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Kaska live in the mountainous region drained by the LIARD RIVER of the southern Yukon and northern BC, primarily in the communities of Lower Post, Upper Liard (near Watson Lake), Watson Lake and Ross River in the Pelly drainage. With their TAHLTAN and TAGISH neighbours, they speak dialects of a single variety of Athapaskan and number about 500. Excepting the western Yukon (where traders arrived later), the territory was one of the last regions explored by the HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY after 1834. At that time parts of the region were only seasonally exploited, in winter by the Tahltan and in the spring by Kaska from the upper Pelly River. The Tahltan considered much of this district their territory and defended their middleman trade position between the coast and interior groups against the HBC.
Early-contact-period Kaska material culture and subsistence were basically similar to those of other Athapaskan peoples of the subarctic plateau, especially those who similarly lacked salmon and migratory herds of barren-ground caribou. Woodland caribou, moose, Dall sheep, berries and whitefish are among the principal traditional resources of the rugged upper Liard River region. During the middle to latter half of the 19th century there were 4 regional Kaska bands - Frances Lake, Upper Liard, Dease River and the Nelson Indians - though these divisions were not cohesive social units. The primary unit of Kaska society was the local band, consisting of an extended family with a male leader. Although most Kaska belonged to one of 2 exogamous matri-moieties, Wolf and Crow, with reciprocal obligations, moiety bonds appear to have been weak. Many Kaska formed village communities following the 1873 CASSIAR DISTRICT gold rush, when other Indians, Métis, Europeans and Chinese entered the region. By 1888 the number of miners had dwindled, but many natives, referred to as Cascar, remained. The backgrounds of the families aligned with the Lower Post and McDame trading posts were diverse, though Athapaskan speakers made up the majority, but intermarriage between the offspring of the immigrants represented the first step towards integration of the communities. As wage-labour opportunities declined, hunting and fur trapping provided the most stable resources. Their exploitation played a primary role in the emerging social pattern, especially through the formation of trapping alliances. Upon marriage, each couple had to consider the situation at hand, and there were no simple rules regarding exogamy, postmarital residence or household composition. Like many Native groups of Northwestern Canada, the Kaska suffered severely from epidemics early in the 20th century, particularly INFLUENZA, about 1920. After the 1920s, when Lower Post was linked into the air route between Edmonton and Whitehorse, Euro-Canadian influences increased again. The WWII period provided good returns from trapping and wage labour: Watson Lake became a supply station during construction of the ALASKA HIGHWAY and remains a major highway service point, and Lower Post was a depot. All Kaska communities can be reached by road. After the war governmental services increased dramatically, though interaction with Euro-Canadians, which was now channelled into administrative and educational functions and mining operations, became more formal. The Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement has opened new avenues for local development and employment and political development. See also NATIVE PEOPLE, SUBARCTIC.
Author
A. MCFADYEN CLARK
Suggested Reading
J. Helm, ed, Handbook of North American Indians, vol 6: Subarctic (1981).
Links to Other Sites
Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples
The website for the "Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples." Click on the links for feature articles about Canada's many multicultural communities, access to their extensive digital archives collection, learning modules, and much more. From "Multicultural Canada."
Languages of Canada
A comprehensive online database of languages currently in use in Canada. Also provides details about extinct languages. Check out the "language maps" for more information. Based on "Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition." From SIL International, a US website.
Yukon Native Language Centre
A superb multimedia site that offers an introduction to native languages in the Yukon. Features the Gwich'in, Hän, Kaska, Northern Tutchone, Southern Tutchone, Tagish, and Upper Tanana languages. Includes information about training programs for teachers and the public.
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