Hedekeyeh Hots’ih Kāhidi – “Our Ancestors Are In Us,” describes a Tahltan worldview, which is based on the connection Tahltan people have with our Ancestors, our land, and our language. From this worldview, I have articulated a Tahltan methodology, Tahltan Voiceability, which involves receiving the teachings of our Ancestors and Elders, learning and knowing these teachings, and the sharing of these teachings with our people. By giving voice to our Ancestors and Elders, as well as to all of our people, it sets the stage for research that is useful, relational, and transformative. Tahltan Voiceability speaks not only to the methodology of this study, but also the way in which the voices of my people can gain strength and healing from the revitalization of our language. Conversations with fluent speakers, language teachers, educators, administrators, and language learners informed this investigation with their ideas and experiences regarding Tahltan language revitalization. The learnings from the research are presented in such a way as to honour all voices, using different modes of written expression woven throughout the dissertation. The organization of the dissertation is based upon physical manifestations – examples of art – that have played key roles in my Tahltan journey. This investigation addressed the following questions: How can Tahltan language revitalization positively affect the lives of my people? In the past and present, what has been done to maintain, preserve, and revitalize our Tahltan language? In the future, what do my people need to do to continue to maintain, preserve, and revitalize our Tahltan language? In terms of positive effects, language revitalization can be the start of a process in which we begin to heal from the impacts of past losses by reclaiming our language, culture, and identity, thereby allowing our voices to become stronger and healthier. My people need to identify the steps and actions we need to take in the areas of health, education, social development, and Aboriginal rights and title, so that we can revitalize our language and heal at the same time. From what I learned from co-researchers, scholars who have worked with our Tahltan communities, other Indigenous community language revitalization experts, and international language revitalization scholars, I have provided suggestions to a newly formed Tahltan Language Authority dealing with the assessment of the language, community support, and language revitalization programs being used in British Columbia and other parts of the world. Finally, I speak about Tahltan identity, the process of language revitalization, and the connection between language revitalization and healing as forms of empowerment for my people. / Graduate

This thesis investigates the phonetic and phonological properties of laryngeal distinctions in the consonant inventory of Tahltan, a northern Athapaskan language. This thesis does not examine the phonetic properties of all Tahltan consonants. Instead, this thesis focuses on the phonetic acoustic properties of plain stop consonants, which have been described inconsistently in Tahltan, to determine their laryngeal specification. This thesis also examines the observed patterns of behavior governing syllable structure to help determine the laryngeal specification of consonants in Tahltan. In addition, several morphophonemic processes are examined to determine the phonological laryngeal specification of consonants in Tahltan. Based on the phonetic findings, and observed patterns of behavior governing syllable structure, I will argue that stop consonants in Tahltan exhibit four laryngeal articulations: voiced, voiceless unaspirated voiceless aspirated and glottalized. Based on the morphophonemic evidence, I will argue that fricative consonants exhibit two laryngeal articulations: voiced and voiceless. Furthermore, I will argue that glottal stop is specified for the laryngeal specification [constricted glottis] (henceforth [CG]) and that [h] is specified for the laryngeal specification [spread glottis] (henceforth [SG]).

This thesis investigates the phonetic and phonological properties of laryngeal distinctions in the consonant inventory of Tahltan, a northern Athapaskan language. This thesis does not examine the phonetic properties of all Tahltan consonants. Instead, this thesis focuses on the phonetic acoustic properties of plain stop consonants, which have been described inconsistently in Tahltan, to determine their laryngeal specification. This thesis also examines the observed patterns of behavior governing syllable structure to help determine the laryngeal specification of consonants in Tahltan. In addition, several morphophonemic processes are examined to determine the phonological laryngeal specification of consonants in Tahltan. Based on the phonetic findings, and observed patterns of behavior governing syllable structure, I will argue that stop consonants in Tahltan exhibit four laryngeal articulations: voiced, voiceless unaspirated voiceless aspirated and glottalized. Based on the morphophonemic evidence, I will argue that fricative consonants exhibit two laryngeal articulations: voiced and voiceless. Furthermore, I will argue that glottal stop is specified for the laryngeal specification [constricted glottis] (henceforth [CG]) and that [h] is specified for the laryngeal specification [spread glottis] (henceforth [SG]). / Arts, Faculty of / Linguistics, Department of / Graduate

