Message from the President

Message from

the President

I would like to take a moment to recognize and thank the Tahltan Emergency Management Committee (EMC) for all the work they do and have done every day over the last years.

This team has met weekly, and when needed, often daily, to coordinate the response on behalf of our Nation with our partners including local and provincial healthcare professionals. I am so proud and grateful for the efforts of this team. The EMC committee includes Feddie Louie, Chief Marie Quock, Chief Carmen McPhee, Jodi Payne, Ann Ball, Gordon Infanti, Tina Etzerza, Shana Dennis, Kim Rowe, Maggie Dennis, Natasha Callbreath, Terrilynn Nole, Peggy Abou, Annabel Nole, Melva Quock and Christine Ball among others.

Chad Norman Day

President, Tahltan Central Government Let me start by taking a moment to wish each one of you a very happy New Year on behalf of myself and our team at the Tahltan Central Government (TCG). My personal wish for our Tahltan family this year is that 2022 brings us each new opportunities, blessings, unity, strength, and joy. We have all been challenged and strengthened throughout the past year. I believe we are a very resilient and blessed Nation.

Together, we have and will continue to accomplish great success. Since time immemorial, our people have thrived through difficulty. Do not lose sight in the strength that is within you. The best is truly yet to come for our Nation.

Visit pages 13 and 14 for more information on the award Tahltan Emergency Management Committee (EMC) received. COVID-19 has continued to challenge us all each day over the last two years. We have been on this journey together, adapting and learning to continue our way of life for ourselves and our families. Recently, we have been battling COVID-19 within our territory which we managed to avoid for so long thanks to a lot of hard work. This pandemic has impacted every Tahltan – including our friends, family and loved ones. Recently, the EMC was recognized with the David Barr Excellence Award for leadership and innovation in mineral exploration health and safety from the Provincial Association for Mineral Exploration (AME). “The committee is recognized for creating an inclusive and agile forum to facilitate communication between Indigenous communities and industry in northwest B.C. The committee demonstrated exemplary leadership during both the COVID-19 pandemic and the wildfire season,” stated AME while announcing the winners. The EMC is deserving of this acknowledgement and more. Mēduh.

COVID-19 has also changed the way our Nation communicates. We are people who connect in-person, face-to-face. That is how our Nation and government are used to doing business. We visit with each other, share a meal, and talk with each other on important matters. We share our thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Over the past two years we at the TCG have had to adapt and I have truly missed visiting our Tahltan people. We have not been able to meet as often as we would like to or are used to. This has been hard on all of us. We have had to think about the safety, health, and wellbeing of our communities amidst this challenging time.

Despite the obstacles presented, the work of the TCG and Tahltan people must continue. We, as a government, have had to continuously innovate how we do business and connect. The board has shifted to conduct its business mostly online. Utilizing our communication channels and technology, the work of our government has not only continued, but thrived. I encourage all Tahltans to embrace these online mediums while we work through this challenging time together. We want to hear your voice. Check out an online engagement session on Zoom or read information shared on the TCG website. TCG is working hard to develop and launch a brand-new website in 2022 to help connect and share even more information with our Nation. I look forward to the days we can meet often again in person without restrictions. Until then, please be vigilant and stay safe.

The Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI) recently launched a brand-new beautiful website: tsi.tahltan.org. I encourage all Tahltans to check it out and interact with this amazing site. Learn about the TSI and contribute your knowledge. Get involved.

Through the TSI, Tahltans can have a say in stewardship decisions that matter for our people in accordance with our values. It is critical that Tahltans have input into this work as we continue our journey of consent-based decision making. TSI is using map-based and online surveys to hear from Tahltans on important matters. TSI is helping to shape the Tahltan Nation for future generations. Much of the site is designed to share information exclusive for Tahltans only. This includes detailed project information and engagement. The knowledge Tahltans provide through this website will be confidential and utilized by our team to further Tahltan rights, title, and sovereignty and support the important work being done by Nalaine Morin, our TCG Lands Director and her fellow Directors of the Communications, Culture and Heritage, Fisheries and Wildlife Departments.

