The Southern Tutchone are a

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 ...

people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in the southern

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 ...

in Canada. The Southern Tutchone language, traditionally spoken by the Southern Tutchone people, is a

variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

of the

Tutchone language Tutchone is an Athabaskan language spoken by the Northern and Southern Tutchone First Nations in central and southern regions of Yukon Territory, Canada. Tutchone belongs to the Northern Athabaskan linguistic subfamily and has two primary vari ...

, part of the Athabaskan language family. Some linguists suggest that Northern and Southern Tutchone are distinct and separate languages. Southern Tutchone First Nations governments and communities include: *

Champagne and Aishihik First Nations The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN) is a First Nation band government in Yukon, Canada. Historically its original population centres were Champagne (home of the ''Kwächä̀l kwächʼǟn'' - "Champagne people/band") and Aishihik (home ...

(

Haines Junction Haines Junction is a village in Yukon, Canada. It is at Kilometre 1,632 (historical mile 1016) of the Alaska Highway at its junction with the Haines Highway, hence the name of the community. According to the 2021 Census, the population was 688. ...

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, and

Aishihik Aishihik (Also known as Äshèyi) is a village of the Southern Tutchone people at the north end of Äshèyi Män ( Aishihik Lake) in Yukon. It continues to be the home of the Äshèyi people. Champagne and Aishihik First Nations continue to us ...

in Yukon) Many Champagne and Aishihik members also live in Whitehorse. * Ta'an Kwach'an Council (

Whitehorse, Yukon 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 area ...

and

Lake Laberge Lake Laberge is a widening of the Yukon River north of Whitehorse, Yukon in Canada. It is fifty kilometres long and ranges from two to five kilometres wide. Its water is always very cold, and its weather often harsh and suddenly variable. Names ...

) (Ta’an Kwäch’än - ″People of Lake Laberge″, because they called it ''Tàa'an Män'') *

Kluane First Nation The Kluane First Nation (KFN) is a First Nations band government in Yukon, Canada. Its main centre is in Burwash Landing, Yukon along the Alaska Highway on the shores of Kluane Lake, the territory's largest lake. The native language spoken by the ...

(

Burwash Landing, Yukon Burwash Landing is a small community, at historical mile 1093 on the Alaska Highway, in Yukon, Canada along the southern shore of Kluane Lake. The present location of Burwash Landing was first used as a summer camp by the Southern Tutchone Athaba ...

) (Lù’àn Män Ku Dän or Lù’àn Mun Ku Dän - ″Kluane Lake People″, referring to their territory around

Kluane Lake Kluane Lake is located in the southwest area of the Yukon. It is the largest lake contained entirely within Yukon at approximately , and long. Kluane Lake is located approximately northwest of Haines Junction. The Alaska Highway follows most of ...

). Many citizens of the

Kwanlin Dün First Nation The Kwanlin Dün First Nation (KDFN) or Kwänlin Dän kwächʼǟn (″Whitehorse People″) is located in and around Whitehorse in Yukon, Canada. The Kwanlin Dün is the largest First Nation in Yukon. Linguistically, the Kwanlin Dün are affi ...

(Kwänlin Dän kwächʼǟn - "Whitehorse people", formerly ''White Horse Indian Band'') in Whitehorse are of Southern Tutchone origin; their name refers to a section of the Yukon River from

Miles Canyon Basalts The Miles Canyon Basalts represent a package of rocks that include various exposures of basaltic lava flows and cones that erupted and flowed across an ancient pre-glacial landscape in south-central Yukon. The volcanic rocks are best exposed an ...

to the

White Horse Rapids The Whitehorse rapids were rapids on the Yukon River in Canada's Yukon Territory, named for their supposed resemblance to the mane of a charging white horse. The rapids formed where the Yukon River flows across and cuts down through lava flows o ...

which their ancestors called Kwanlin meaning "running water through canyon” and together with the Southern Tutchone word Dän or Dün for ″people″, they referred to this location for naming the KDFN)

Southern Tutchone language

The Southern TutchoneMcClellan, C. (2001) ''My Old People Say: an Ethnographic Survey of Southern Yukon Territory''. Canadian Museum of Civilization. people named by the late Catharine McClellan; are a group of Athabaskan speaking indigenous people of Southern Yukon, Canada. Today, the Southern Tutchone language is more often being called, "Dän'ke" which means 'our way' or, "Dän k'e kwänje" which means 'our way of speaking' in the Athabaskan language. This territory stretches over the south-west Yukon, and is controversial in what is overlap with different

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

groups of people in Yukon. The Tutchone language was separated into two groups by McClellan in which she called them Southern and

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 ...

. The languages themselves are close, but are different in subtle dialects.

Demographics

In the early 1950s there were close to 20,000 Southern Tutchone speaking individuals. This has since plummeted to less than a few hundred speakers. As of 2004 the number of individuals who spoke Southern Tutchone as their first language was 404, and the total number of individuals who had some knowledge of the language was 645.

Revitalization efforts

The Southern Tutchone language is an endangered language with fewer than 100 speakers. There have been revitalization efforts in place to help combat the dwindling numbers. This includes signage throughout the Yukon highlighting the language. Other revitalization efforts includes an adult immersion program focused on increasing the number of speakers in the Champagne and Aishihik traditional territory. In 2015 the

launched the firs
Da Ku Nän Ts'tthèt (Our House is Waking Up the Land)
dance festival which focused on Southern Tutchone language and culture. This was hosted at th
cultural centre named Da Ku
meaning "our house" in Southern Tutchone. Efforts for revitalization have also included school programs throughout the territory, as well as a language nest in Haines Junction, Yukon. The Yukon Native Language Centre has played a key role in many revitalization efforts as they have developed Indigenous teacher education programs, as well as curriculum materials.

Landclaims

In other places in the Southern Tutchone region there are four First Nations governments that have settled their land claims in the Southern Tutchone cultural area these include: *

(

) * Ta'an Kwach'an Councill (Lake Laberge) *

(

Burwash Landing Burwash Landing is a small community, at historical mile 1093 on the Alaska Highway, in Yukon, Canada along the southern shore of Kluane Lake. The present location of Burwash Landing was first used as a summer camp by the Southern Tutchone Athab ...

) *

s (

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 ...

)

References

Sources

*MacClellan, C. (1987). ''Part of the land, part of the water: a history of the Yukon Indians''. *Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. *McClellan, C. (2001) ''My Old People Say: an Ethnographic Survey of Southern Yukon Territory''. Canadian Museum of Civilization. *https://cafn.ca/about/our-ways/ *https://cyfn.ca/agreements/umbrella-final-agreement/

External links

"Handbook of North American Indians: Subarctic", "Tutchone" pp. 493-505
{{authority control First Nations in Yukon