Teslin Lake is a large lake spanning the border between

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

and

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 ...

, Canada. It is one of a group of large lakes in the region of far northwestern BC, east of the upper Alaska Panhandle, which are the southern extremity of the basin of the Yukon River, and which are known in Yukon as "the Southern Lakes" (the other major ones in the group are

Atlin Lake Atlin Lake ( Lingít: ''Áa Tlein'') is the largest natural lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The northern tip of the lake is in Yukon, as is Little Atlin Lake. However, most of the lake lies within the Atlin District of British ...

and

Tagish Lake Tagish Lake is a lake in Yukon and northern British Columbia, Canada. The lake is more than long and about wide. It has two arms, the Taku Arm in the east which is very long and mostly in British Columbia and Windy Arm in the west, mostly in ...

but include Bennett and Lindeman Lakes, the headwaters of the Yukon River itself). The lake is fed and drained primarily by the Teslin River, south and north, but is also fed from the east by the Jennings River and the Swift River, and from the west by the Hayes River. According to the Yukon Geographical Names Project, "Teslin" means "long water", but in the

Tlingit language The Tlingit language ( ; ''Lingít'' ) is spoken by the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska and Western Canada and is a branch of the Na-Dene language family. Extensive effort is being put into revitalization programs in Southeast Alaska to re ...

the local ''kwaan'' or tribe of Tlingit is called ''Deisleen Kwáan"'', meaning "Big Sinew Tribe". There are three Taku River Tlingit First Nation communities around the south end of the lake in British Columbia: Jennings River Indian Reserve No. 8, Teslin Lake Indian Reserve No. 7, and Teslin Lake Indian Reserve No. 9; in the same area there once was a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...

trading post. On the Yukon portion of the lake there are three First Nation communities: Nisutlin Indian Reserve No. 14, Nisutlin Bay Indian Reserve No. 15, and the

Teslin Tlingit Council The Teslin Tlingit Council (TTC) is a First Nation band government in the central Yukon in Canada, located in Teslin, Yukon along the Alaska Highway and Teslin Lake. The language originally spoken by the Teslin Tlingit or Deisleen Ḵwáan (″Big ...

. The latter is centred in the Village of Teslin, which is located where the Alaska Highway meets the lake, following its northern/eastern shore from there towards

Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...

. The Nisutlin Plateau limns the eastern side of the lake north of the mouth of the Teslin River and extends into Yukon.

References

Atlin District Borders of British Columbia Borders of Yukon Lakes of British Columbia Lakes of Yukon Yukon River {{Yukon-geo-stub