Peter JohnstonBox 133 Ph: (867) 390-2532 |The Inland Tlingit
community of Teslin is located on the shores of Teslin Lake in
the southern Yukon. The community was first settled in the mid
19th century by Coastal Tlingit traders and explorers who had
been travelling inland regularly in earlier times. The village
became more permanent during the 1940's when the Alaska Highway
was built through the area. Prior to that time, the village site
had been a summer gathering place where the people came to rest
and spend time together during the busy annual round of
trapping, hunting, and harvesting. The people brought with them
their clan system, potlatch tradition, language, songs and
dances, and traditions which remain strong today. The Teslin
Tlingit Council was originally the Teslin Indian Band, a band
under the Indian Act. The Chief and Council were elected by the
majority and were responsible for the delivery of Indian Affairs
programs. When the movement for a Land Claims settlement began
in 1973, the Teslin Tling