Indigenous Governance Speakers Series: Lianne Charlie and Josh Barichello

"We Have Our Footsteps Everywhere": The Ross River Dena's Fight to Protect Dena Kēyeh/Kaska Country

Talk by Lianne Charlie and Josh Barichello

Zoom link: https://yukonu-ca.zoom.us/j/942758645

In the fall of 2021, the RRDC celebrated the 20th anniversary of refusing to participate in Canada’s comprehensive land claims process. The RRDC--part of the Kaska Nation whose territory spans the Yukon, BC, and NWT border--is located in Tu Łidlini (Ross River, Yukon) home to 352 people, 85% of whom are Kaska Dena. As “non-signers” of the Umbrella Final Agreement, the framework that guides modern treaty making in the Yukon, the RRDC are still governed under the Indian Act. Unlike 11 other First Nations in the Yukon, who have signed final and self-government agreements with the Yukon and Canada, the RRDC and other Kaska have not ceded, released or extinguished their Aboriginal title or rights to the Crown. Their territory, 23% of the Yukon and 10% of BC, is unceded.

Guided by their inherent right to govern their territory, the Ross River Dena Council (RRDC) enforced a hunting permit system during the 2018, 2020, and 2021 hunting seasons that required non-Kaska hunters to obtain a permit from the RRDC. In doing so, their actions amplified a complex and contentious dispute between the Kaska and the state (Yukon/Canada) about the land. The Kaska abide by a complex relational system of ethics, laws and governance that guide the Kaska’s interactions with their country; the state, conversely, draws upon colonial logics of rights, property and resource management.

This event is part of the 2022 Indigenous Governance Degree Speaker Series, presented online, via Zoom: Zoom meeting ID: 942 758 6455