Latest news with #KaskaDena
National Observer
05-06-2025
- General
- National Observer
A year of protection: BC First Nations secure mining pause on ancestral lands
First Nations in northern British Columbia have secured a one-year pause on new mining claims across a vast stretch of their traditional territory, a move Indigenous leaders called 'history-making' for Indigenous-led land management. Gillian Staveley, a member of Kaska Dene and director of culture and land stewardship for the Dena Kayeh Institute, said the agreement marks a big step forward. 'This is a really important beginning,' Staveley said. 'We're really focusing on the work that's moving us forward toward what we're striving for, where Kaska leadership is respected and reconciliation is honestly more than just a word.' The BC government announced Tuesday that for the next year, no new mining claims can be staked or registered in the region covered by the agreement. The pause will give the five First Nations, including the Tahltan, Taku River Tlingit, Kaska Dena, Gitanyow and Nisga'a Nations, and the province time to work together on a land-use plan and gather input on how the land should be protected, used and managed in future. Sensitive ecosystems, rivers, lakes and wildlife habitats in the area will be protected from new industrial disturbance while the pause is in effect. Salmon spawning streams, old-growth forests and areas important for caribou and moose will not face new mining impacts. Areas of cultural and spiritual significance to the Kaska — burial grounds, traditional hunting and gathering areas and sacred sites — will be protected from new mining while their importance is documented and considered in planning. Zones for different uses — such as protected areas, sustainable forestry, tourism, or potential future mining — will be mapped out. At the heart of the agreement is Dene Kʼéh Kusān, a vast wild area in northern British Columbia. In the Kaska Dena language, the name means 'Always Will Be There.' The region is one of the largest intact natural landscapes in the province, bigger than Vancouver Island, with no roads or power lines and home to caribou, moose and mountain goats. It also has thousands of Kaska cultural sites and ancient trails. "We're really focusing on the work that's moving us forward toward what we're striving for, where Kaska leadership is respected and reconciliation is honestly more than just a word," said Gillian Staveley, Dena Kayeh Institute. 'The farther north you get, there are no roads, there are no power lines, there are no train tracks. There's nothing there, but just the way that the creator intended it to be,' said Harlan Schilling, deputy chief of the Daylu Dena Council and the CEO of the First Nations Centre of Excellence with the BC Assembly of First Nations. "You go over anywhere in the world, and there's not many places like that left." Kaska leaders have been working for years to see Dene Kʼéh Kusān officially protected as an Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area (IPCA). The pause on new mining claims is seen as a key step toward making that vision a reality. By stopping new mining for a year, First Nations and the government have time to work together on a land use plan that could lead to long-term protection. 'It's just one year, and it's a strategy,' Staveley said. 'It was done strategically so that we can support the meaningful land use planning that needs to happen on the land base within the next year, so it doesn't impact existing projects.' Leaders say some areas are sacred and must be protected, while others may be open to responsible development, but only with their consent. 'Regardless of what happens here, the Kaska will never stop trying to protect that region, but there are always opportunities to sit down and discuss what responsible resource development can look like in other areas of our traditional territory. But that can obviously never be done without Kaska's consent,' Staveley said. The process behind the agreement reflects years of dialogue with the provincial government, neighbouring First Nations and local stakeholders. Kaska leaders said the collaboration is a model for how governments and Indigenous nations can work together, even amid geopolitical tensions and debates over consultation. 'The whole world economically changed … when the Trump administration had gotten in,' Schilling said. 'But we're very grateful we had a team working on this for years. So, even with the slowdown in staking, the talks and negotiations started months, if not years, ago.' The stakes go beyond economic and environmental benefits but also help future generations restore and inherit their language, traditions and land. 'My six-year-old little girl speaks Kaska way better than I do now,' Schilling said. 'This IPCA is going to help us as Kaska re-identify some of the things that were lost to us during the generations of the residential schools.' First Nations and the province will work under a tight timeline to finalize a land use plan. Existing mining projects and claims can continue to get permits and continue exploring until the planning is complete. As the First Nations and province continue on this process, the pause is being closely watched as a possible model for reconciliation and Indigenous-led stewardship across Canada, leaders say. 'This is about showing there are ways to do this right,' Staveley said. 'We call this land – Dena Kayeh, which means the people's country, and it's really an area for all people to enjoy, and it's a very inclusive and forward-thinking approach to how we can steward our land better.'
