Latest news with #CarcrossTagishFirstNation
CBC
2 days ago
- General
- CBC
Hard talk at Whitehorse dam hearing, with concerns about environment front and centre
To Harold Gatensby, the Whitehorse hydroelectric dam evokes a sense of loss. For years, Gatensby said, he's seen fewer animals like muskrat and the threatened chinook salmon. Some lakes, Gatensby said, have gone quiet. He blames what he calls the "largest factory of the North." "You're taking our lifestyle away," he said. "We're losing the way we want to live. "I want to live by the lake. I was raised up on the lake. I raised my children up on the lake. I know where the fish are, the moose are. I don't wanna let that go." Gatensby, a member of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation (C/TFN), was one of dozens of people who spoke during the Yukon Water Board hearing into the dam. The hearing, likely the largest since the board's inception, is a vital part of the relicensing process. Yukon Energy's proposal has been moving along, having cleared the Yukon Environmental and Socio-economic Assessment Board. The company wants a 20-year licence. Residents' associations, First Nations, the Yukon government and individuals all converged for more than a week of deliberations. Many are demanding system-wide changes, including increased water level data in the face of climate change and immediately coming up with ways to better protect fish. The hearing represented an opportunity for people to air grievances and suggest solutions. Together, those submissions will help the board decide whether to issue a licence and decide what conditions to place on that licence. Fish protections remain top concern The three First Nations present pointed to ongoing impacts to fish, especially the imperilled chinook salmon. For too long, First Nations spokespeople said, salmon and fresh water species have been sucked into the dam and killed or injured. New research suggests thousands of fish may be killed as they swim through the dam, with the biggest threat being the dam's four turbines. First Nations suggest Yukon Energy hasn't yet done enough to ensure safe passage. All are pushing for immediate changes. That includes shutting off certain turbines during key migration periods, revamping the fish ladder and changing the rate at which water flows through the dam, which Yukon Energy controls. Catherine Ford-Lammers, project lead with the C/TFN, said she's not putting her trust in Yukon Energy, but rather the board. Ford-Lammers said there continue to be too many unknowns, among them, undefined protections for chinook salmon and freshwater fish, with no associated timelines. That's why she wants the board to ensure strong protections for the land and water. "It is C/TFN's concern that without timelines and requirements, none of these improvements for fish and salmon will ever be fulfilled or fulfilled too late for the chinook salmon," she said. The Ta'an Kwäch'än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation have agreed to 20-year licence term. The C/TFN wants 10 years instead because, the First Nation says, Yukon Energy hasn't done enough planning to protect the environment to warrant a longer licence term. The First Nation also wants to see a new board created, made up of the three affected First Nations, and public oversight into the future. Seven calls to action Rea Mombourquette, with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, said the dam has long upended traditions by disconnecting citizens from the land and killing fish. She said it's also altered the environment, inundating blueberry patches and fish camps. Some of those are now submerged by Schwatka Lake, the dam's reservoir. The First Nation has issued seven calls to action. They include restitution for citizens long displaced by the dam, environmental harms including fish kill, affirming harvesting rights and public apologies. "Regardless of the outcomes this week, we are still here," Mombourquette said. "We are river people, even if most of us have moved away from the river. We are still salmon people, even if we cannot currently harvest or consume salmon. "Respected members of the Yukon Water Board, you have this week an incredible opportunity to take a meaningful step towards repair and towards reconciliation. Take it." Kwanlin Dün Elder Pat Joe called the Whitehorse dam a "monster." "Salmon is the reflection of our people. They've suffered like us. They've suffered too much." Yukon Energy responds Kirsten Hogan, a consultant with Yukon Energy, said the company has made progress in some areas like collecting data and adjusting flows to attract more fish to the ladder, which is being kept open for longer periods of time. Hogan said the company isn't "shirking responsibility." "What we know now is good information, and we know that we have more to learn," she said. "The board should be confident that the evidence presented by Yukon Energy supports a 20-year licence term." But Hogan admitted the company has introduced no new protections in the last two years. She said work is underway to change that, in a process that will happen over time. Hogan said effects need to be fully understood before mitigations are set in place. Jason Herbet, legal counsel with Yukon Energy, acknowledged the lasting impacts of the dam on the affected First Nations. "Members of the three nations have spoken very eloquently over the course of this hearing," he said. "I have been personally moved by their words. "At the same time, the Whitehorse Rapids Generating Station is a critically important generation asset in Yukon's deeply interconnected electrical system. Yukoners today have reliable access to affordable and mostly renewable electricity every day of the year." On Friday, the final day of the hearing, Piers McDonald, chair of the board, said the implications of the hearing are significant as they are vast. "In my public life, I can't think of a more significant time other than perhaps the land claims agreement negotiations," he said. "The outcomes will matter to people in this territory for generations to come."
