2021 TSI Winter Newsletter

Tahltan Stewardship Initiative In the Fall Newsletter, the Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI) was introduced which aligns numerous related Tahltan governance, reconciliation, and land management activities. The Steering Committee would like to share progress on refining and building this initiative.

The TSI will support the Tahltan Nation to assert selfdetermination and fulfill our inherent stewardship responsibilities for 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 and manage our land, water, wildlife, and natural resources. It will ensure we take care of our 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 our Territory by furthering our role in and refining shared decision-making processes.

11

THE TAHLTAN STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVE

Stewarding Tahltan Territory Through Our Laws And Knowledge W H AT I S T H E T S I ?

The Tahltan Central Government (TCG) is responsible for, amongst other things, advancing Tahltan Title and Rights, protecting our relationship with the land, caring for our ecosystem, making decisions on the use of natural resources of Tahltan Territory, and managing sustainable economic development.

To this end, the TCG and its predecessor the Tahltan Central Council (TCC) have undertaken and completed many initiatives designed to protect our land for future generations including:

1980s Tahltan Ancestral Study with Elders

1987 Resource Development Policy

2003 Out of Respect Report

2005 2013 The Shared Decision-Making Agreement with the Province of British Columbia

Formation of the Tahltan Heritage Resources Environmental Assessment Team (THREAT)

2017 The Klappan Plan and the Klappan Management Board

2018 – 2021 The Collaborative Stewardship Framework with the 3 Nations and the Province of British Columbia Thank you to every Tahltan who has contributed to this important work to protect all lands, air, water, wildlife, fish and natural resources in Tahltan Territory for future generations.

The TCG is now strengthening its commitment to land and resource stewardship by creating the Tahltan Stewardship Initiative (TSI).

All land use planning initiatives that enable us to fulfill our inherent stewardship responsibilities for Tahltan Territory will fall under the TSI umbrella.

12

TAHLTAN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT – WINTER NEWSLETTER 2021

W H Y I S T H E T S I I M P O R TA N T ?

Our goals for Tahltan land stewardship include to develop a strong foundation that supports the standard of Tahltan free, prior and informed consent regarding land and natural resource use and decision-making in our Territory; the implementation of our laws; comprehensive land use planning based on Tahltan knowledge and worldview; local knowledge and science; and, building a Lands Department with enhanced capacity and capability.

The Province of British Columbia has now adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) and enshrined it in law through the B.C. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). The UN Declaration confirms the Tahltan right of free, prior, and informed consent before any of our lands and resources are used, the preservation of Tahltan culture, and the right for Tahltan’s to participate in decision-making matters which effect their rights. The TCG is working with the B.C. government to implement the UN Declaration. The Province acknowledges that this work must include a new land use plan through a new planning process with our consent.

We now are working to design and implement land use planning throughout Tahltan Territory and participate in true consent-based decision making.

The TSI is a huge step forward. The Tahltan Nation is now working towards proper recognition of its inherit rights while establishing a new government-to-government (G2G) relationship to steward our resources.

In time, we expect to make statutory decisions in our Territory.

A Tahltan land use plan can help us take care of our land and resources now and in the future by conserving fish and wildlife, managing sustainable development, protecting our environment including important cultural areas.

If Tahltan’s do not protect our land, air, water, wildlife, fish and natural resources - nobody else will. We, the Tahltan Nation, must steward our Territory through our laws and jurisdiction. We must uphold our Title and Rights so that future generations of Tahltan people may prosper.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

1. Steering committee made up of various TCG Directors and Tahltan experts in land use planning and G2G initiatives;

2. A process that engages Tahltan membership including youth and elders; and,

3. A collaborative system designed to learn and improve from experience.

W H AT I S U N D E R T H E T S I ?

•

The TSI will build on existing Tahltan policies through the development of a comprehensive set of Tahltan land governance policies to plan and manage natural resources;

•

Defining Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas;

•

Continuing to build our environmental and archival databases via integration, studies, surveys, and projects, especially for culturally significant species (e.g., salmon, caribou);

•

Aligning land use initiatives by implementing collaborative departmental strategies;

•

Training & capacity building which empowers Tahltans to work on stewardship projects and initiatives wherever possible;

•

Developing co-governance protocols between adjacent First Nations (such as those being developed between the Tahltan, Taku and Kaska Nations through the Collaborative Stewardship Framework);

•

Formalizing our consent-based shared decision-making relationship with the Province of British Columbia around lands and resources in Tahltan Territory;

•

The TSI has established an operational protocol with the Province to support a Joint Land Use Planning project through true G2G decision-making; and,

•

Technical working groups.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TSI includes a comprehensive communications and engagement process with Tahltan members, stakeholders, and the public. We look forward to sharing more information with you in the coming months and working with Tahltan members on this important initiative.

13

“The Tahltan Nation will fulfill its inherent stewardship responsibilities for all lands, water, wildlife, fish and natural resources in Tahltan Territory.”