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WHITEHORSE – “I’m pleased that the Arctic Council chose the traditional territories of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council along with the Kwanlin Dun to convene this meeting of the Senior Arctic Officials,” said Chief Kristina Kane. “It provides us with an opportunity to bring some issues to the attention of the nation states and permanent participants who comprise the Council.”

In her greetings to the Arctic Council Chief Kane touched on the need for Yukon and Yukon First Nations to be formally involved in the Pacific Salmon Treaty between Canada and the United States which sets out the regime for Chinook populations.  “TKC harvest Chinook salmon as they pass through our traditional territories at the very end of their migration,” Chief Kane says “it is in our best interest to seek more involvement in the protection enhancement and management of that resource.”

She pointed to the recent success of the TKC Fox Creek Restoration Project which saw spawning Chinook returning to the creek for the first time in almost fifty years. She also mentioned the concerns of her citizens regarding the potential for fracking in the Yukon. “ The Ta’an people are deeply concerned that any fracking in the territory will have a devastating effect on our clean drinking water, the Council and Elders Council have both passed Resolutions for TKC to deny fracking on retained lands and to oppose any application for that type of activity within its traditional territories.”

Chief Kane also pointed out to the Senior Arctic Officials TKC support of the Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council proposed basin wide watershed plan for the Yukon River which flows through Canada and the US both of which are members of the Arctic Council.  “We believe we should work collectively to improve and protect the quality of Yukon River water.”

TKC Youth have been very involved since we started having meetings, so on July 17th, we will be going to a movie as a reward for all your hard work. We will not know what movie, so I will call before to confirm what movie and what time we will meet.

I will need to have numbers for the youth who want to attend. Pleas call me at 334-2640 to confirm who is coming. This event will count toward filling up your cash card!!!

All TKC youth ages 12-29 years are welcome July 17th.

Parent, email me at teckert-maret@taan.ca if you have questions.

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by Jacqueline Ronson (Yukon News)

The old Range Road dump site looks a lot different than it did seven years ago, thanks to a cleanup by the Ta’an Kwach’an Council.

Yesterday, the council unveiled three interpretive panels at the site, detailing its historical use, the cleanup effort, and its importance for fish and wildlife.

The old Range Road dump site looks a lot different than it did seven years ago, thanks to a cleanup by the Ta’an Kwach’an Council.

Yesterday, the council unveiled three interpretive panels at the site, detailing its historical use, the cleanup effort, and its importance for fish and wildlife.

The panels sit on top of a sandy plateau, with steep cliffs dropping to the Yukon River on one side and McIntyre Creek on the other. Grasses, trees and wildflowers cover the rich landscape.

“It’s one of the most beautiful places in Whitehorse,” said Emmie Fairclough, manager of Lands, Resources, and Heritage for the council. “You’ve got river traffic here, you’ve got wildlife crossing, it’s just a gorgeous place.”

An immature bald eagle soared over the heads of the small crowd who gathered for the unveiling.

Some clues to the site’s dirty past remain: an old abandoned car, some scrap metal and rusted tin cans poking out through the dirt. But the transformation has been dramatic.

Dumping in the area began in the 1940s. A lot of waste was dropped over the edge of the cliffs and ended up in the river.

In 1975, the site was closed because of its proximity to the water and dumping moved to the Whitehorse landfill site that exists today.

The Ta’an Kwach’an Council began the cleanup effort in 2005.

“Our goal of the project was to get rid of the surface garbage and make sure there was no toxic waste getting into McIntyre Creek,” said Fairclough.

Seven years ago, old cars, scrap metal, and barrels containing unknown substances littered the landscape. At low water levels, you could see the thousands of tires scattered along the river bed.

“You could look down and see tires everywhere,” said Fairclough.

After removing the surface garbage, including 16 tonnes of scrap metal and 16 dump trucks full of tires, the area was covered with half a metre of soil and seeded with native plant species to encourage revegetation.

