About
Vision Statement
The Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI) will support the Tahltan Nation to assert self-determination and fulfill our inherent stewardship and caretaking responsibilities for our Territory. The preliminary vision is:
“The Tahltan Nation will fulfill its inherent stewardship responsibilities for all lands, water, air, wildlife, fish and natural resources in Tahltan Territory.”
Stewardship is the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. The TSI will help the Tahltan Nation to plan for and manage our land, water, air wildlife, and natural resources. It will ensure we take care of Tahltan Territory now and for future generations.
By conserving wildlife, managing economic development, protecting our environment and relationship with the land (including culturally significant areas) and asserting jurisdiction over Tahltan Territory, we will advance our role in and refine shared decision-making processes.
Key Strategies
The Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI) team has developed three key strategies to help achieve the TSI vision:
Refine shared decision-making relationships with British Columbia and with Canada for Tahltan Territory and establish recognition and understanding of the three governments and their respective roles and responsibilities in decision-making;
Ensure the Tahltan Central Government has the internal capacity to support decision-making, manage operations and engage communities for land stewardship decisions; and,
Ensure decisions are made based on Tahltan knowledge and worldview, local knowledge and science.
Background
The Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI) is a forward-thinking approach to our ongoing responsibilities to affirm and progress self-determination. The opportunity to further advance shared decision-making for land, water, wildlife and natural resource decisions in Tahltan Territory has arisen from the Province of British Columbia’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). This legislation brought forward in 2019 intends to harmonize provincial laws with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). This means recognition of the Tahltan right of free, prior, and informed consent regarding lands, water and natural resource use, the preservation of Tahltan culture, traditions and ceremonial practices, and the right for Tahltans to participate in decision-making matters which effect their rights will be supported in this framework.
Recognizing the timing of this opportunity and building upon the progress of previous work, the TCG is supporting TSI to advance Tahltan interests. The message from the Nation is clear: Tahltans have never ceded or surrendered our lands and continue to exercise our rights and jurisdiction over Tahltan Territory. The Nation is vested with the sacred responsibility to manage our lands and resources for the benefit of all Tahltans.
Initiatives that have contributed to this work include:
Explore the timeline and click on The dates to learn more…
2005
Formation of the Tahltan Heritage Resources Environmental Assessment Team (THREAT)
2018– 2021
The Collaborative Stewardship Framework with the 3 Nations and the Province of British Columbia
Each of these projects and efforts has helped to advance the Nation and support our unified goals founded on principles of mutual respect, recognition, and reconciliation of Tahltan rights.
Together, we work to protect the environment, safeguard our culture and heritage, ensure shared revenues and other benefits from sustainable development, and strengthen the well-being of our Tahltan Nation family.
The TSI Steering Committee
We would like to introduce our TSI Steering Committee, which reports to the TCG Board of Directors, and is responsible for overseeing the initiative, providing guidance, and ensuring technical and governance work is coordinated and progressing.
Steering Committee members will use their expertise, leadership direction, legal obligations from government-to-government agreements, and community direction to plan and make decisions to guide the TSI to success for the Nation.
Cheri Frocklage
-
Fisheries
Director - E: fisheriesdirector@tahltan.org
Cheri Frocklage
Fisheries Director
I come from a family that provided me an early appreciation of nature. My grandparents, Bud and Doris Simpson, took their grandkids fishing, moose hunting, berry and mushroom picking. They taught us to be respectful of the environment and the gifts that nature provided us for harvest. From a very early age, I developed a love for the outdoors. I started my role with Fisheries in 1990, employed as one of the two Fisheries Coordinators hired by the Iskut and Tahltan Band Councils, working at the Tahltan Tribal Council (TTC) office located in Dease Lake. I attended various programs and band office management training workshops through the Skeena Native Development Society and received an Introduction to Natural Resource Management Certification from the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology.
I was mentored by Marilyn Norby and Mary-Ellen Jarvis. The most rewarding and influential portion of my training came from interaction with our community members, particularly our Tahltan Elders. I spent countless hours talking with them and learning as much as I could about the fisheries resources that provided food security to our Nation. Many of these Elders have long since passed. I remain honoured to have had the opportunity to sit in their presence, soaking up their stories and their knowledge.
