The Selkirk First Nation (Hucha Hudan people) is a

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

self-government in the Canadian territory,

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 ...

. Its original population centre was the trading post of

Fort Selkirk, Yukon Fort Selkirk is a former trading post on the Yukon River at the confluence of the Pelly River in Canada's Yukon. For many years it was home to the Selkirk First Nation (Northern Tutchone). History Archaeological evidence shows that the site h ...

along the

Yukon River The Yukon River ( Gwich'in: ''Ųųg Han'' or ''Yuk Han'', Yup'ik: ''Kuigpak'', Inupiaq: ''Kuukpak'', Deg Xinag: ''Yeqin'', Hän: ''Tth'echù'' or ''Chuu k'onn'', Southern Tutchone: Chu Nìikwän, russian: Юкон, Yukon) is a major watercourse ...

, but most of its citizens now live in

Pelly Crossing, Yukon Pelly Crossing is a community in Yukon, Canada. It lies where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River. It is the home of the Selkirk First Nation, and home to the Northern Tutchone culture. Cultural displays and artifacts are housed in a ...

where the

Klondike Highway The Klondike Highway is a highway that runs from the Alaska Panhandle through the province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon in Canada, linking the coastal town of Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon. Its route somewhat pa ...

crosses the Pelly River. The language originally spoken by the Selkirk people was

Northern Tutchone The Northern Tutchone are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in the central Yukon in Canada. Language and culture The Northern Tutchone language, originally spoken by the Northern Tutchone p ...

. There is a great effort to preserve the language and culture, as can be seen by the popularity of the Selkirk "Keeper of the Songs", Jerry Alfred. The Selkirk First Nation signed a

Yukon Land Claims The Yukon Land Claims refer to the process of negotiating and settling Indigenous land claim agreements in Yukon, Canada between First Nations and the federal government. Based on historic occupancy and use, the First Nations claim basic rights t ...

agreement in 1997.

References

External links

Selkirk First Nation websiteSelkirk First Nation page on the Council of Yukon First Nations web siteGovernment of Canada's Department of Indian and Northern Affairs First Nation profile
Northern Tutchone First Nations in Yukon First Nations governments in Yukon {{FirstNations-stub