Liard First Nation

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Liard First Nation or Liard River First Nation is one of the Canadian First Nations in the Yukon . The traditional territory of the five Kaska groups, to which the Liard belong, comprised around 240,000 km² in the southeast of the Yukon and in northern British Columbia . The five tribes were first created by the Canadian Indian Law , which split the Kaska. In Yukon, in addition to the Liard, the Ross River Dena Council on the Ross River belongs to the Kaska, in British Columbia the Dease River First Nation at Good Hope Lake , the Daylu Dena Council at Lower Post and the Kwadacha First Nation at Fort Ware , north of Prince George .

Most of the Liard people live in Upper Liard and Watson Lake on the Alaska Highway . They belong to the Athabaskan language family , more precisely to the Kaska . In March 2010 1,092 Indians were recognized as members of the Liard First Nation, of which 121 lived on the reservation , 347 on crown land, 594 outside the reservation, and 27 on other reservations. Its nine reserves cover just over 1,480 hectares.

145 of the 178 residents of Upper Liard belonged to the Liard First Nation in 2006. 88 inhabitants (2006) had the "Indian settlement" (Indian settlement) of Two Mile Village , which, like the 95 inhabitants of Two and One-Half Mile Village, belonged to the Liard.

history

Early history

The basin of the Upper Liard River

The Liard belong to the Kaska-Dené, whose territory extended from the Liard , Frances and Hyland Rivers to the area of ​​the upper Pelly in the north and to the Dease River in the southwest.

The earliest livelihoods were the caribou herds , but also moose , sheep and marmots , hares and Alaska piping hares . There were also birds and fish, especially salmon . The harsh climate required a semi-nomadic life, with families gathering in spring and summer camps to fish, but also in the short fall to hunt.

Clothing and dwellings were adapted to the climate and the nomadic way of life. Accordingly, they lived in shelters made of twigs, branches and furs. Shamans were considered healers and made contact with spiritual powers. They also helped locate game animals.

First fur trading post

The first posts of the Hudson's Bay Company emerged around Lower Post , where the settlement focus of the nomadic Liard shifted, then on Watson Lake and on Upper Liard. When John McLeod explored the area on the upper Liard in 1831 on behalf of the HBC, he found that the residents there had Russian goods. Robert Campbell tried to oppose the domestic Indian trade dominated by the HBC. Therefore, he built forts on Frances Lake and the upper Pelly River from 1839 to 1840 . In 1843, however, his people dared not go any further west, fearing conflict with the Chilkat-Tlingit, who had monopolized trade to the Pacific. Nevertheless, in 1848 he established another trading post at the confluence of the Pelly and Yukon (Lewes) rivers. The Chilkat destroyed his trading post at Fort Selkirk in 1852 . The difficult-to-navigate Liard River presented further difficulties. But also the pressure of the HBC management to adapt the prices and conditions to the customs on the Mackenzie and not to those on the Pacific made a successful trade impossible.

Klondike Gold Rush, Contract No. 11

Canada has been trying to conclude treaties with numerous Indian tribes since 1871. The groups on the Liard River were the only ones affected in the Yukon. So they were included in Contract No. 11 of the so-called Numbered Treaties , which was signed from June 27, 1921. This made them the only group to which the federal government granted a claim to land in principle.

Attempts at assimilation, Residential School in Carcross

The Anglican Bishop William Bompas had set up a school for Indian children in Carcross , as there was strong resistance among the white population to attend state schools and the church believed it had to keep the Indians away from the bad influence of the whites. In 1911 Bompas opened the Choutla School, which existed until the early 1960s. However, most of the parents were in no way interested, so the focus was on orphans and very poor families. Stringer also used his good contacts, such as with the Liard. Exceptionally, children from mixed marriages, such as the daughter of the merchant Poole Field, were allowed to attend school in the hope that the father would use his great influence on Liard and Pelly to attract more children.

Alaska Highway, Land Claims and Self-Government

During the Second World War , the United States began building the Alaska Highway in 1942 to forestall a possible Japanese invasion. The 195 m long Upper Liard River Bridge was built, connecting Watson Lake with Upper Liard. This infrastructure changed the way of life of the Indians and most of them became sedentary. They were kept away from the white settlements. The Indians lived on Upper Liard or around Lower Post in British Columbia, while the whites lived in Watson Lake .

In the course of the 1980s, several tribes began negotiations with the government, with the Kaska Dena Council being formed in 1981, which represents the interests of the five Kaska tribes across provincial borders. The Yukon groups succeeded in having them removed from the supervision of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development . This gave them self-government rights and negotiated land claims and compensation. In 1998 the Royal Canadian Mounted Police employed four members of the then 800 Liard as police officers. In 2000 Chief Daniel Morris reached negotiations in Ottawa that logging licenses that affected the Labiche area were revoked. In 2004 the government participated in a house building program with $ 619,382 .

In 2001, the Liard signed an agreement with the territory on land use and consultation obligations of the raw material companies who want to operate in their area. But the Liard, under the leadership of their chief Liard McMillan, saw themselves cheated out of compensation, so that in January 2008 he announced corresponding lawsuits. The background was a dispute with the Ross River First Nation , which should negotiate compensation with mining companies, while the Liard should arrange the same with oil and gas companies. However, the Liard terminated this practice, which was to apply to the entire traditional area of ​​the Kaska groups.

Current situation

In 2007, the tribe acquired three of the four hotels in Watson Lake , plus an apartment block. In September 2008, the demand for raw materials collapsed as a result of the global economic crisis. Therefore the registrations for the Liard First Nation Development Corp. Resource Explorers' Gathering at Watson Lake fell sharply.

Hereditary chief is Dixon Lutz, elected chief Liard McMillian.

literature

  • Frances Lake, Traditional and Archaeological Sites , A Report Prepared for the Liard First Nation, Whitehorse: Yukon Heritage Branch 1993 (Ms.).

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ A map of this territory can be found here ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kaskadenacouncil.com
  2. ↑ According to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development : Liard First Nation ( memento of the original from July 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / pse5-esd5.ainc-inac.gc.ca
  3. ^ Statistics Canada
  4. ^ Statistics Canada
  5. ^ Statistics Canada
  6. ↑ Ken S. Coates: Best Left as Indians: Native-White Relations in the Yukon Territory, 1840-1973 , Montreal, Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 1991, Paperback 1993, p. 21.
  7. ↑ Ken S. Coates: Best Left as Indians: Native-White Relations in the Yukon Territory, 1840-1973 , Montreal, Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 1991, Paperback 1993, p. 25.
  8. ↑ Ken S. Coates: Best Left as Indians: Native-White Relations in the Yukon Territory, 1840-1973 , Montreal, Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press 1991, Paperback 1993, p. 147.
  9. ^ No more logging in Labiche, CBC News, February 16, 2000
  10. ^ Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, New Housing Initiative with Liard First Nation, May 7, 2004 ( January 13, 2012 memento in the Internet Archive )
  11. ^ Liard First Nation takes Yukon mining battle to industry event, CBC News, January 25, 2008
  12. ^ Liard, Ross River bands clash over Yukon mining deals, CBC News, Jan. 25, 2008
  13. ↑ Yukon First Nation buys 3 Watson Lake hotels, CBC News, June 25, 2007
  14. ↑ World market turbulence shakes up Yukon mining industry, CBC News, October 21, 2008