When I applied for this job 31 years ago, it was partly out of a genuine interest in fish and wildlife, and partly out of necessity. I needed a stable job and income to provide for my child. When she was a toddler, we started attending family fish camp at Glenora. Being immersed in my culture, it did not take very long to confirm my dedication to involvement in salmon management. One had only to look around the campfire at the many smiling faces, the many generations represented, and soak in the love and the sharing that took place. The time spent together, harvesting fish from the fishing site that my great grandmother also harvested her fish from. The teachings passed down from my grandparents to my mother and my aunties and uncles was in turn, taught, and passed down to my generation and to the next. The sun on your face, stories shared by my Elders, the sounds of children’s laughter, the whistle of the pressure cookers, the ping of a jar sealing, a quick visit and coffee shared with neighbours all served to nurture my soul. The value of this cultural family activity and the assurance of food security spoke loudly to me. I have remained dedicated to the conservation and protection of the Stikine River salmon stocks not only for my family, but for all Tahltan families, current and future. I knew I had found my calling and I was where I needed to be.
As Tahltans, we have always asserted our rights over our territory even in the absence of agreements and often in the absence of inclusion at the decision-making tables.
Our leadership has done extensive work over the past years ensuring that Tahltan interests are addressed despite the absence of binding agreements with government. What a proud day it will be for our Nation when we are recognized by the federal and provincial governments and provided our role in the decision-making process. By participation in, and the development of the TSI, we are getting closer to realizing our vision. In my short time with TCG, I have been amazed at the level of work that is being done. I am so very grateful to be working with my fellow Directors and TSI Team on a common goal and this landmark agreement.
Sandra Marion
-
Culture & Heritage
Director - E: culturedirector@tahltan.org
Sandra Marion
Culture & Heritage Director
As the Culture & Heritage Director, I believe that the Tahltan Stewardship Initiative is very important to our Nation as it provides an avenue to meaningful and active management of all aspects of our territory and its natural resources.
In my view, the province falls short in truly understanding our Northern BC region.
With the guided information provided by TSI, we can come together to collaboratively develop robust regulations and to implement preventative measures with on-the-ground management.
Lance Nagwan
-
Wildlife
Director - E: wildlifedirector@tahltan.org
Lance Nagwan
Wildlife Director
Member of Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation from Old Crow, Yukon, I was raised on the land hunting, fishing, and trapping under my grandfather’s tutelage. I was taught to respect the land animals and natural processes that connect them. I attended high school in Whitehorse, Yukon and college in Lethbridge, Alberta for Renewable Resource Management.
I started my working career as a Park Patrol Person for Vuntut National Park – Parks Canada for ten seasons and additionally worked for two years as a Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) Fisheries Technician managing the operation of the Fishing Branch Chum Enumeration Project. It was around then that I began working for my First Nation, the Vuntut Gwitchin Government, in different roles and capacities. I worked as a Game Guardian, Lands Manager, and Natural Resources Director.
Each time broadening my understanding of political negotiations and ability to manage resources. Working for my First Nation that relied heavily on subsistence harvesting and cultural dependence of the Porcupine Caribou Herd, under threat of industrial development in the herd’s calving grounds located in Alaska. The threat persists today, while my Gwitchin Nation continues to oppose oil and gas resource development in our sacred place where life begins.
The TSI will be the guiding document and mechanism that will empower the Tahltan Nation with the ability to manage the land for future generations.
Protecting the inherent values that are important to the Tahltan people while allowing for future land development under a sustainable pace and scale.
On a personal level, I feel honoured and privileged to work for the Nation on this important project. I now call this my home and love experiencing what the land has to offer. I teach my Tahltan children the same values and respect for the land and animals that was instilled in me, as I want them to have the chance to enjoy healthy land, water, and animals until they can teach their own children.
Ombrielle Neria
- Communications & External Relations Director
- E: communicationsdirector@tahltan.org
Ombrielle Neria
Communications & External Relations Director
I am from Indigenous and European ancestry. I have spent my life loving, living in, and exploring S'ólh Téméxw, the Traditional Territory of the Stó:lō people. I spend my days in the natural beauty of Ts’elxwéyeqw (Chilliwack) where I happily reside with my family. I have a strong background in communications, strategic planning, negotiations, and program development with over 15 years of experience. I bring expertise developing and executing complex communications projects and strategies across multiple organizations, levels of government, and stakeholder groups.
