The Dakelh (pronounced [tákʰɛɬ]) or Carrier are a First Nations Indigenous people living a large portion of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada.

The traditional Dakelh way of life is based on a seasonal round, with the greatest activity in the summer when berries are gathered and fish caught and preserved.

Hunting and trapping of deer, caribou, moose, elk, black bear, beaver, and rabbit provided meat, fur for clothing, and bone for tools.

Although many Dakelh now have jobs and otherwise participate in the non-traditional economy, fish, game, and berries still constitute a major portion of the diet.

The route by which Sir Alexander MacKenzie and his party reached the Pacific Ocean in 1793 in the first crossing of North America by land was, from the Fraser River westward, a grease trail.

In the late 1940s, University of British Columbia professor Charles Edward Borden shifted his attention toward urgent salvage archaeology in Nechako Canyon after learning of the planned Kemano reservoir that would flood the canyon, a large part of Dakelh hunting territory in Tweedsmuir Park.

In 1951, he received funding from Alcan and the British Columbia Ministry of Education to undertake salvage archaeology at the "Carrier Indian site".

In 1951, Borden and his protégé, anthropology student Wilson Duff, located over 130 sites of importance to Cheslatta T'en history.

"[7] In 1957, Alcan opened the spillway gate to Skin's Lake, desecrating Cheslatta graves, which came to public attention during the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.

His final article published in Science in 1979 was based on excavations of early microblade assemblages at Namu in 1977.

The first written reference to Dakelh people, in the journal of Sir Alexander MacKenzie, uses the term Nagailer.

An alternative hypothesis is that it refers to the fact that the Dakelh, unlike the Sekani, participated in trade with the coast, which required packing loads of goods over the Grease Trails.