Tr'ondek H Wechs'in First Nation

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The Tr'ondek Haw'in First Nation (also Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation or Tr'ondek Haw'in Han Nation ) is a Canadian First Nation in the Yukon Territory of the Han (Hän Hwëch'in) ("People the lives on the river [the Yukon River] "), who belong to the Northern Athabascans both linguistically and culturally . Since their traditional fishing spot Tr'ochëk ("mouth of the Klondike River") at the confluence of the Yukon (Chu Kon 'Dëk) and Klondike (Trʼondëk) opposite the later Dawsonand their hunting grounds along the two rivers, they were formerly called the Dawson Indian Band . Another Ha goɬan or Hän-speaking band now lives in the Alaska Native Village called Eagle Village near the town of Eagle (in Hän: Tthee T'äwdlenn) in Alaska .

Today they have two Indian Reserves : Moosehide Creek 2 (on the right bank of the Yukon River and about 64.1 hectares) and Moosehide Creek 2a (16 km north of Dawson and about 346.8 hectares); Both are named after the traditional meeting place Moosehide (Jëjik dolhä dënezhu kekït) , which is still used every two years for traditional Athabaskan potlatches during the Moosehide Gathering by hundreds of participants from various neighboring First Nations and tribes. In addition, together with the Yukon government, they manage today's ghost town called Forty Mile (Ch'ëdäh Dëk) and Tombstone Park (Ddhal Ch'el) .

According to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development (the department responsible in Canada for the Aboriginals : First Nations (Indians), Inuit (Eskimo) and Metis) there are 810 tribal members today, but 620 of them live outside the Indian Reserves - only 3 live in Moosehide, 5 in other reservations and a further 173 tribe members on Kronland (as of June 2015). The list kept by the First Nation included on May 5, 2008 already 1,048 members, of whom 338 lived in Dawson, 218 in other parts of the Yukon, 492 outside the territory, 65 of them outside Canada.

Names

The name Tr'ondek Hwick'in or Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in is an autonym and means something like "people along the Klondike River". The name derives from the designation of the Klondike River as Trʼondëk (from Tro - "hammer, to fix the sticks of the salmon weirs " and Ndëk - " river ") as well as from Hwick'in / Hwëch'in ("people"; literally : "Residents of a region"). Today, however, they identify themselves after their once important capital Tr'ochëk ("mouth of the Klondike River") as "people at the mouth of the Klondike River". Each band therefore usually referred to itself as Hwhere'in / Hwëch'in ("people"; literally: "residents of an area") and with the name of the respective main village or river as the location.

Regional bands of the Hän

The Han (Hän Hwëch'in) (“people who live on the river - the Yukon River”) can be traced back to Haɬ goɬan-speaking regional bands that can be traced back around 11,000 years. These were made up again of local groups (local bands) along which one or more matrilineal extended families existed. Shortly before and during the Klondike gold rush , there were three regional bands along the Yukon River (Chu Kon 'Dëk - "bubbling water river") downstream or (from south to north) (Mishler and Simeone 2004):

