan Nation last week, have sparked controversy in BC's northwest, where big energy companies like Shell thought they were going to get a virtually free ride, thanks to agreements they were negotiating privately with some members of the Tahltan who lacked the authority to speak for the Nation's traditional territory.

The story is another example of the BC government being only too willing to avoid its consultation responsibilities, handing them off to companies that claim they have agreements with the First Nations. As the recent Haida case makes clear, the government has a much greater responsibility than that. Its failure to properly consult and accommodate the Tahltan people has forced the Elders to take this unusual step.

As recent media coverage such as today's Tyee story indicates, the Tahltan Elders are becoming active. They have occupied the Telegraph Creek band office, making the point that the chief elected under the Indian Act, whose authority only extends to the boundary of the Indian Reserve, is not acting on behalf of the people. And they've declared a moratorium on development until proper consultation and accommodation can begin. Their statement puts all the companies pushing major development proects in the region on notice that they don't have the legal right to start operations.

Read More Here: Dogwood Initiative 

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Tahltan Central Council Resource Development Policy Statement

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Tahltan Central Council, Resource Development Policy, April, 1987

In history as well as in mythology, The Tahltan first Nation people have always been acknowledged as the original inhabitants of the Stikine River watershed in northern British Columbia. Archaeological evidence has determined that the Tahltan people have continuously occupied this area for thousands of years, perhaps as many as 10,000. This is what is often referred to in poetic terms as “since time immemorial”.

The first white person to come into Tahltan country was Samuel Black who arrived in 1821 exploring for the Northwest Trading Company, Our people never met Black and so it wasn’t until 1838 when the second white person, Robert Campbell of the Hudson Bay Company, entered our territory that European contact with our people was first made.

Tahltan had an elaborate trading economy already established when the HBC encountered our tribe. Although the HBC was very interested in immediately setting up a competing trading operation in Tahltan country, our people blocked them for approximately forty years so as to protect our own established trading economy. At that time Tahltans had an active commercial network based on our position as middlemen between the coastal tribes and the tribes living north and east of the Stikine country.

We also traded our own fish and furs and other natural resources such as obsidian to all peoples who came into our country.

Tahltan people are very proud of our tradition of commercial enterprise and equally proud that we were able to protect our interests against the mighty HBC Empire for those many years. It wasn’t until the 1870’s, when the Cassiar gold rush was in full swing, that the HBC was able to open its first trading post in Tahltan traditional territory.

Even though our people have lost the monopoly position of business in our own country, we are still active on many business fronts. Our present tribal objective is to increase our participation in all business that develops within the borders of our tribal territory so that we can again enjoy a self-sustaining, healthy and enterprising economy.

We wish to make it very clear that Tahltan people and the Tahltan Central Council are not inherently opposed to any development within our country. However, we do feel strongly that any development within our tribal territory must adhere to some basic principles that the Tahltan Central Council has developed.

We appreciate that most private developers “just want to conduct their business”. They do not want to have any discussions or participate in any actions that have overtones of aboriginal rights or native politics. We in one sense sympathize with that wish of developers because we, as businessmen, also experience frustration when politics begin to directly affect our business endeavours, However, the reality is that if our tribal objective of achieving substantial participation in business development within our country is to be realized within a reasonable time, we must combine politics and business when dealing with developers wishing to establish themselves within Tahltan country. Developers will have to come to terms with this reality if they expect to function successfully within our territory.

Before a resource development project can commence within Tahltan tribal territory, it will be necessary for the developer and the Tahltan Central Council to enter into a project participation agreement that encompasses the following elements and basic principles;

1. Assurance that the development will not pose a threat of irreparable environmental damage;

2. Assurance that the development will not jeopardize, prejudice or otherwise compromise the outstanding Tahltan aboriginal rights claim;

3. Assurance that the project will provide more positive than negative social impact on Tahltan people;

4. Provisions for the widest possible opportunity for education and direct employment-related training for Tahltan people in connection with the project;

5. Provisions for the widest possible employment opportunities for Tahltan people with respect to all phases of the development;

6. Provision for substantial equity participation by Tahltans in the total project;

7. Provisions for the widest possible development of Tahltan business opportunities over which the developer may have control or influence;

8. Provisions for the developer to assist the Tahltans to accomplish the objectives stated above by providing financial and managerial assistance and advice where deemed necessary.

If resource developers and the Tahltan Central Council can reach agreement embracing the points noted above, then we believe that Tahltans, the developers and all other Canadians will enjoy equitable benefits from each resource development undertaken and there will be business harmony within Tahltan traditional tribal territory.

Curtis Rattray
Chairman, Tahltan Central Council

SOURCE: http://www.tahltan.org/RDC.doc
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