Open events

In the Yukon, 11 of 14 Yukon First Nations signed Final and Self-Government Agreements, based on a coercive cede, surrender, and release model of modern land-claims processes imposed by the Federal Government. The Kaska Dena represent 2 of the 3 First Nations who refused to relinquish their lands under the Umbrella Final Agreement, a specific final agreement, and/or a self-government agreement. With the implementation of UNDRIP in Canada, the Kaska Dena people are questioning the validity of the land-claims model that the federal government continues to push, noting that under Article 10, we cannot be forcibly removed and that to do so by way of treaty is a form of coercion as we navigate being the poorest communities in the Yukon with the highest rates of violence against Indigenous women, the highest rates of Indigenous male incarceration, the highest rates of Indigenous children in care – and the highest percentage of resource extraction from our territories (that make up 25% of the Yukon and 10% of northern BC). This panel will share and discuss the findings from the Liard Aboriginal Women’s Society’s research on the impacts of implementing the UNDRIP in Kaska Dena territory and explore UNDRIP through sharing the embodiment of Indigenous Sovereignty and Elders teachings, paralleling understandings from a western legal and political discursive framework. In addition to Article 10, the roundtable will pay specific attention to Articles 3 and 4 regarding self-determination, and Article 5 regarding our right to maintain our own distinct political systems and sovereignty.