Truck delivery of B.C. salmon to Teslin, Yukon highlights cultural loss - Action News
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Truck delivery of B.C. salmon to Teslin, Yukon highlights cultural loss

The fish delivery by truck is an annual reminder of how a Tlingit community lost a way of life after elders noticed the salmon run was too low to harvest.

Community's end of salmon fishing leaves cultural void, says chief

a man holds up a deheaded fish carcass out of the back of a white delivery truck
John Cowles sells B.C. fish out of the back of a truck in Teslin, Yukon. The company, Taku Wild, gets its fish from the Taku River near Atlin, B.C. (Tori Fitzpatrick/CBC)

The steady and steep decline of the salmon run has led to new traditions among some Yukon First Nations.

One example is the annual salmon-sharing deliveries from Atlin, B.C. to Teslin, Yukon.

Last week 1,200 pounds of sockeye salmon and 100 pounds of coho were delivered from one Tlingit nation to another.

The fish from Taku Wild, a Taku River Tlingit First Nation fishery, were brought to the Teslin Tlingit Council (TTC).

a white truck in a dusty parking lot
Trucks deliver B.C. salmon annually to residents of Teslin, Yukon, more than two decades after elders noticed that their community's salmon run was too low to harvest, (Marissa Meilleur/CBC)

"It's just a great thing for the community," said David Boucher, who's part of Taku Wild's delivery team.

"Because there's not a lot of fishing in the Yukon [due to low fish stocks], we're really happy as a First Nations company to be able to supply other First Nations with their need for salmon," he said.

The fish was available for purchase by TTC citizens. Members gathered around Taku Wild's truck as they talked about plans for salmon suppers.

two de-headed salmon sit on a pile of ice
Citizens of Teslin Tlingit Council say the salmon they get from Atlin, B.C. cant be compared to the fish they would get themselves because the fish they buy from the truck is gutted and headed. (Tori Fitzpatrick/CBC)

Elders suspend local fishery

Many said they were happy to be receiving several months worth of traditional food. However, the day felt bittersweet as it stirred up memories of what's been lost.

Over 25 years ago, fishers noticed something wrong in the salmon population.

Richard Dewhurst, the senior game guardian for TTC, said his late mother, Grace Dewhurst, and her late friend, Sadie Morris, were among the first to see the changes.

"They seen the decline in salmon. They were coming later in the season and they were smaller," he said.

The Elders decided to suspend their fishery for one year. When they noticed that it helped the salmon, they continued the suspension the next year, and have done so every year since.

A man wearing a black cowboy hat stands holding a fish in a clear plastic bag
Richard Dewhurst, a senior game guardian, said the community voluntarily stopped fishing in response to a declining local salmon stock. (Tori Fitzpatrick/CBC)

"We didn't have to stop. We voluntarily stopped," Dewhurst said.

The salmon delivery by truck is an annual reminder of what the community normally looked like at this time of year when Peter Jules was young.

"When I was growing up, we had fish all the time in our caches," said Jules, who's a cultural demonstrator for TTC's Heritage Centre.

A man stands in a gravel field of weeds with old small houses behind him
Peter Jules, a cultural demonstrator for the Teslin Tlingit Council's Heritage Centre, said that this time of year when he was a kid, the community was full of smoke as people preserved their fish. (Tori Fitzpatrick/CBC)

"There would be nothing to see but smoke around Teslin right now," he said, referring to thesmoking process they use topreservethe fish.

"The salmon is very cultural, very spiritual to us. It's part of our heritage. It's very, very important to us," Jules said.

Losing a way of life

Dewhurst said it's a big change in their lifestyle. If people were allowed to fish, community members would all be out at their fish camps at this time of year, he said.

"We'd not only fish for salmon [we] would stay right there and pick berries and do whatever. Get a moose if they're lucky," he said.

Eric Morris, the Naa Shade Hni (chief) of TTC, said that the loss of fishing leaves a cultural void.

"That was a way of life for us that in some ways, we only can talk about today, in terms of a story to tell," he said. "That hurts me a bit."

Morris remembers one year when TTC reduced its fishing to 20 ceremonial salmon for the season. An Elder, Aggie Johnston, gave him a piece of salmon for his road trip. He meant to save some of it but after a few miles, it had all been eaten.

"It's because of that taste I remember from that salmon that came from our lake. It was almost body-enlightening," Morris said.

The decision to stop fishing has created a generation without this experience in Teslin.

"My son, he's 25 years old now and he's never got the chance to see that, the harvest of the salmon, which is really sad," Jules said.

"There is a group of young people here today that have never, ever seen a salmon pulled from a net on our lake or on our rivers," Morris said.

There are more deliveries to Teslin in the coming weeks. In total, TTC citizens will receive 4,800 pounds of sockeye salmon and 400 pounds of coho.