To Talk Transboundary Mining, Taku Tlingit Put Folks in the Same Boat – Mining Life
Taku Tlingit reinforce cultural ties to land in discussion on transboundary mines
Jul 15, 2015
Lillian Petershoare’s family fishes the Taku River and has done so for decades. A new generation is now learning the tradition.
John Morris “grew up on the Taku until I was 15 years old; I knew no other place.”
Barbara Cadiente-Nelson read a passage by Elizabeth Nyman: “This river, this watershed … know who you are and, if you permit it, it will tell you.”
Tlingit men and women whose lineage can be traced to the Taku River area spoke on their connection to the water and the land during a daylong boat trip down the Taku River on Sunday. The cruise was organized by the Douglas Indian Association.
The trip was meant to “put us on the same boat” — drawing a link between Tlingit connection to the land and the need for mainstream awareness and protection of its resources, said the DIA’s Morris, addressing the diverse group of passengers on the catamaran.