This thesis explores the unique circumstances surrounding the provincial school at Telegraph Creek in northwestern British Columbia. Initially conceived as a school for the children of white settlers, local trustees permitted the attendance of Tahltan children year after year to maintain the minimum enrollment requirement to receive provincial funding. Combined with an annual tuition grant from the Department of Indian Affairs for the schooling of status Indian children, the Telegraph Creek public school functioned as an integrated school until provincial, federal, and missionary authorities interfered in the 1940s. The research demonstrates how decisions made by both provincial and Indian Affairs education officials leading up to the 1949 cost-sharing agreement to build a new school at Telegraph Creek, were far from benign. Indigenous children in northwest British Columbia became the objects of a post-war educational policy, which promoted integrated schooling and ironically, facilitated segregated schooling. / Graduate

The Stikine and Iskut Rivers in northwest British Columbia form one of the last pristine wilderness river systems in North America. B.C. Hydro and Power Authority has, as part of its longterm development strategy, plans to dam the rivers some time early in the next century. These plans are opposed by the Tahltan Indians for whom the Stikine-Iskut Basin is an ancestral home and by numerous environmental organizations. This thesis analyzes the interaction of these opposition groups in light of the general literature on the Indian land claims and environmental movements. This is accomplished in four chapters. The first chapter analyses Indian response to internal colonialism through both the maintenance of the native economy and the land claims movement and examines the history of the North American environmental movement in terms of reformist and deep environmentalism. The two movements are found to differ substantially over issues such as land use control and resource development. The second chapter traces Tahltan and environmentalist attachments to the Stikine, outlines B.C. Hydro's plans and describes how B.C. Hydro's planning activities would themselves generate controversy. The third chapter discusses and compares Tahltan and environmentalist opposition to B.C. Hydro's plans. The Tahltan opposition is expressed in two forms, both through the persistence of the Tahltan economy, the adherents to which are not represented in a fully funded formal organization and the more predominant Association of United Tahltans. The environmentalist opposition is falls mainly in the reformist stream of environmentalism. The predominant form of Tahltan opposition and the environmentalists are shown to have markedly different objectives. The thesis concludes that the case of the Stikine indicates that there are many obstacles to alliances between the formally defined land claims movement and environmentalists. The most prominent of these obstacles is federal comprehensive claims policy which encourages resource-extractive development by providing for resource royalties in claim settlements. However, the findings from the Stikine also indicate there are numerous points of common interest between Indians committed to the native economy and environmentalists. / Arts, Faculty of / Political Science, Department of / Graduate

In a mineral development scenario, Aboriginal groups rely heavily on Environmental Assessment (EA) and Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) to address their interests and concerns. While EA and IBAs are separate processes – EA is legislated and informed by the Crown, and IBAs operate in the realm of private contract law – together, the two are ostensibly part of a parallel process that connect the Aboriginal group(s), Government and the mining proponent. Indisputably, IBAs support a more inclusive development based on consultation, partnership and participation. IBAs and EA have the potential to enhance Aboriginal involvement in mineral development and positively influence the design and planning of the mine. This thesis examines the Tahltan Nation’s involvement and participation in the Galore Creek Project in British Columbia, and demonstrates the challenges and opportunities that arose during the EA and IBA process. It uses key informant interviews to gain multiple perspectives – from the proponent, Tahltan, and Government, to understand how the Tahltan utilized the EA and IBA to participate in the mineral development.