I joined the TCG after working with the Ts’elxwéyeqw Tribe, the S’ólh Téméxw Stewardship Alliance, and the Stó:lō Research and Resource Management Centre. There, I led communications initiatives and managed various projects including those within the Collaborative Stewardship Forum (CSF), of which Tahltan is a part through the 3Nations. My work focused on internal governance, government-to-government relations, rights and title issues, cultural heritage and site protections, environmental stewardship, land use planning, economic development, and major projects.
This deeply enjoyable and meaningful work strengthened my ability to navigate the complex legal and political landscape facing First Nations in the Province of British Columbia and in Canada. I love crafting powerful narratives, sharing compelling stories to support generational change, and building and evolving mechanisms for collaboration and engagement.
I am humbled and grateful for the responsibility to work with the Tahltan Nation.
Tahltans are blessed, strong, and determined. I look forward to supporting the Nation and the TSI team to make this transformative work a success for the Tahltan people.
David Rattray
-
TSI Elder
representative - E: tsi.elder@tahltan.org
David Rattray
TSI Elder Representative
My name is Ta na’as, or David Rattray. My mother is Isadaya, or Evelyn Rattray. My grandmother is Grace Edzerza and we are Ch’iyone (Wolf) and Etzenlee. I am a Tahltan Elder who has spent much of my life in Northwestern British Columbia. Much of my younger life was spent wandering around prospecting, building log and frame houses, motorcycling through Europe and the United States, trapping, and generally exploring life. In the 1980’s I taught school in Telegraph Creek for ten years, worked in the Board Office in Dease Lake for six years, and was an Aboriginal counsellor/cultural teacher for seventeen years in Fort St. John. I joined the Steering Committee of TSI as an Elder Representative. I want to find ways to include Elders in the protection of our lands and all its resources. I have been retired for several years and spend my time giving back to my Tahltan world. I have been chasing my wife for over fifty years. We have three grown children and three grandchildren. We love motorcycling in our Ural, as well as going to fish camp every July to put up salmon. Life is good.
Our ancestors left us our land in beautiful shape, with the spirit of the land alive and vibrant.
We have many people interested in coming to our land to make money. They need to be taught how sacred our land is to us. The TSI is an important part of making sure our lands stay alive and healthy.
Kyle Risby
-
TSI Youth
Representative - E: tsi.youthrep@tahltan.org
Kyle Risby
TSI Youth Representative
Hello, I am Kyle Risby, I grew up in Whitehorse Yukon, My Estsū (grandma) is Mable Williams, and I am a Tsesk’iya (Raven). I grew up listening to my dad Wayne Risby and Grandpa Pete Risby share stories of wandering the woods prospecting. I too became curious to experience the back country. I spent university summers working in various exploration camps in Yukon and Tahltan Territory prospecting through beautiful and humbling terrain. Last summer with Eskay Mining Corporation I worked an amazing field program that granted me access to many glaciers and water flow in our beautiful Tahltan Nation.
I have just started my second year in the Joint Common Law and Indigenous Law Program at the University of Victoria. Before law school I worked in Yukon as a court worker for the Council of Yukon First Nations. There I learned how to advocate and support Indigenous interest(s). I have also been Yukon’s representative on a National Action Committee for Access to Justice and have been a facilitator at the World Social Forum in 2016. As continue my learning and formal education journey, I hope to work in Indigenous governance. I recognize the importance of the Tahltan way. I hope through the TSI I can connect our youth to our lands decision-making by having access to future resources that has our Nation’s character represented in our external documents.
The TSI is important to me because of the opportunity for our Nation express self-governance through our Tahltan way.
I believe the TSI is an opportunity for our Youth to participate in land stewardship and to build unity and relations to each other and the land. The TSI also provides an exciting opportunity for our Youth and Elders to share generational perspectives of values and principles. I hope through this process our culture and spiritual connections grow and unite Tahltans. I believe that through accountable governance and fair participation the TSI, our Nation will build tools for future generations. I know land and life are sacred and we are given the responsibility to steward the land for the sustainable enjoyment of future generations.
