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Kaska Nation

Member Bands

British Columbia (Kaska Dena Council)

Dease River Band Council
Location
: Near Good Hope Lake, B.C. (Four reserves on 80.2 hectares.)

Number of Band Members
: 163 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2009, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Kwadacha Band (formerly Fort Ware)
Location: Main community is on Fort Ware Indian Reserve #1, at Ware, B.C., at the confluence of the Finlay and Kwadacha rivers.

Number of Band Members: 445 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence 2008 [last available date], Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Lower Post First Nation (aka Daylu Dena Council and Liard River No.3 Reserve)

Location
: Main community is on Liard River Indian Reserve #3, near Lower Post, B.C., on the Alaska Highway approximately 7 km south of the B.C./Yukon boundary. (219.3 hectares.)

Number living on reserve
: 113 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence 2006 census, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)


Yukon

Liard First Nation
 

Location
: Watson Lake, Yukon (Nine reserves on 1,432.9 hectares.)


Number of Band Members
: 1,079 (NOTE: Lower Post is part of the Liard First Nation and the number of band members living on the Lower Post #3 reserve are included in the Liard First Nation statistics.) (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2009, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Ross River Dena Council
Location: Ross River, Yukon.

Number of Band Members
: 488 (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence May 2009, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Background

Negotiating status
: Negotiating a comprehensive treaty settlement within the British Columbia Treaty Commission (BCTC) six-stage treaty process. No provincial mandate has been approved for negotiating transboundary agreements with Liard River and Ross River First Nations, which are based in the Yukon Territory. Therefore, the two Yukon First Nations are only mandated to sit as observers at the BCTC negotiation table with the BC-based Kaska Dena Council.

Negotiating affiliation
: Kaska Nation is a treaty group made up of the Kaska Dena Council, Liard First Nation and Ross River Dena Council. The Kaska Dena Council is a society incorporated under the Society Act of British Columbia. It includes the Dease River and Kwadacha bands and Lower Post First Nation (Daylu Dena Council). Canada does not classify the Lower Post First Nation as a band, but rather as one of eight reserves belonging to the Yukon-based Liard First Nation. However, Lower Post is the only Liard reserve within the boundaries of the Province of British Columbia and is represented by a vice-chief.

Location
: Member bands are located in northern B.C. and southern Yukon, with traditional territories extending across the B.C./Yukon boundary.

Total band members
: 2,176 (BC - 721) (Source: Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada)

Negotiations

The BC-based Kaska Dena Council (KDC) entered the British Columbia treaty process in January 1994. In July of 2000, Ross River Dena Council and Liard First Nation received mandates at the Kaska Annual General Assembly to work together with the Kaska Dena Council and a revised statement of intent, which included the two Yukon bands, was accepted by the BCTC. Negotiations were in Stage 4 of the six-stage process, negotiation of an agreement in principle, when, in March 2003, Canada suspended its participation in negotiations with both the BC and Yukon Kaska Nation bands due to outstanding legal issues. The Kaska have since put their litigation into abeyance and Canada has re-engaged the Yukon Kaska and Yukon Territorial Government in tripartite negotiations under the Yukon First Nations Umbrella Agreement.

Canada and the Province resumed treaty negotiations with KDC in late 2008. The parties have tabled and discussed several AiP chapters, as well as linkages to Strategic Engagement Agreement negotiations now underway with the Integrated Land Management Bureau.

BC treaty negotiations with the BC and Yukon Kaska bands have not resumed, pending the outcome of Yukon comprehensive treaty negotiations and the resolution of transboundary issues.

Other Activities

In November 2008, Kwadacha joined the Province and BC Hydro to sign the Kwadacha First Nations Final Agreement, which addresses historic damages from the creation and operation of the W.A.C. Bennett Dam and Williston Reservoir. Benefits include a one time payment of approximately $15 million to the Kwadacha and annual payments of approximately $1.6 million, with future adjustments for inflation. The agreement also provides Kwadacha with business and employment opportunities and will ensure that they are informed about BC Hydro facilities and operations that could affect them.

Planned Meetings

As dates are established for open public meetings, they will be publicized through the local media and posted on the B.C. Treaty Commission Website Negotiations Calendar.