Yekooche First Nation is based 75 kilometers northwest of

Fort St. James, British Columbia Fort St. James is a district municipality and former fur trading post in northern central British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake in the Omineca Country, at the northern terminus of Highway 27, which conn ...

at the north end of Stuart Lake on Yekooche reserves (about 380 hectares in size). It is known in English as ''Portage'' due to its location along the portage route between

Babine Lake Babine Lake ( ) or Na-taw-bun-kut ("Long Lake") is the longest natural lake in British Columbia, Canada. Babine Lake is located northeast of the town of Burns Lake in central British Columbia, some west northwest of the city of Prince George. ...

and Stuart Lake. Yekooche is a small community reserve. As of March 2019, there are 236 band members, 98 of whom live on the Yekooche reserves. Yekooche territory adjoins or encompasses

Babine {{Infobox ethnic group , group=Nadot'en , image= , image_caption= , poptime= , popplace={{Flag, Canada ({{Flag, British Columbia) , langs=English, Babine-Witsuwit'en , rels=Christianity, Animism , related= Wet'suwet'en, Dakelh In its broader sen ...

Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C *Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

and Whitefish Lakes. These locales are used to hunt and to gather winter food for families. The people of Yekooche are

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 ...

and speak the Stuart Lake dialect of the

Carrier language The Dakelh (ᑕᗸᒡ) or Carrier language is a Northern Athabaskan language. It is named after the Dakelh people, a First Nations people of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, for whom Carrier has been a common English name derive ...

. Due to their proximity to Lake Babine territory, they have traditionally been bilingual in Babine-Witsuwit'en.

History

Yekoochet'en people have lived in the region of Cunningham Lake for thousands of years. In fact, the Yekooche people's very name derives from the area—Ye Koo refers to ''Yeko Bun'' (Cunningham Lake) and ''Che'' describes the tail end of Nankut Creek. Yekooche First nation was one of the five communities that made up the

Tl'azt'en Nation Tl'azt'en Nation is a First Nations band located along the north shore of Stuart Lake near the outlet of the Tache River, in the northern interior of British Columbia. The main village belonging to Tl'azt'en Nation is Tache (often spelled Tachie i ...

band, from which it separated in 1994.

Economy

Yekooche First Nation's main economic development project is the forestry program. Currently, the majority of people residing in Yekooche seek out social assistance programmes such as Work Opportunity Program,

TESI Tesi is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Henri Tesi (1903–?), French racing cyclist * Luciano Tesi (born 1931), Italian astronomer * Mauro Antonio Tesi (1730–1766), Italian painter * Riccardo Tesi (born 1956), Italian mus ...

and

Basic Needs The basic needs approach is one of the major approaches to the measurement of absolute poverty in developing countries globally. It works to define the absolute minimum resources necessary for long-term physical well-being, usually in terms of c ...

. Many young families are forced to leave Yekooche in search of employment and education opportunities. Yekooche First Nation has a band office, a health clinic, a resource house, a church, a graveyard, an elementary school, and about 50 houses. The Elementary school consists of the head start program, adult basic education,

courses, and Kindergarten to grade seven. The school has teacherages to allow the 3 school teachers to reside in Yekooche during the week.

Carrier Sekani Family Services

Although Yekooche First Nation is not part of the

Carrier Sekani Tribal Council The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (familiarly known as CSTC) is a tribal council representing six First Nations in the Central Interior of British Columbia. It was originally known as the ''Lakes District Tribal Council''. The CSTC was incorporat ...

, it is part of Carrier Sekani Family Services. Yekooche First Nation and CSFS have an agreement for the health programme, whereby CSFS provides Yekooche with healthcare services including a nurse, dental care practitioners, doctor appointments, medical travel funds, workshops, clinic maintenance, etc.

Negotiations

Yekooche First Nation started its treaty negotiations in 1995. The treaty team negotiated an Agreement in Principle in 2005, which the Nation agreed to. Yekooche First Nation is currently in Stage 5 of the

British Columbia Treaty Process The British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) is a land claims negotiation process started in 1993 to resolve outstanding issues, including claims to un-extinguished indigenous rights, with British Columbia's First Nations. Two treaties have been ...

Access

Yekooche First Nation can be reached by road, or by boat across Stuart Lake. An average water crossing takes 1.5 hours from Tache or 2.5 hours from

Fort St. James Fort St. James is a district municipality and former fur trading post in northern central British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake in the Omineca Country, at the northern terminus of Highway 27, which con ...

References

External links

Yekooche First Nation Website
{{authority control Dakelh governments Omineca Country First Nations in British Columbia