Westin Creyke
-
Interim Wildlife
Director - E: wildlifedirector@tahltan.org
Westin Creyke
Wildlife Guardian
Coordinator
I am from the Thud ga family and am excited to be working with the Tahltan Central Government (TCG) as the Wildlife Guardian Coordinator. I lived in Dease Lake until I was twelve years old. My family then moved to Smithers where I completed high school. After high school, I moved to Prince George to pursue a degree in biomedical studies but was unable to find any interest in my program. I transferred to the biology program in my third year of university with hopes of eventually managing wildlife in Tahltan Territory. I received my degree in the spring of 2020.
Previously, I worked for Skeena Resources as an environmental technician at the Eskay and Snip Mine sites but never felt like I was on the career path that I studied for. I have always been passionate about wildlife and wildlife conservation. This position will allow me to contribute further to wildlife conservation and will undoubtedly aid in fulfilling my career goals.
If I am not at work, I am most likely hiking, hunting, fishing, or reading.
I was always taught to respect the land and animals while growing up enjoying the outdoors in Tahltan Territory.
However, my definition of respecting the land and animals has broadened as I have grown. Now, I view it as using the opportunities that the land provides in a way that allows for the same or better opportunities for future generations. Everybody needs to do their part if we want future generations to enjoy the land and animals in the same way that we do. I look forward to working with TCG and to the future of Tahltan wildlife.
The TSI Project Team
The TSI Project Team supports the TSI Steering Committee and delivery of the initiative.
Christine Creyke
-
Project
Coordinator - E: tsi.coordinator@tahltan.org
Christine Creyke
Project Coordinator
In 2006, I graduated from the University of Northern British Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in geography. After graduation, I gained employment as the Land Stewardship Coordinator for Tahltan Central Council, where I learned about our people, and our role with resource extraction and development. Due to the abundance of exploration and mining companies in Tahltan Territory and the lack of a collective community vision for resource management decision making,
I decided to continue my studies at the master’s level in the Natural Resource and Environmental Studies program. My graduate thesis is titled, The Tahltan Nation and our consultation process with the mining industry; How a land use plan might improve the process and policies and was successfully defended in 2011. While attending grad school, I applied to the Jane Glassco Northern Fellowship, a two-year program focused on policy and leadership development. I was chosen as one of twelve Northerners across Canada for the first cohort. My work focused on policy development for oil and gas activities in the Arctic.
My hope is that by educating myself, both in traditional and western ways, it will help our people stay strong and rooted in culture, while advancing our modern land and resource management tools. Since 2016, I have worked for the Tahltan Central Government. First as the Lands Director and more recently as the TSI Coordinator. Since having my second child, I have decided to take a step down as a director and focus my energy on the TSI project specifically.
I have lived in Dease Lake for most of my life. This is where I choose to raise my family and advance my traditional skills. I enjoy tanning hide, sewing, harvesting medicine, and learning about Tahltan culture. Recently, I have begun working to start a Tahltan dance group with Youth here in Dease Lake.
TSI will bring together knowledge of past, current, and future land uses and stewardship responsibilities.
It will build capacity within our government structure to ensure managing our natural and cultural resources will continue in a good way. TSI will be a legacy that will guide consistent decision-making over time and ensure the protection of Tahltan land, culture, and way of life.
As a Tahltan member living in territory, I see how important our land is to practicing culture and tradition in daily life which is something I feel is lacking in our Youth. I believe Youth is our biggest resource. I want to assist Youth in inter-generational learning of Tahltan knowledge and integration with TSI activities.
Alanna Quock
- Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas Lead
- E: alanna.quock@tahltan.org
Alanna Quock
Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAS) Lead
I am a planner, designer, and creative problem solver with a passion for building adaptive capacity. I am of Tāłtān, Taku-River Tlingit and Irish-British ancestry. I grew up in Whitehorse, Yukon, in the territory of the Ta’an Kwachan Council and Kwanlin Dun First Nations, and now call the territory of the Shíshalh Nation home (Sunshine Coast, BC). I have a Bachelor of Arts in Environment and Development, with minors in geography & psychology from McGill University and a Master of Architecture from UBC.