  • Chief Isaac People , Isaac's Band or Dawson Indian Band : with at least three local groups - the main town Tr'ochëk (later called Lousetown or Klondike City ) at the mouth of the Klondike (Trʼondëk) in the Yukon (Chu Kon 'Dëk), the Hän -The village of Nuklako (Jutl'à 'K'ät) directly opposite the Fort Reliance trading post near today's Dawson along the Klondike River and rich fishing grounds along these rivers were in the area of ​​the largest local group, another had its hunting grounds upstream and along the Klondike Blackstone River and in the Uplands and therefore shared the Forty Mile caribou hunting areas in the area of Black City / Blackstone Village on the west bank of the East Blackstone River with the Dagudh / Tukudh and Teetł'it / Teetl'it Zheh Bands of the Gwich'in , the Bonanza Creek (Gàh Dëk - Rabbit Creek, ie "Rabbit Creek") - the main area of ​​the gold rush - also belonged to the range - called (call) themselves Tr'ondek Hwach'in / Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in ("V olk at the mouth of the Klondike River ”).
  • David's Band , later Johnny's Band : on the lower reaches and the confluence of the Fortymile River in the Yukon (Chu Kon 'Dëk) to the main town called David's Camp or Johnny's Village (Klat-ol-klin) (after the successive chiefs David and John named; today's Native Eagle Village) near the town of Eagle (Tthee T'äwdlenn) in Alaska, there was also another village 2.5 miles downstream from Eagle, between the two villages was the short-lived trading post Belle Isle , the local groups wintered regularly on Mission Creek, on the Seventymile River and their hunting area extended at least to Comet Creek, Eureka Creek and American Creek. Smallpox survivors moved to Forty Mile (Ch'ëdä Dëk) in 1880. Chief David died no later than 1903 when he was given a potlatch in memory. His son Peter followed as chief - today mostly part of the Tr'ondek Haw'in First Nation .
  • Charley's Band , Charlie's Band or Fortymile Indians : along the Upper Fortymile River downstream to the confluence with the Yukon (Chu Kon 'Dëk) with the important fishing village there called Forty Mile (Ch'ëdä Dëk) and its main town, Charley's Village ( Tadush) at the mouth of the Kandik River (also called Charley Creek) in the Yukon, so its range included today's Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve as well as parts of the Charley River catchment area , as well as Eagle Village and Kechumstuk in today's Alaska, For them, the Porcupine River caribou herd was the most important source of food besides fishing. After 1914, Charley's Village was abandoned due to a flood and the chief of the same name led his band to Eagle Village; Khan also attracted by Charley River from 1900 to 1910 to Fort Yukon, these are probably two different local groups of the same regional band - descendants today are mostly in Native Eagle Village and among today's tr'ondëk hwëch'in first nation to Find.

Chief Isaac's Band was therefore only one of three regional bands and their descendants can only be addressed as Tr'ondek Haw'in.

history

When Europeans first came to the Tr'ondek area in 1847, their chief was Gäh St'ät or "Rabbit skin hat" (rabbit skin hat). The Hudson's Bay Company founded Fort Youcon in 1847 , parallel to this they started from the south, where a fort was built on the upper Pelly River . Despite initial difficulties, Fort Yukon remained the main trading post for the Han until 1869, when the US bought Alaska . In 1874 Jack McQuesten set up a trading post at Fort Reliance below the mouth of the Klondike in the service of the Alaska Commercial Company and at the urging of Chief Gah ts'at . In 1880 a competition was established in the western Han area by the Western Fur and Trading Company around 130 km downstream at David's Village near today's Eagle (until 1881). The Americans now used steam boats, which increased the quantities of goods. This brought bulk goods such as flour and canvas for tents into the area and - which the HBC rejected - repeating rifles . This strengthened the Han’s intermediary position for such goods.

In 1886 the first major gold discovery was made on the Fortymile River (Ch'ëdäh Dëk), and the Tr'ondek Haw'in supplied the new village of Forty Mile with food and furs. Their guide was now Chief Isaac, the son-in-law of Gaeh St'ät. In 1895, new gold discoveries brought Eagle City out. Some Tr'ondek worked as porters, as packers for the boats or in washing the gold, but only a few Indians acquired claims.

In 1891 William Bompas , later Bishop of Selkirk, as the later Yukon diocese was called, visited the region. The Anglican believed that the Han, “this lowest of all peoples”, had to protect them from alcohol consumption and sexual contact with the fur traders and gold prospectors, as well as from all bad influences. The HBC, on the other hand, encouraged this type of contact, at least for the lower ranks. In 1892 Chief Isaac met Bishop Bompas and was baptized.

With the Klondike gold rush from 1896 over 100,000 whites came to the region. On the opposite side of the river from the Tr'ondek village Tr'ochëk , Dawson was built , by far the largest gold rush town with at times over 40,000 inhabitants. In the spring of 1897 the Han moved a few kilometers downstream to Moosehide . Isaac feared the negative consequences of the contact and made the proposal to move there himself. On March 27, 1900, the government established a reservation in Moosehide.

The number of Indians in the territory fell by more than half between 1901 and 1911, from 3,322 to 1,489. In addition to being displaced by the overwhelming majority of the newcomers, the Tr'ondek have been affected by diseases such as tuberculosis . From 1913, eight Moosehide children attended the school in Carcross, which opened in 1911 . In 1920 a house for children from “mixed marriages” was built, the St Paul's Hostel (until 1952).