The goal was to “effect a change in people’s minds from viewing it as a dump site to a green space within the community that has been restored and can be used,” said Ben Snow with Environmental Dynamics Inc., which partnered with the council on the project.

The area was historically important to both the Ta’an Kwach’an and the Kwanlin Dun people.

McIntyre Creek is a documented chinook salmon spawning and rearing stream, Snow said.

The cleanup crews found the remnants of an old cabin and fish camp site on the cliffs below the old dump where the creek flows into the Yukon River.

“The Ta’an Kwach’an have lived here for a really long time, they’ve lived here all their lives, this is their home,” said Fairclough. “And their goal is to take care of their traditional territory and this is one of their projects, cleaning up. They want to clean it up and keep it for their grandchildren.”

The cleanup effort cost over a million dollars, Fairclough estimated.

Most of that came from the Northern Strategy Trust Fund. The Yukon River Panel Restoration and Enhancement Fund paid for the interpretive panels.

The City of Whitehorse waived the dumping fees to move the junk to the existing landfill, and helped with the recycling of some materials.

The council hopes that the area will be officially designated as a park or recreation site, said Fairclough.

But for now, she hopes that people will come out and use the site, read the interpretive panels, sit and watch the stars or the northern lights, or wait to see the wildlife go by.

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Whitehorse, Yukon — The Government of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council rises to the challenge issued by ―The Dread Pirate Roberts‖ in the 1 December issue of the Yukon News to alleviate hunger in the Yukon.

We, too, believe that we must all work together to solve the hunger problem, says Chief Brenda Sam, ―and to this end we have asked Ta’an Kwäch’än Council staff attending our staff Christmas party this weekend to bring along non-perishable food items, for a total of
$25, which we will deliver to the Food Bank on Monday.

For more information contact:

Deborah Dupont
Executive Administrator
Ta’an Kwäch’än Council
Phone: 867.668.3613

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Whitehorse, Yukon — Chief Brenda Sam of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, in conjunction with her Education Manager, Madeline Talyfer, announces that as of the end of February 2010 a total of 44 students had completed, or were in various stages of completing, courses in the post-secondary education and employment training fields.

“This is a significant number,” says Chief Sam, “as it represents 10 per cent of our First Nation’s population.” Talyfer says that the number of people enrolled in post-secondary education or in shorter employment-related training is simply “a sign of the times”. With the severe downturn in the economy last year and job availability running at an all-time low—and while competition in Alberta has become fierce—training was the best way to make things better. Once trained, Ta’an Kwäch’än citizens will be able to have a better choice of positions in the job market and be able to stay closer to home.

“We have a large number of people enrolled at Yukon College,” Talyfer says. Cora Lee Johns, who worked for the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council Lands, Resources and Heritage Department as a summer student, returned to college courses to move into the water and wildlife management sector. “It’s great going to school and having a future to look forward to,” she says. This semester, while
juggling kids and a part time job, she is attending Lead Community Steward Technician courses at the University of Alaska Fairbanks one week per month until May. The Ta’an Kwäch’än Council is partnering this project with the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council responsible for managing large stretches of traditional territory along the Yukon River. Johns wants to continue her studies in Fairbanks full time in the fall over the next two years.

Another Ta’an Kwäch’än citizen, Gabe Profeit, is completing his third year carpentry apprenticeship in Burnaby. “I didn’t even know that this was available to me. I had worked for the last five years as a carpenter’s helper. When I got in touch with Madeline’s office last fall looking for job leads and spoke with her, she steered me into the apprenticeship program because of my work history. With my motivation, I’ve just completed my third year. After six more months on a job site, I can take my
fourth year and then I’m a journeyman! I never thought it could happen to me.”

“We’ve got a few more good ideas for projects to find entry-level jobs for our citizens”, says Chief Sam. “We’re partnering with as many of the local government agencies as we can to pull all the resources, trainers and ideas together. We’ll be able to make more good-news announcements in the future.”