Members can log into the website using their TCG Members Only section password. Should you need help obtaining your password, please contact: 250-771-3274 | 1-855-TAHLTAN (824-5826) or via email: receptionist@tahltan.org. The Tahltan Nation is currently negotiating a potential Impact Benefit Agreement (IBA) with Skeena Resources for the Eskay Creek Revitalization Project. Skeena is proposing the construction, operation and closure of an open-pit gold and silver mine located approximately 135 kilometres south of Iskut. The project is subject to a federal impact assessment process under the Impact Assessment Act and a provincial review under British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Act. Also new with this project, Tahltan will have the ability to give consent for the very first time to grant an environmental assessment certificate. We are the first Nation in British Columbia to have this ability under Section 7 of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. We are indeed making history. We will be sharing information on the project and feedback from Tahltans in the days and weeks ahead. Be sure to visit the Members Only section of the TCG website to watch our recent Virtual Engagement Sessions, ask questions and learn more at tahltan.org/eskaycreek/#engage.

The TCG continues to grow with new positions being added constantly. I am so proud of the team. When I started as President of the TCG, we had four employees. Now, we have a team of well over 35 employees and subject matter experts. Our growth has been inspiring and has provided a career path for many skilled Tahltans. I encourage all Tahltans to apply for positions as they become available.

Check out Tahltan OnTrack – ontrack.tahltan.org to see what is available. We want to provide great careers for Tahltan people to support our culture for many future generations to come. Contribute your skills and knowledge to supporting our Tahltan Nation family.

In closing, I would like to wish you all once again a prosperous and healthy 2022. Welcome to all Tahltans born during these last months, and to those who will be born in the months to come. You are the future of our Nation and our people. To all those we have lost, we honour your memory and unite as a family to comfort and soothe the hearts of those who stay behind to continue your legacy.

Klane Nedischā.

Tahltan president to pay hockey registration fees for Iskut, Dease Lake, Telegraph Creek youth

Article from Terrace Standard | Binny Paul | Published December 8, 2021

Above: Tahltan Central Government’s president Chad Norman Day interacts with children in an outdoor activity.

Tahltan Central Government (TCG) President Chad Norman Day’s commitment to fitness and sports led him to start the Healthy Active Tahltans (HAT) initiative seven years ago. Now, Day has committed to paying minor hockey league registration fees for 60 to 80 Tahltan youths from Dease Lake, Iskut and Telegraph Creek.

One of the minor hockey organizers reached out to Day to see if there were funding streams available to sponsor some of the players and get hockey rolling again after COVID-19 put brakes on two seasons. The TCG leader used the opportunity to pay for all of them. For Day, the $5,000 to $8,000 expense, depending on how many players register, is a way of giving back to his community.

“When you have a good life because people put you in that place, then you should try to return the favour when you can and I’m just at a place now in my life where I’m comfortable making those kind of financial donations back to my people,” said Day.

Back in 2014, Day was the youngest TCG president to be elected to office and he leveraged that position to connect with young Tahltans and inspire them to live healthier lives.

“When I became the president, I saw that there was a lot of need for further resources in our communities and that our children, had not had leaders come in before, and do activities with them. I thought that I was in a position being the youngest president ever and somebody that was so active to just start engaging more with the schools. I was always really passionate about health and fitness since I was a kid,” said the 34-yearold, adding that sports saved his life in a way when he was youth himself.

That is one of the reasons why Day says he encouraged an active lifestyle as a way of life for the younger generation. Over the years he kept the ball rolling on social media with hashtags and posted pictures while out hunting or working out, encouraging people to do the same while wearing HAT t-shirts.

Day started HAT as a personal project in 2014 after being inspired by Arizona local Waylon Pahona and his Healthy Active Natives movement. Pahona’s social media movement, which he started nine years ago, was an attempt to inspire Indigenous peoples to achieve physical and mental wellness. Today the group has nearly 75 thousand followers across North America.

Since then, Day has fundraised over $250,000, visited schools across Tahltan Territory, sponsored hockey games and set up fitness spaces in communities. While Day has personally donated $20,000 over the years to HAT, having industry and mining giants working in the territory also helps when it comes to donations and sponsorships.

Most of the money gets funnelled back into local initiatives with a vast majority of it used for team sports such hockey including the annual sponsorship for locals to participate in the All Native Hockey tournament held in Whitehorse. “The Tahltan are really passionate about hockey,” said Day. Over the past couple years, with COVID-19 halting hockey tournaments and school visits, the funds were used to setting up and improving fitness spaces.

This year between $30,000 to $40,000 was funnelled into improving fitness centres in Telegraph Creek and Iskut. Day said they are in the process of creating a fitness space in Dease Lake too.

“As long as I’m in Tahltan leadership, it [HATs] is an initiative that I’ll always personally donate to and you know, I’ll always try to be a good example for our youth and for our people because I think health and nutrition and fitness is just such an important aspect of having a balanced life.”