Around 1911, the Mounted Police hired one of the tribesmen as a constable . His job was to prevent Moosehide residents from visiting Dawson because of a measles epidemic . In 1921 the people of Moosehide elected a first council. All Indians were to leave Dawson in the evening, men were only allowed to spend the night in town if accompanied by a comrade. Whites were only allowed to come to Moosehide in shops. Isaac led the tribe until his death on April 9, 1932.

For Dawson, hunting continued to offer an income opportunity. In contrast to the rest of Canada, the fur industry in the Yukon experienced a certain revival. The world economic crisis hit the Tr'ondek by the fact that the few jobs on the paddle steamers were now occupied by white people. In the 1940s, the game population declined so much that hunting around Dawson was banned. In addition, the last gold mines closed, many whites left the territory. In 1947 and 1948 the fur market collapsed in the United States and Canada. This in turn made the Indians dependent on the welfare that reached the Indians of the Yukon from around 1955. During this time, families of the Northern Tutchone (Huč'an) began to move from Fort Selkirk to Dawson and took over Tr'ochëk, which is traditionally important for the Tr'ondek.

In 1957 the school in Moosehide closed, which also led the last residents to move to Dawson. Overall, the Anglican Church, together with the police force and a considerable part of the population, reached a phase of relatively stable segregation from around 1905, which lasted until 1942. From 1933, Indians needed a special permit to stay in the city.

At the same time, their livelihoods were increasingly threatened by overhunting the caribou herds. The Forty Mile Herd contained around 568,000 animals in 1920, but by 1953 there were only 50,000 animals left. By 1973 the herd shrank to 6,500 specimens due to further overhunting.

In 1961, the Yukon Indians first took part in an election in the territory. In the 1970s, the few surviving Han speakers developed their own script together with linguists. In 1975 they demanded Tr'ochëk as an integral part of their land claims. In July 1995, the tribe decided to change their name from Dawson First Nation to Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation .

On July 16, 1998, a treaty was signed with Canada and the Territory that provided for the establishment of more than 5,000 square kilometers of territory. In addition, the Tombstone Territorial Park should be under protection for all time . This created a protected area of ​​2,100 km². In 2002 Tr'ochëk was designated a National Historic Site of Canada . The Han in Alaska can also join the contract. Through the return and exhibition of cultural goods, the culture of the Han is becoming increasingly visible to tourists.

Territory and Traditional Territory

Since 1998 the tribe owns 2598.52 km² of settlement land. In addition, there are 1,553.99 km² of land, where exclusive hunting rights, but also entitlement to the land surface and the layer below, exist. After all, the Tr'ondek Haw'in have a claim to a further 1044.52 km² of land, on which they only have a claim to the surface of the soil (i.e. not to mineral resources), and to joint hunting rights with others.

Tribesmen also retain their hunting rights throughout the traditional area. The tribe is involved in the extraction of mineral resources.

Self-government

The First Nation has governed itself since 1998. In addition to the chief and his council, departments have existed since then. They are responsible for finance, health and social welfare, cultural heritage, house building, human resources and education, implementation of contractual arrangements and natural resources. The chief Isaac Inc. serves the economic development. The tribe also maintains the Tr'inke Zho Childcare Center .

Every three years the tribe elects a chief and four counselors. On June 10, 2008 Eddie Taylor was chief of the Tr'ondek Haw'in; his advisers were Steve and Bruce Taylor and Roberta Joseph and Peter Nagano. All regulations related to political self-organization are subject to the Yukon Self Government Act . Currently, Eddie Taylor is the chief, Jay Farr, Lynn Rear, Steve Taylor and Clara Van Bibber his advisors.

There is also the Elders' Council, to which all tribesmen aged 55 and over belong. He meets every second Tuesday of the month. His influence on the other bodies is great, but of a more informal, advisory nature.

Restoration of natural resources

The Forty Mile herd, still one of the largest caribou herds in North America with 568,000 animals in the early 1920s, grazed an area of ​​approximately 220,000 km² between the White Mountains in east-central Alaska and Dawson. So it has always been an important livelihood for the Tr'ondek Haw'in. However, this herd collapsed in the course of the 1960s and 1970s as a result of overhunting and a series of particularly harsh winters, so that at the lowest point only 5,700 to 8,600 animals were counted. Not only did the herd shrink their area, they also shifted their annual migration cycles. By 1973 only a few caribou reached the Yukon. From about 1973 to 1998 their area only covered about 50,000 km².