Hamilton Spectator
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Amid a climate crisis, ‘Vital Signs' documents the ‘relentless force' of changing landscapes
Tucked into a quiet corner of the Bill Reid Gallery is a nine-minute film by Nlaka'pamux artist Jade Baxter about the wildfire that devastated her homelands. Through a series of raw, handheld clips, Why Would I Leave? documents the months leading up to the June 2021 blaze that tore through 'Lytton.' Baxter's footage captures not only the fire itself, but the simmering tension of a community living under intensifying climate pressure. After weeks of record-breaking temperatures during the western 'North America' Heat Dome, the fast-moving flames caused two fatalities and destroyed most of the Nlaka'pamux village. The piece is part of the new exhibition Vital Signs, which features work by six First Nations artists who explore the personal and collective impacts of climate-related catastrophes on their communities. The six artists — Jade Baxter (Nlaka'pamux), Jasper Berehulke (Syilx/Okanagan), Kali Spitzer (Kaska Dena), Kwiis Hamilton (Hupačasath/Leq'a:mel), Rebecca Baker-Grenier (Kwakiuł, Dzawada'enuwx and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), and Sage Nowak (Tahltan) — were in attendance. For several of them, Vital Signs marks the first time they've shared their work at the downtown 'Vancouver' gallery. On May 13, Matriarch Mary Point welcomed more than one hundred guests to the the opening of the exhibition on the lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and səl̓ilwətaɬ Peoples. 'This place has many names,' Point said as she stood among guests in the grand hall of the gallery, with its soaring ceilings and mezzanine-level balcony that wraps around the room. 'Whether we think of this place as the Bill Reid Gallery, as 'Hornby Street,' as 'Vancouver,' I think we can collectively think of this place as — leləm̓ — as home.' Point, who is from the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nation, says she saw 'not only a crisis,' depicted in the exhibition works, but 'messages of caution.' 'In our language, there is no word for art,' she said. 'It's just part of who you are. I really see that upstairs — it's part of who you are.' Across the mezzanine, works by the six artists span painting, cedar sculptures, textiles, photography, film, poetry, jewelry, and drawing — showcasing a wide range of artistic expression. The exhibition's title, Vital Signs, refers not only to the measurements of the body's essential functions, but also to the idea that the land is vital to our existence — a living entity in its own right, say curators Aliya Boubard and Amelia Rea. In Baxter's film, scenes of intense orange skies, billowing smoke, and smoldering flames reminiscent of an atomic blast are intercut with quiet hand-held clips of the village, a 'Canada' flag hanging from a window, and Baxter's black cat Mitchuk slipping through the frame. These ordinary moments take on profound weight when followed with the sound of howling wind and the surreal, otherworldly light. Overlaying the juxtaposed clips is a poem, written by Baxter before the fire, in 2019. 'If you crawled up from the river you would see there are worn metal tracks' she reads. 'Pounded so deep into rock it could start a blaze to burn this heart out.' The poem references Pasco v. Canadian National Railway, a landmark 1985 B.C. Supreme Court decision. On August 19 of that year, the court issued an injunction preventing CN Rail from constructing a second track along an eight-mile stretch of the Thompson River — a ruling that safeguarded Nlaka'pamux fishing and cultural sites. Silhouetted against a hillside ablaze, two figures stand watching as thick smoke swallows the night sky. Over the scene, Baxter delivers a stark quote from CN Rail's legal counsel: 'There is god. And next to god is the railway.' The frame then cuts to an eagle circling high above the smoke. Baxter responds: 'To that lawyer I say — I don't believe in god. And I don't believe in the railway.' Jasper Berehulke's diptich on wood panels continue on the theme of fire, representing 'the relentless force of wildfires' he wrote in an artist statement. One painting, watching tqłəniw̓ t, depicts the 2023 McDougall Creek wildfire, which blazed through 13,500 hectares of syilx homelands. A silhouette of Berehulke's brother stands in the foreground, watching as flames consume Westbank First Nation land before jumping the lake towards kiʔláwnaʔ (Kelowna). His second painting, watching kiʔláwnaʔ, captures a lone ponderosa pine tree 'standing as a silent witness,' Berehulke wrote, as fire engulfed the other side of the lake. Healing is a central theme in the work of Hupačasath/Leq'a:mel artist Kwiis Hamilton, whose diverse practice spans graffiti-style painting, jewelry, and drawing. His large-scale painting explores the cycles we move through — life and death, pain and healing, growth and transformation among both human and non-human relatives. Black squiggles ripple across the edges of the canvas, symbolizing a time of upheaval and physical change brought on by an earthquake. 