Sekani or Tse’khene are a

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: ** First Nat ...

people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group in the

Northern Interior of British Columbia Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ...

. Their territory includes the Finlay and Parsnip River drainages of the

Rocky Mountain Trench The Rocky Mountain Trench, also known as the Valley of a Thousand Peaks or simply the Trench, is a large valley on the western side of the northern part of North America's Rocky Mountains. The Trench is both visually and cartographically a ...

. The neighbors of the Sekani are the Babine to the west,

Dakelh The Dakelh (pronounced ) or Carrier are the indigenous people of a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. The "Carrier" name was derived from an English translation of ''Aghele'', the name from the neighbouring Sekani ...

to the south, Dunneza (Beaver) to the east, and

Kaska The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language, originally spoken by the Kaska, is an Athabas ...

and

Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake, and Iskut. The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the ''Nahane ...

, to the north, all

Athabaskan Athabaskan (also spelled ''Athabascan'', ''Athapaskan'' or ''Athapascan'', and also known as Dene) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, located in western North America in three areal language groups: Northern, Pacific ...

peoples. In addition, due to the westward spread of the

Plains Cree Plains Cree may refer to: * Plains Cree language * Plains Cree people Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically liv ...

in recent centuries, their neighbors to the east now include Cree communities. Sekani people call their language 'tsek'ene''or 'tθek'ene''depending on dialect, which appended with "Dene" (meaning people), means "people on the rocks". "Sekani" is an anglicization of this term. Other forms occasionally found, especially in older sources, are ''Secunnie'', ''Siccanie'', ''Sikani'', and the French ''Sékanais''.

Culture

The traditional Sekani way of life was based on hunting and gathering. Although fish formed part of the diet, the Sekani relied more heavily on game, in contrast to their Carrier and Babine neighbors. Plant food consisted largely of berries, especially of blueberries. The Sekani traditionally cremated their deceased. After cremation was discontinued, the Sekani revived an old custom, probably never entirely abandoned, of covering the dead man with the brush hut that had sheltered him during his last days and then deserting the locality for a period. Persons of influence were buried in coffins raised on platforms or trees. They were said to have practiced

polyandry Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives" ...

before large scale conversion to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Language

Today's Sekani First Nations

Three bands identify as Sekani: Kwadacha, McLeod Lake, and Tsay-Keh Dene. In addition, the Takla Lake First Nation, which identifies as Carrier, includes many people of Sekani descent and until recently many of its members spoke the Sekani language. *

Kwadacha First Nation The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language, originally spoken by the Kaska, is an Ath ...

(formerly called ‘Fort Ware Indian Band’, the First Nation are Sekani and

Kaska Dena The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language, originally spoken by the Kaska, is an Ath ...

. The main community is located at Fort Ware (now called Kwadacha), approximately 570 km north of Prince George in British Columbia, at the confluence of the

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelv ...

, the

Kwadacha Kwadacha, also known as Fort Ware or simple Ware, is an aboriginal community in northern British Columbia, Canada, located in the Rocky Mountain Trench at the confluence of the Finlay, Kwadacha and Fox Rivers, in the Rocky Mountain Trench upstre ...

, and Finley rivers in the Rocky Mountain Trench, Reserves: Fort Ware #1, Sucker Lake #2, Weissener Lake #3, ca. 4 km², Population: 425) * McLeod Lake Indian Band (also known as ‘McLeod Lake Tse'Khene First Nation’, the main community is McLeod Lake on the most populous IR McLeod Lake #1, on the north end of McLeod Lake, ca. 150 km north of Prince George, Reserves: Arctic Lake #10, Blue Lake #24, Bear Lake #32, Carp Lake #3, Davie Lake #28, Finlay Bay #21, Hominka #11, Kerry Lake East #9, Kerry Lake West #8, Mackenzie #19, McIntyre Lake #23, McLeod Lake #1, McLeod Lake #5, Pack River #2, Quaw Island #25, Sas Mighe Indian #32, Tacheeda Lake #14, Tom Cook #26, War Lake #4, Weedon Carp #6, Weedon Lake #27, Weston Bay #20, ca. 160 km², Population: 618) * Tsay Keh Dene First Nation (also known as ‘Tsay Keh Dene Band’, formerly known as ‘Ingenika Indian Band’, Tsay Keh's traditional territory spans north to Mt. Trace, west to South Pass Peak, south to the Nation River, and east to Mount Laurier, while their offices are located in the City of Prince George, their territories, settlements, and Indian Reserves are all to the north, in the area of

Lake Williston Williston Lake is a reservoir created by the W. A. C. Bennett Dam and is located in the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Geography The lake fills the basin of the upper Peace River, backing into the Rocky Mountain Trench which is w ...

, Reserves: Ingenika Settlement, Mesilinka, Parsnip #5 (on the left bank of the Parsnip River at Fort Grahame), Police Meadow #2 (6,5 east of the Finlay River, 24 km northwest of Fort Grahame), Tutu Creek #4 (on left bank of the Parnsip River at Fort Grahame), ca. 2 km², Population: 431) *

Takla Lake First Nation Takla Lake Nation is a First Nation located around Takla Lake, 400 km north of Prince George, British Columbia, Canada. The main community is at Takla Landing, at the north end of Takla Lake, but the band services 17 reserves totaling 809 ...

(the Takla Lake Nation is an amalgamation of the North Takla Band and the Fort Connelly Band in 1959, the main community is at Takla Landing lies within IR #7 and #7A, which lies 320 km north of Prince George, B.C, situated on the eastern shore of Tatl'ah Bun (

Takla Lake Takla Lake is the fifth largest natural lake in British Columbia, Canada. It is a deep fjord-like lake with the Swannell Ranges to the east, the Driftwood River flowing into it from the north, and the Middle River draining it. It is the te ...

), The Takla Lake people currently speak predominantly Canadian English and the Babine dialect of Babine-Witsuwit'en, until recently, many people also spoke Sekani, and some spoke

Gitxsan Gitxsan (also spelled Gitksan) are an Indigenous people in Canada whose home territory comprises most of the area known as the Skeena Country in English (: means "people of" and : means "the River of Mist"). Gitksan territory encompasses approxi ...

, some people also speak the Stuart Lake dialect of Carrier, the overall identification of the community is as Carrier, Reserves: Driftwood River #1, Bear Lake (Upper Driftwood River) #1A, Bear Lake (Tsaytut Bay) #1B, Bear Lake (Tsaytut Island) #1C, Bear Lake (Kotsine) #2, Bear Lake (Sustut River) #3, Bear River (Fort Connelly) #4, Tsupmeet (Patcha Creek) #5, Klewaduska (Cataract) #6, North Takla Lake #7, North Takla Lake #7A, North Takla Lake (West Landing) #8, Takla Lake (Ferry Landing) #9, North Takla Lake (Bates Creek) #10, Cheztainya Lake #11, North Takla Lake #11A, North Takla Lake #12, Population: 703)Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) Source: Registered Population as of November, 2011

References

Bibliography

* Lanoue, Guy. (1992). ''Brothers: the politics of violence among the Sekani of Northern British Columbia''. Oxford & New York: Berg Publishers.

External links