Southern Tutchone

For the language, see Southern Tutchone language.

Nlan, a Southern Tutchone word, added to stop signs in the McIntyre subdivision of Whitehorse. It means, “stop that now,” as there is no exact translation. This initiative is to promote language.

The Southern Tutchone are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in the southern Yukon in Canada. The Southern Tutchone language, traditionally spoken by the Southern Tutchone people, is a variety of the Tutchone language, part of the Athabaskan language family. Some linguists suggest that Northern and Southern Tutchone are distinct and separate languages.

Southern Tutchone First Nations governments and communities include:

• Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (Haines Junction, Champagne, and Aishihik in Yukon) Many Champagne and Aishihik members also live in Whitehorse.
• Ta'an Kwach'an Council (Whitehorse, Yukon and Lake Laberge) (Ta’an Kwäch’än - ″People of Lake Laberge″, because they called it Tàa'an Män)
• Kluane First Nation (Burwash Landing, Yukon) (Lù’àn Män Ku Dän or Lù’àn Mun Ku Dän - ″Kluane Lake People″, referring to their territory around Kluane Lake).

Many citizens of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation in Whitehorse are of Southern Tutchone origin (formerly White Horse Indian Band; their name refers to a section of the Yukon River from Miles Canyon Basalts to the White Horse Rapids which their ancestors called Kwanlin meaning "running water through canyon” and together with the Southern Tutchone word Dän or Dün for ″people″, they referred to this location for naming the KDFN)

See also

• Jim Boss

External links

• "Handbook of North American Indians: Subarctic", "Tutchone" pp. 493-505