I have 20 years’ experience working with individuals, communities, and all levels of governments in the Yukon and BC in land planning, community engagement, environmental management, and design. I am most comfortable when navigating a space of ambiguity and complexity. I use design thinking as a practical and creative approach to bring clarity and simplicity to complex situations. My training in architecture supports my ability for cross-scale interdisciplinary thinking that allows me to quickly see patterns and bring together disparate elements into a cohesive whole. My approach to community-based project design and delivery has been recognized as leading the way in global indigenous design practice.
The TSI is important to me as it provides an opportunity to work collaboratively and in an inter-disciplinary way.
I see the potential to create meaningful, lasting change for the benefit of the Nation and our territory. It is a foundational project that will require a lot of hard work and will challenge us to work together in new ways. I see it as a vehicle for profound healing for our Nation through developing our relationships with one another, with our partners, and with our land. I am excited for this work because I feel that this project is one that brings together all the different aspects of my education and experience and lets me apply and test my learning and strengths in a way that few projects have. I am motivated by the challenge and humbled by the opportunity to work for my Nation.
Norm MacLean
-
Technical
Advisor - E: norm.maclean@tahltan.org
Norm MacLean
Technical Advisor
I am a wildlife biologist with over 30 years of professional experience in Alaska, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, and Yukon territory. I have worked with provincial and territorial environmental agencies in northwestern British Columbia, and in the Northwest Territories. I have had the privilege of working for the Tahltan Nation since 2005 as a technical member of Tahltan Heritage Resources Environmental Assessment Team (THREAT) and providing technical support for the TCG Lands and Wildlife Departments.
I have expertise on terrestrial ecosystems and wildlife habitats in boreal forests including conducting multi-year studies, and management on woodland caribou, moose, and wolves. I have been involved in multiple major project regulatory reviews, permitting reviews, application reviews, and environmental assessments in Tahltan Nation. I have been a GIS spatial analyst for over 25 years and have been involved in developing large mammal habitat models using indigenous, local, and scientific knowledge sources. Finally, I have experience in land use planning including indigenous led, joint indigenous and provincial-territorial land, forestry, and resource management plans.
The TSI is the vehicle to align related Tahltan governance, capacity, reconciliation, cultural, and land management programs which were previously being delivered through multiple avenues by the TCG.
By bringing them under one initiative, it allows for greater advancement of Tahltan land and resource jurisdiction, authorities, and stewardship through Tahltan knowledge and by Tahltan in an open transparent approach.
Ryma Aneliunas
-
GIS
Analyst - E: gis.analyst@tahltan.org
Ryma Aneliunas
GIS Analyst
It is a pleasure to be working with the Tahltan Central Government. I hope everyone is in good health. I look forward to being able to meet everyone in person and explore the Tahltan land very soon.
I live in the City of Fernie, in the unceded territory of the Ktunaxa. I have a Bachelor of Applied Technology in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) from the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary. In addition, I have an Environmental Resource Management Certificate from the University of Alberta. I have been a GIS Technician for over ten years and really enjoy what I do. I enjoy telling geographical stories through mapping and I hope I can help to share yours.
I grew up in the Northwest Territories, mainly in Hay River (K’atl’odeeche) where my mother still resides and teaches. My career started working with communities in the NWT, all the way up to Inuvik, doing forest inventory and ecology. I worked with Rangeland Management for the Alberta Environment for a decade, working towards preserving native grasslands through grazing and rangeland stewardship. I also was a Wildfire GIS Specialist during the fire season when communities were at risk including Slave Lake, Fort McMurray, and the Cariboo Plateau in BC. I am outdoors any chance I have, hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing, fishing, and camping. If you have any questions about me, please do not hesitate to ask.
Respect
There were no written laws in our history. The rules we lived by were taught to us from childhood and were based on respect. We were expected to respect ourselves, to show respect for others, to show respect for all things in our world, and to show respect for our environment. In this way we believed that our world would be in harmony, and we would live along and healthy life. – Tahltan belief
