Teslin Tlingit Council

Representation by the five Teslin Tlingit Clans – Kukhhittan, Ishkitan, Yanyedi, Deshitan, and Dakhlawedi – is central to TTC government structure.

There are five representatives from each Clan – Kùkhhittàn, Ishkìtàn, Yanyèdí, Dèshitàn, and Dakhl’awèdí – appointed for four-year terms by their respective Clans General Council is the government authority which acts on behalf of and for Teslin Tlingit Citizens, and which all TTC governing bodies report to and get direction from.

In practice, General Council is a forum where members bring forward government business for discussion, debate and deliberation, and pass legislation typically through consensual agreement.

It is the ultimate political decision-making body of TTC, with the exclusive power to make and rule on law, amend the Constitution, approve the Annual Budget, and appoint Clan representatives for the Executive Council.

Brought up traditionally by his Grandmother, Yes-ketch (Olive Sidney), he learnt from a young age how to live off the land[citation needed].

Carl served a total of 10 years on the Executive Council, seven as TTC's Deputy-Chief[citation needed].

The Self-Government Agreement means that TTC will become increasingly responsible in areas that were previously administered by the governments of Canada or Yukon.

[2] The AJA means that certain areas in the administration of justice will be based on traditional Teslin Tlingit processes for resolving disputes.

Until the formation of permanent settlements with the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942, Teslin Tlingit people practiced a semi-nomadic subsistence life of fishing, hunting, and gathering.

Teslin Tlingit Council (TTC) Citizenship is based on blood lineage and traditional custom, and does not follow the Federal Government's definition of ‘Status’.

Today, Tlingit is spoken in the Yukon communities of Teslin and Carcross, in the Atlin area of British Columbia, and in coastal settlements stretching along the Alaskan panhandle from Yakutat to Ketchikan.

The coastal Tlingit culture of southeast Alaska was brought inland some three hundred years ago.