'This time of change,' Hamilton says, 'is an opportunity to learn, grow, and ʔuʔaałukst̓ał (take care of one another). Engraved silver and hand-cut abalone shell jewelry and ink drawings accompany the painting, which Hamilton says explores the reciprocal relationship humans share with the land. Also on display is a poem originally written by Hamilton in the Nuu-chah-nulth language. Sayaasim min Nismaqkin (In the future we belong to the land), shares the same name as the series of artworks on display. 'Even on the darkest days,' Hamilton writes, 'Your ancestors are with you, Remember them, Acknowledge them, Sing for them, Make an offering.' A featured piece by fashion designer Rebecca Baker, Our Roots Run Deep, is a corset crafted from old-growth cedar shavings. 'For those who know carving, it's so special to be surrounded by those remnants,' said Baxter, who arrived straight from Native Fashion Week in Santa Fe with her family. Inspired by her poem Yesterday: A Love Letter to Cedar, Baker said she wanted the piece to reflect 'the importance of using every part of our natural resources.' The exhibition is on view upstairs in the Bill Reid Gallery and will be on view daily until September 7. Admission is free for Indigenous Peoples.
CBC
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Yukon teen honours her Kaska Dena culture with traditional clothing designs
In the rural community of Ross River, Yukon, one 13-year-old is connecting to her cultural roots, through making traditional Indigenous Kaska Dena clothing. Cali McTavish has more.
CBC
10-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Stitching tradition: Yukon teen honours her Kaska Dena culture with traditional clothing designs
Social Sharing At her school in Ross River, Yukon, 13-year-old Jael Johnnie sat quietly at her Singer sewing machine, hemming the edge of a bright purple fabric as the machine hums rhythmically. She was making a ribbon skirt, one of dozens of handmade items she's created in her home economics class. The teenager has found inspiration in traditional Kaska Dena clothing and designs, and she's in turn inspiring others in her community with her creations. This summer, Johnnie will host two fashion shows: one at the end of the school year, and another in Carcross in July. She's already custom-made pieces for family and friends, including a tiny embroidered vest for her younger brother. Though shy, Johnnie lights up when describing her favourite creation so far: a black and purple parka, trimmed with a fox fur collar. "It makes me feel calm," Johnnie said, describing the process of bringing each piece to life. "And happy," she added. She says her fashion journey began by watching her older sisters make pieces for their graduation. Every June, Indigenous students from across the Yukon gather at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre in Whitehorse to celebrate graduation together, proudly dressed in traditional regalia. Inspired by her sisters Dawn and Tracy, Jael began beading and sewing — over time crafting more and more intricate pieces. Now she's created dozens of vests, backpacks, earrings and slippers. Dawn beams with pride while describing her little sister. "I think it's very inspiring. She works every day, seven days a week," Dawn said. Jael credits many community members with helping her along the way, including elder Florence Etzel who sees Johnnie's work as both beautiful and deeply meaningful. "It's a privilege to work with this young person," says Etzel. "I feel quite happy and proud of her." Etzel, who learned to make clothing for herself and her family when she was young, believes making traditional clothing is vital. "I'd like to encourage other young women to learn to sew, because it's an important part of preserving our [Kaska Dena] culture." In a community hard-hit by the toxic drug crisis, Etzel says Jael's dedication offers a glimmer of hope. "We've lost a lot of our young people," Etzel says, "but by doing this, it might make things better. I know it will make things better." For Jael, the work has brought both pride and purpose. Along with the upcoming fashion shows, one of Jael's designs will also be on display on one of this year's Truth and Reconciliation t-shirts. The shirts are sold in September in Whitehorse to mark Orange Shirt Day and honour the path toward reconciliation. Jael also hopes one day to be part of Vancouver's Indigenous Fashion Week.