CBC
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
CTFN hosts Haa Ḵusteeyí Celebration in Carcross
The Haa Ḵusteeyí Celebration returns to Carcross this summer to honour and share Tlingit culture. Taking place from July 24 to 26, this biennial gathering rotates between the three inland Tlingit Nations: Teslin, Carcross/Tagish, and Atlin. This year, the Carcross/Tagish First Nation will welcome friends, families and visitors for three days of celebration. CBC North is a sponsor of the event. Nicole Welin, the Haa Ḵusteeyí co-ordinator for the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, said this year's event is about reconnecting and celebrating identity. "We are looking forward to having all the people, friends and family members that haven't seen each other in a while come together at Haa Ḵusteeyí this year and celebrate being Indigenous, our culture and our languages," she said. Welin added that this year's celebrations will include a mix of cultural expressions. "We will also be hosting some tattoo artists, one from Haida Gwaii and three or four traditional hand-poke artists from Yukon." Thursday, July 24, serves as the event's soft open. Volunteers and vendors will prepare throughout the day. Later in the afternoon, the public is invited to gather at 5 p.m. for a hand warming ceremony and opening remarks. Friday and Saturday celebrations The main festivities run on Friday, July 25, and Saturday, July 26, with a full lineup of performances, competitions and hands-on activities. Most of the activities will be happening at the Haa Shagóon Hídi learning centre. Friday morning begins at 10 the arrival of canoeists travelling from Atlin, B.C. Community members will gather to greet the paddlers on shore, marking the end of their journey. It will be followed by the opening ceremony. Weekend highlights include workshops, performances, an artist market and evening feasts. Visitors can also look forward to a fashion show on Friday and a tug-o-war on Saturday. This family friendly event also features a kids' zone that includes the Go For Literacy Bus from the Yukon Literacy Coalition. The event closes Sunday evening with a final feast and ceremony. Admission is free, and all ages are encouraged to attend this cultural gathering.
CBC
10-06-2025
- General
- CBC
As caribou populations recover in Yukon's Southern Lakes region, communities look to reconnect with the herds
An ambitious new plan aims to redefine the relationship between caribou and people in Yukon's Southern Lakes region, including by allowing Indigenous youth an opportunity to hunt the animals for the first time in decades. Nine government leaders signed the Southern Lakes Caribou Relationship Plan at a gathering in Carcross last week. It's a culmination of 32 years of recovery efforts that helped the herds' bounce back from roughly 1,000 individuals in 1993, to nearly 5,000 as of 2019. Southern Lakes caribou include four herds — Carcross, Ibex, Laberge and Atlin — of Northern Mountain caribou in the Yukon and northern B.C. "As a kid growing up, I used to watch a mountainside and it seemed like the whole mountain moved when there were so many caribou and I never thought we'd have to protect them," said Taku River Tlingit elder James Williams. The new relationship plan outlines how six First Nations, with the Yukon, B.C., and federal governments, will continue to build the relationship between people and caribou in the region. The plan is shaped by both traditional knowledge and Western science. "The First Nations are behind the relationship plan," said Carcross/Tagish First Nation elder Charlie James. "It still took many years for us to get to where we are today. And it's all about caribou, and it's all about the relationship that we have with caribou and the land." One of the plan's commitments is for First Nations to hold cultural caribou hunts, where elders and hunters teach youth how to hunt a caribou. Kwanlin Dün First Nation is hoping to hold a caribou hunt as part of its youth culture camp this fall, said Lars Jessup, project manager for the Southern Lakes caribou steering committee. In 1993, when the initial caribou recovery plan was drafted, First Nations in the Southern Lakes region endorsed a voluntary ban on caribou subsistence hunting. The subsistence hunting ban remains in place under the new plan, but cultural hunts will be an opportunity for the Nations to educate their youth. "Not to go shoot caribou for the sake of shooting caribou, but to teach our young people how our ancestors used to take care of caribou," James said. Increasing threats to caribou The plan also includes recommendations for how to manage threats to caribou, which have become more significant with the region's growing human population. "We want to make sure that we don't lose what we've gained in those 30 years and … there continues to be a real risk to these caribou," Jessup said. "They live right around the largest population centre in the Yukon and that population centre has grown substantially in the last 15 years." Threats to Southern Lakes caribou include human development, outdoor recreation, increased predation from wolves and bears, and vehicle collisions. "Vehicle collisions continue to take a real toll, particularly for the Carcross and Laberge herds," Jessup said. "We lose an average of seven caribou a year on highways … we're losing, in some cases, what the government of Yukon and the government of B.C. might consider a sustainable harvest rate, which would be in the realm of two to four per cent." Those attending the gathering last week discussed various ways to mitigate vehicle collisions, from increased highway signage, reduced speed limits, and the possibility of asking RCMP for help with enforcement. A key piece of the recovery program that will continue under the new plan is the ongoing monitoring of the herds, led by both biologists and First Nations game guardians and land monitors. Land monitors and game guardians conduct ground-based monitoring and the Yukon and B.C. governments use GPS collars to track caribou in the herds. During the fall, when the herds congregate, teams also conduct aerial surveys. Luke Wesley, a Taku River Tlingit First Nation land guardian, has been collecting data on the Atlin herd for the last two years. Wesley has participated in on-the-ground monitoring in the winter, using a snowmobile to observe caribou behaviour. He has also conducted different types of aerial surveys. "We dive into the ratios between males, females and calves, to get a better understanding of what the population is like and how it's growing," Wesley said. "And we also do aerial [recreation] surveys to see what's going on in migration routes and to see if there is any human activity affecting these migration routes." This work means a lot to Wesley. "All my uncles and the elders in my community would talk about how they would be able to live off these caribou … and growing up as a kid I wouldn't see very much caribou, never hunted caribou." Wesley said. "And now that they're coming back … it's very special to me." Reason to celebrate after years of sacrifice The Southern Lakes steering committee plans to hold an annual caribou gathering, like the one in Carcross last week, each spring. It will bring Southern Lakes communities together to continue to protect caribou and celebrate what's been accomplished so far. "Really one of the greatest success stories of the Southern Lakes is the fact that … we had nine government leaders up on the stage here at the annual gathering, showing their support for the caribou recovery program generally, and the Caribou Relationship Plan specifically," Jessup said.
