The Kwanlin Dün First Nation (KDFN) or Kwänlin Dän kwächʼǟn (″Whitehorse People″) is located in and around

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The Kwanlin Dün is the largest First Nation in Yukon. Linguistically, the Kwanlin Dün are affiliated with the Southern Tutchone Tribal Council. The Kwanlin Dün include members who are Southern Tutchone, Tagish Ḵwáan (''Tágür kwächʼan'' - "Carcross-Tagish People"), and

Tlingit The Tlingit or Lingít ( ) are Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. , they constitute two of the 231 federally recognized List of Alaska Native tribal entities, Tribes of Alaska. Most Tlingit are Alaska Natives; ...

(''Łìngit'' - "Coast People").

Territory

Their traditional territory extends from Marsh Lake to Lake Laberge (''Tàa’an Mǟn'' - “Head of the Lake”) along the

Yukon River The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source in British Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory of Yukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through the U.S ...

(Southern Tutchone name: ''Tágà Shäw'', Tagish name: ''Tahgàh Cho'' - both meaning "big river").

Name

Their name is referring to a section of the Yukon River from Miles Canyon Basalts to the White Horse Rapids which their ancestors called Kwanlin in Southern Tutchone meaning "running water through canyon". Together with the Southern Tutchone word Dän or Dün for ″people″, they referred to this location for naming the KDFN.

Government

The Kwanlin Dün First Nation signed a land claims and self-government agreement on February 19, 2005. As part of the land claim agreement, KDFN received 1042 km² of Settlement Land within the traditional territory. Over 30 km² of KDFN's Settlement Land are within the City of Whitehorse boundaries. As a self-governing First Nation, KDFN has its own constitution. Doris Bill was elected as the Chief of the First Nation in March 2014, succeeding Rick O'Brien. Council members as of 2014-2015 are: Jessie Dawson, Judy Gingell, Charlene Charlie, Sean Smith, Alicia Vance, Howard MacIntosh, Dennis Calbery, and Youth Council representative Tayler Vallevand-Vance.

Programs

KDFN was involved in the building of a new Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre on the banks of the Yukon River, in downtown Whitehorse. The official opening of the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre occurred in June 2012. Youth For Lateral Kindness

References

External links

Kwanlin Dün First Nation websiteKwanlin Dün First Nation Facebook pageKwanlin Dün Cultural Centre websiteGovernment of Canada's Department of Indian and Northern Affairs First Nation profile
First Nations in Yukon First Nations governments in Yukon Southern Tutchone Yukon River {{FirstNations-stub