In a mineral development scenario, Aboriginal groups rely heavily on Environmental Assessment (EA) and Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) to address their interests and concerns. While EA and IBAs are separate processes – EA is legislated and informed by the Crown, and IBAs operate in the realm of private contract law – together, the two are ostensibly part of a parallel process that connect the Aboriginal group(s), Government and the mining proponent. Indisputably, IBAs support a more inclusive development based on consultation, partnership and participation. IBAs and EA have the potential to enhance Aboriginal involvement in mineral development and positively influence the design and planning of the mine. This thesis examines the Tahltan Nation’s involvement and participation in the Galore Creek Project in British Columbia, and demonstrates the challenges and opportunities that arose during the EA and IBA process. It uses key informant interviews to gain multiple perspectives – from the proponent, Tahltan, and Government, to understand how the Tahltan utilized the EA and IBA to participate in the mineral development.

In the early years of the twentieth-century, the British Columbia government used game law and conservation as a pretext for the establishment of an alternative, liberal order land regime in the northern reaches of the province. A. Bryan Williams, the first Provincial Game Warden (1905-1918), implemented this new order through legal strictures, promotion of tourism and settlement, and the operation of a wildlife conservation agenda designed to secure control over land managed by Indigenous peoples. The Tahltan of the Stikine Plateau, aided by the activism of ethnographer, hunting guide and Indigenous rights advocate James A. Teit, resisted the encroachment of their hunting territory by emphasizing connections to their land and resources. I analyse the correspondence between these two men to determine the extent of their contributions to the imposition of a new wildlife management agenda, resistance to it, and the incorporation of Indigenous peoples into a wage economy. In addition, I make preliminary attempts to integrate Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony, complemented by Ian McKay's understanding of the liberal order as a `project of rule', into the historiography of British Columbia. I contend that an analysis of colonial hegemonies and local counter-hegemonies can contribute to an understanding of the historical dimensions of power and resistance, both actual and discursive.

In a mineral development scenario, Aboriginal groups rely heavily on Environmental Assessment (EA) and Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBAs) to address their interests and concerns. While EA and IBAs are separate processes – EA is legislated and informed by the Crown, and IBAs operate in the realm of private contract law – together, the two are ostensibly part of a parallel process that connect the Aboriginal group(s), Government and the mining proponent. Indisputably, IBAs support a more inclusive development based on consultation, partnership and participation. IBAs and EA have the potential to enhance Aboriginal involvement in mineral development and positively influence the design and planning of the mine. This thesis examines the Tahltan Nation’s involvement and participation in the Galore Creek Project in British Columbia, and demonstrates the challenges and opportunities that arose during the EA and IBA process. It uses key informant interviews to gain multiple perspectives – from the proponent, Tahltan, and Government, to understand how the Tahltan utilized the EA and IBA to participate in the mineral development. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of / Graduate

The Tahltan language is endangered and at a critical juncture because there are now fewer than 30 fluent speakers. The Tahltan Nation is working to change this by creating many different opportunities for language learning, focusing on programming, documentation, and professional development and training. One way that our language is being revitalized is through immersion programs for young children. Using ‘Tahltan Voiceability’ as the overarching methodology, this study reports on the language nest model as an immersion method of Indigenous language revitalization in Tahltan communities in northern British Columbia. Parents, language mentors, and administrators shared their perspectives and experiences regarding the way in which K’asba’e T’oh (the Dease Lake Language Nest) began in Tātl’ah (Dease Lake), how things are progressing, and what motivated and continues to motivate people to be involved. Through an analysis of these conversations, I share esdahūhedech (their tellings) and report on emerging themes. With this immersion setting in place, there is hope that this program will create speakers, inspire others to learn our language, and be part of increasing the proficiency of language learners, thereby moving our language out of the endangered status. This study is part of a growing body of research in Canada studying language nests to promote the intergenerational transmission of Indigenous languages. / Graduate