Asked where she takes her enthusiasm and ideas from, Talyfer responds “I take a look at the overall picture and come up with the simplest plans to make it a win-win situation for everyone. As a sourdough born and bred in the Yukon, I believe I have the true entrepreneurial spirit that originates here. We have to forge ahead while everyone else tells us we can’t do it. Now that the Ta’an
Kwäch’än Council Self-Government Agreement is in place, and after some time of adjustment, there are many opportunities to finally make a difference for everyone.

For more information contact:

Madeline Talyfer
Education Manager
Education Department
Ta’an Kwäch’än Council
Telephone: 867.668.3613

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Whitehorse, Yukon — Today was the first day in office for newly elected Ta’an Kwäch’än Council Chief Brenda Lorraine Sam and Deputy-Chief Richard Francis Martin, The elections were held on Monday, 19 October 2009. Over the next few days, Chief Sam and Deputy-Chief Martin will receive briefings from senior Ta’an Kwäch’än government officials and will take their oath of office before

the Elders Council as required under Ta’an Kwäch’än law.

Chief Sam and Deputy-Chief Martin look forward to supporting the Ta’an Kwäch’än vision for its community, citizens, children and grandchildren and uphold the constitution and laws of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.

For more information contact:

Vickie Irvine
Executive Assistant
Administration
Ta’an Kwäch’än Council
Phone: 867.668.3613

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Whitehorse, Yukon — The Ta’an Kwäch’än Council in partnership with the Northern Research Institute, Environmental Dynamics Inc. and Fisheries and Oceans Canada will release juvenile Chinook salmon into Fox Creek this week as part of a multi-year Chinook Stock Restoration Plan.

Fox Creek is a tributary to Lake Laberge, approximately 50 km north of Whitehorse. Past surveys indicate that the creek once supported a spawning population of Chinook salmon. Reasons for the disappearance of adult salmon in Fox Creek are unknown.

Salmon has long been a mainstay of the Ta’an Kwäch’än people and Fox Creek lies in the heart of Ta’an Kwäch’än traditional territory. Poor returns of Chinook salmon in recent years emphasize the need for stock restoration projects such as this.

In 1997, the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council began researching the feasibility of re-introducing Chinook salmon fry into Fox Creek. Field work was undertaken by Ta’an Kwäch’än Council community stewards over the past two summers in preparation for stock restoration. In September 2008, eggs were collected and fertilized from adult Chinook salmon taken from the Whitehorse Rapids Fish Ladder. The fry was reared over the winter at the McIntyre Creek Incubation Facility.

The release of juvenile Chinook salmon into Fox Creek this summer marks the beginning of a 12 year stock restoration plan (two complete salmon cycles). The Ta’an Kwäch’än Council community stewards will monitor juvenile growth, overwintering success, and will count adult returns to Fox Creek.

The Fox Creek restoration project is a main focus of the community stewardship program. Since 2007, the project has employed two stewards on a seasonal basis. The community stewards monitor and assess salmon activity in several tributaries along the Yukon River within the Ta’an Kwäch’än traditional territory.

“I have worked as a community steward since June 2007. My vision is to protect and preserve the future of Chinook in the Yukon River Watershed. As a Ta’an Kwäch’än citizen, I am working for my First Nation and I am building knowledge for my elders and leaders. I am passionate about protecting our land and the Yukon River Watershed,” says Coralee Johns, the Ta’an Kwäch’än
Council lead community steward.

Funding for this project was provided through the Yukon River Panel’s Restoration and Enhancement Fund. Project partners are Environmental Dynamics Inc, the Northern Research Institute and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The Yukon Government’s Y2C2 program assisted with trail cutting.

For more information contact:

Coralee Johns
Lead Community Steward
Ta’an Kwäch’än Council
Lands, Resources and Heritage Department
Phone: 867.668.3444

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