The drastic decline in the population resulted in hunting bans, but the number of wolves also fell sharply. In 1990 the number of caribou was again estimated at 22,800, but their number stagnated. In 1993, the chief of the then Dawson First Nation called Tr'ondek Hechsel'in contacted the responsible organizations of the Upper Tanana in Alaska to start a grassroots initiative. It brought state, territorial and tribal organizations together, so that a management plan was created that also included hunting groups and the rest of the population in order to increase the herd again.

The hunting quota was reduced by two thirds, the First Nations completely stopped their hunting, motorized access to many areas was prohibited, and only hunting communities received permits. Subsistence hunters were allowed to shift their kills to the Nelchina herd. The American hunters tried a different strategy: in 1996 hunting societies offered prize money of 400 dollars on wolves. Since this approach was not accepted by the public, the grassroots initiative planned to reduce the number of wolves in the summer areas by 70% through resettlement and sterilization. To prevent grizzly bears from taking the place of the wolves, they too were relocated, but in such a way that they could return within a few weeks, but only after the most dangerous time for the calves. In 2002 caribou appeared again in the Yukon for the first time; In 2003 there were again over 43,000 caribou, with a series of mild winters particularly helping the herd to recover. In 2007 the herd, probably together with the White Mountain herd, was estimated at 110,000 to 112,000 animals. In 2012, a new management plan was drawn up that gives hunters higher quotas once the Forty Mile herd, which this year was estimated at 52,000 animals, exceeds 70,000. 65% of the animals allowed can be hunted in Alaska, only 35% in the Yukon. In October 2013, the Yukon government banned caribou hunting on the Dempster Highway until July 31, 2014 because the Forty Mile herd had first migrated over from Alaska, this time including the small Hart River herd in the area was. The larger Porcupine herd of around 169,000 caribou that was normally allowed to be hunted here did not appear in the area that year.

In the longer term, the importance of the Porcupine herd in the north, which is estimated at 169,000 animals, remains very important. In addition, the Hart River herd consists of only 2,200 caribou. In addition to these herds, protection programs have so far existed for some smaller herds, such as the Aishihik (2009: around 2,044 animals), the Chisana (fewer than 720 animals in 2003), the Kluane (2009: 181) and the Finlayson caribou - Herd, plus an “urban caribou herd” around the southern lakes.

Representation of culture

Moosehide Gathering

Members of the Hän (Hän Hwëch'in) bands from Forty Mile and Eagle, bands of the Upper Tanana (Dineh or Koht'iin) of the Tanana Athabasques from Tetlin (Teełąy), Teetł'it Gwich'in used to come to Mooshide / Teetl'it Zheh Gwich'in / Tatlitkutchin / Peel River Kutchin from the Peel River and Blackstone River as well as Northern Tutchone (Dan or Huč'an) . Especially the chiefs, like Isaac, had to make return visits, such as the appointment of a successor to a deceased chief. In contrast to British Columbia , where the potlatch was banned from 1885, there were no arrests in Yukon, but the presence of the police for surveillance and the missionaries to transform it into simple celebrations.

The first Moosehide Gathering took place in 1993, followed by a second in 1994. Since then, the celebration has taken place every two years. Hundreds of visitors from Alaska , Yukon, and the Northwest Territories attend the four-day celebration. In 1998, the acceptance of the land use agreement was celebrated, gifts were distributed that keep the memory alive and oblige the witnesses. At the same time, the younger members of the tribe are given the opportunity to learn about the scope of their culture by practicing it. The songs that Chief Isaac gave to relatives living in Eagle , Alaska during the Klondike Gold Rush have now returned to the tribe's possession. This encourages learning the language and practicing rituals again.

Dawson Cultural Center

The Dänojà Zho Cultural Center (a long time ago house) of the Tr'ondek Haw'in on the Yukon

In addition, the Dänojà Zho Cultural Center was opened in July 1998 . It was created through funds received by the tribe on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Klondike gold rush. The house is the only one in Dawson, which as a national historical site does not allow any newer buildings than those of the gold rush, combines modern architecture with elements of the much older culture of the Tr'ondek Hwhere'in.

