Tagish

The Block

In the button-blanket style of the West Coast Native art, Karen Lepine of Whitehorse reproduced in needlepoint the Killer Whale (Dakl’aweidi). The familiar flat-form design in red and black stroud is embellished with abalone shell buttons, true to tradition. The Killer Whale was the clan crest of Keish, a Tagish Kwan man, also known as “Skookum Jim” Mason. He and fellow guide “Dawson Charlie” were co-discoverers of gold in 1898, setting off the Klondike Gold Rush.

Cultural Profile

The headwaters of the Yukon River in the southern Yukon Territory remain the home of the dwindling Tagish Nation. The Tagish name itself is an Inland Tlingit place name that means “the spring ice is breaking up.” Linguistically, Tagish is closely related to Kaska and Tahltan, but is sometimes confused with Tlingit. There are few people left with knowledge of the Tagish language. One of the last people who spoke the language fluently, Angela Sydney, a well-known storyteller, worked with researchers for over thirty years to record the Tagish language and culture. In 1986 she received the Order of Canada in recognition of her work.

Once a populous nation, the Tagish were heavily influenced by the culturally dominant Tlingit even before contact with non-natives. During the 1800s they became active in the fur trade transporting items back and forth between the Tlingit on the coast and the Kaska and Tutchone peoples inland. Intermarriage with the Tlingit has meant dilution of their own culture and customs over the centuries. This has resulted in low numbers of modern-day Tagish.

Today, most of the Tagish First Nation lives in Carcross located on the Six-Mile River between Marsh and Tagish lakes in the Yukon Territory. Important transitional moments in life, such as birth, puberty, marriage and death, are marked by ceremonies. Through these ceremonies the people are reminded of their relationships with their spiritual self, each other and the land. Tagish rich oral traditions are protected and passed on through their totems and family crests.

Sponsor: Skookum Jim Friendship Centre