“We who are Tagish and we who are Tlingit, our heritage has grown roots into the earth since the olden times. Therefore we are part of the earth and the water.”
Official Tribal Name: Carcross/Tagish First Nation
Address: Box 130, Carcross, Yukon Y0B 1B0
Phone: (867) 821-4251 or Toll Free: 1-855-686-4251
Fax: 867-821-4802
Official Website: https://www.ctfn.ca/
Band No.
Traditional Name:
Alternate Names:
Related Bands:
Province: Southern Yukon, Northern British Columbia
Geographic Region: Yukon River Basin
Aboriginal Status:
Tribal Affiliation: Tagish and Tlingit
Governance:
The Carcross/Tagish government is structured upon the six clans of the First Nation to ensure equal representation of all clans in all its branches.
Among other things the
Constitution establishes the five branches of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation government: the Elders Council, the Assembly, the Council, and the Justice Council.
Political Organizations:
Reserve No.
Name:
Location:
Size:
Established:
Communities:
Treaties:
Population: Total population was 7,580, as of the 2006 Census.
Language:
Tribal Culture:
The Traditional Territory of the CTFN is situated in SW Yukon, centred on the unincorporated village of Carcross.
In very generalized terms, this area of historic use and occupation extends from west of Kusawa Lake to east of Squanga Lake, and from the BC border northwards to just south of Whitehorse.
Clans / Moieties:
The two moieties are Wolf (Gooch) and Crow (Yeitl). Tagish/Tlingit culture is matrilineal or follows the mother’s line. For instance, when a child is born he or she is born into the mother’s moiety, clan and house group.
Each moiety consists of several clans, each clan belongings to either wolf or crow.
The Carcross/Tagish area has six clans that are recognized. Two of the six are Wolf and the other four are Crow moiety. Daklaweidi (Killerwhale) and Yen Yedi (Wolf) are both of Wolf Moieties.Deisheetaan (Beaver), Ganaxtedi (Raven), Kookhittaan (Crow), Ishkahittan (Frog) are all of Crow Moiety.
Traditionally a person of Crow moiety must marry a person of wolf moiety and vice versa, but with the arrival and intermarriages between Europeans and other First Nation people, this custom is no longer as strictly observed.
The clan leader is referred to as the Kaa Shaa du Heni (headman standing up).
Subsistance:
Hunting, fishing, trapping, gathering traditional medicines and berries are still important and part of the First Nation’s lifestyle today.
Fish was and still is another major source of diet. Fish were mainly caught in willow or sinew nets. Fish traps, spears, bone and wood fishhooks were also used to catch fish.
Tribal History:
The Carcross/Tagish First Nation (CTFN) signed Final and Self-Government Agreements with Yukon and Canada on October 22, 2005. The Effective Date of these agreements was January 9, 2006.
People of Note:
In the News:
Further Reading: