The Gwichʼin Tribal Council is a First Nations organization representing the

Gwichʼin The Gwichʼin (or Kutchin) are an Athabaskan-speaking First Nations people of Canada and an Alaska Native people. They live in the northwestern part of North America, mostly above the Arctic Circle. Gwichʼin are well-known for their crafting ...

people of northern

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, owning approximately 23,884 square kilometres of land in

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

and the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. It was created in 1992 with the final ratification of the Gwichʼin Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement with the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

. Negotiations to achieve a Final Agreement, and thus, Gwichʼin self-government, are ongoing.

History

The Gwichʼin people have been present in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories since

time immemorial Time immemorial ( la, Ab immemorabili) is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record". The phrase is used in legally significant contexts as well as ...

. In 1921, chiefs and headmen representing the Gwichʼin (then known as the Loucheux) population in Canada signed

Treaty 11 ''Treaty 11'', the last of the Numbered Treaties, was an agreement established between 1921 and 1922 between King George V and various First Nation band governments in what is today the Northwest Territories. Henry Anthony Conroy was appointed ...

, but unresolved differences arose between the interpretation of aboriginal and treaty rights by the Gwichʼin and by Canada, and many obligations were never fulfilled. To provide certainty and clarity of rights to land ownership, and to ensure various rights and benefits to the Gwichʼin people, the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement was signed as a modern treaty on April 22, 1992.

Members

* Carcross/Tagish First Nation * Champagne and Aishihik First Nation * Ehdiitat Gwich'in Council * First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun * Gwichya Gwich'in Council * Kluane First Nation * Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation * Nihtat Gwich'in Council * Selkirk First Nation * Ta'an Kwach'an Council * Teslin Tlingit Council * Tetlin Gwich'in Council * Tr'ondek Hwech'in

Powers and responsibilities

Although not a full self-government, the Gwichʼin Tribal Council has authority over planning and conservation within its jurisdiction, and exercises full ownership of various lands and organizations. These holdings include subsurface rights to certain parcels in the NWT, as well as the Gwichʼin Development Corporation and Gwichʼin Settlement Corporation. An additional Yukon Transboundary Agreement extends some of these rights into a part of neighbouring Yukon, provided that other

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 Natio ...

in that jurisdiction are co-operated with.

Footnotes

{{authority control Politics of the Northwest Territories First Nations in the Northwest Territories Inuvik Region First Nations governments First Nations tribal councils