Black City

The caribou hunting area of ​​the Blackstone Uplands was shared by the Tr'ondek with two regional bands of the Gwich'in (Kutchin) , the Dagoo Gwich'in / Dagudh Gwich'in / Tukudh Kutchin / Tukkuthkutchin / Upper Porcupine River Kutchin in the mountains along the Upper Porcupine River (Ch'ôonjik) and the Teetł'it Gwich'in / Teetl'it Zheh Gwich'in / Tatlitkutchin / Peel River Kutchin in the mountains and river valleys on the upper reaches of the Peel River (Teetl'it njik) and its tributaries. Black City , sometimes also called Blackstone Village, was one of the local settlements with around 40 to 50 inhabitants on the west bank of the East Blackstone River, not far from the Dempster Highway . Other locations were Calico Town, Ts'ok giitlin, and Cache Creek.

The Black City, which emerged at the end of the 19th century, was abandoned again by 1927; its residents had moved to Moosehide, Old Crow or Fort McPherson . Around 1938, the last Gwich'in hunting and trading campaign took place through the area. Today the area of ​​Black City is protected as part of the Tombstone Park, archaeological projects serve the exploration, but also the stronger connection of the younger ones to the region. The site is managed exclusively by the Tr'ondek Hwach'in, and hunting and fishing are still practiced today.

literature

  • Chief Isaac , Trondek Heritage (PDF, 588 kB)
  • Chris Clarke and K'änächá Group, Sharon Moore (eds.): Tr'ëhuhch'in Näwtr'udäh'¸a = finding our way home . Dawson, Yukon: Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Publ., Approx. 2009, ISBN 978-0-9688868-3-0 .
  • 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.
  • Helene Dobrowolsky: Hammerstones: A History of the Tr'ondek Haw'in . Tr'ondek H Wechs'in Han Nation 2003.
  • Innovative buildings. Homes for the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Hän. FlexHousingTM in Dawson City
  • Helene Dobrowolsky: Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in. The Changing Nature of Leadership, Governance & Justice: A Report Prepared for Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in , Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Hän Nation, 2008.
  • Craig Mishler, William E. Simeone: Han, People of the River: Hän Hwëch'in: An Ethnography and Ethnohistory . University of Alaska Press 2004, ISBN 1-889963-41-0 .
  • Sharon Katz: Traditional Knowledge on Caribou Ecology: Vegetation → Caribou → Wolf Food Chain. Final Report , Inuvik 2010. (Focuses on Dawson, Fort McPherson, Old Crow)

See also

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in. Registered Population ( Memento from July 1, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), archive.org, July 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ First Voices Hän: words
  3. ↑ This and the following according to Early Traders and Steamboats (PDF; 422 kB)
  4. ↑ Quoted from Coates, p. 78.
  5. ^ Coates, p. 76.
  6. ↑ This and the following from Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Interpretive Manual, section Chief Isaac (PDF; 600 kB)
  7. ↑ So reported a daughter of Isaac (Mishler / Simeone p. 22).
  8. ^ Coates, Table 7, p. 74.
  9. ^ Coates, p. 177, Mishler / Simeone, p. 23.
  10. ^ Coates, p. 50.
  11. ↑ Feds to shut Fortymile hunt , in: Anchorage Daily News, August 20, 2009 ( Memento of September 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive )
  12. ↑ map .
  13. ↑ Ruth M. Gronquist, Terry L. Haynes, Craig L. Gardner: Rebuilding the Fortymile caribou herd: A model of cooperative management planning , in: Rangifer, Special Issue No. 16, 2005, pp. 163-175.
  14. ↑ No Porcupine Caribou census this year - again ( Memento from January 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) and 40 Mile caribou herd crossing near Dawson, CBC, October 29, 2007 .
  15. ↑ Cf. NRM101 Lecture: Development of the Fortymile Caribou Herd Recovery Plan .
  16. ↑ Caribou hunting banned on Dempster Highway , in: Yukon News, October 9, 2013.
  17. ↑ Hart River herd protected from some hunters , in: Yukon News, November 7, 2011.
  18. ^ Richard Farnell: Three Decades of Caribou Recovery Programs in Yukon: A Paradigm Shift in Wildlife Management , Department of Environment, Government of Yukon, 2009.
  19. ↑ Allen + Maurer Architects Ltd. ( Memento of April 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  20. ↑ For the Porcupine herd s. Porcupine Caribou Management Board