Tsay Keh Dene First Nation

The Tsay Keh Dene First Nation is one of the Sekani bands of the Northern Interior of British Columbia. Tsay Keh Dene means "People of the Mountain". While they have an office in the City of Prince George,[2] their territories, settlements, and Indian Reserves are all to the north, in the area of Williston Lake, whose creation as part of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam project flooded a large part of their territory with devastating effects on the people and their way of life.[3]

Tsay Keh Dene First Nation
Band No. 609
PeopleSekani
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Population (April 2022)[1]
On reserve15
On other land233
Off reserve268
Total population516
Government[1]
ChiefJohnny Pierre
Council
  • Dennis Izony
  • Rowena Izony
  • Brigam Miller
  • Daniel Pierre
Website
https://tsaykeh.com/
Ingenika Tsay Keh Dene village

Indian Reserves and Settlements

Indian Reserves and Settlements under the jurisdiction of the Tsay Keh Dene First Nation are:[4]

  • Ingenika Settlement
  • Mesilinka
  • Parnsip Indian Reserve No. 5, on the left bank of the Parsnip River at Fort Grahame, 34.20 ha.55°08′00″N 122°55′00″W[5]
  • Police Meadow Indian Reserve No. 2, 4 miles east of the Finlay River, 15 miles northwest of Fort Grahame, 129.50 ha.56°47′00″N 124°47′00″W[6]
  • Tutu Creek Indian Reserve No. 4, on left bank of the Parnsip River at Fort Grahame, 37.30 ha.55°26′00″N 123°12′00″W[7]

The Tse Keh Nay, formerly known as the Ingenika, live at the north end of the Williston Reservoir in the community of Tsay Keh Dene.[8]: 5  They have lived in the "Rocky Mountain Trench for many generations."[8] In 1824 Samuel Black, an early fur trader visited the region and kept a journal of his visit there with Tse Keh Nay Chief Methodiates and his followers. He described the historic use of the resource rich Amazay/Thutade/ Kemess area.[8]: 5  Duncan (Amazay) Lake – known as Amazay Lake in Sekani – is a natural 6 kilometres (3.7 mi)-long long wilderness fish-bearing lake with rainbow trout and whitefish populations, located at the headwaters of the Findlay watershed.[8]: 76 57.0693921,-126.8010853,2830

"Amazay Lake is well known to the Tse Keh Nay, and like Thutade Lake, is a site for hunting, fishing and gathering that is rich in oral history. Amazay in Sekani means “little mother lake” or “very superior mother.” It is, according to the Tse Keh Nay, “right in the centre of our Tse Keh Nay territory.”

— Tse Keh Nay 2006

Amazay Lake was the calving ground for caribou in the month of May.[8]: 40 

"There was so much caribou up there. Amazay Lake they call it because there’s lots of caribou around that area. They say about 300. Sometimes, they say they all go around it. Now there’s nothing. You go there and nothing. They don’t see nothing anywhere around that area."

— Tse Keh Nay 2006

Representations in media

The Scattering of Man (DƏNE YI’INJETL), a 2021 documentary film by Luke Gleeson, profiled the effects on the community of the dam construction.[9]

References
  1. "First Nation Profile". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  2. "Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - First Nation Detail". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada.
  3. Sims, Daniel (2017). "Dam Bennett - The Impacts of the W. A. C. Bennett Dam on the Tsek'ehne of Northern British Columbia" (PDF). University of Alberta. Retrieved 2022-06-20.
  4. "Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - Reserves/Villages/Settlements Detail". Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. Government of Canada.
  5. BCGNIS entry "Parsnips Indian Reserve 5"
  6. BCGNIS entry "Police Meadow Indian Reserve 2
  7. BCGNIS entry "Tutu Creek Indian Reserve 4"
  8. Littlefield, Loraine; Dorricott, Linda; Cullon, Deidre (May 2007), Tse Keh Nay Traditional and Contemporary Use and Occupation at Amazay (Duncan Lake): A Draft Report (PDF), retrieved December 16, 2014
  9. Madeline Lines, "DƏNE YI’INJETL | The Scattering of Man Review: A Story of Displacement". Point of View, November 16, 2021.
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