Other
Dada Nentsen Gha Yatastɨg/Tŝilhqot’in in the Time of COVID
(2021)
Abstract
Dada Nentsen Gha Yatastig translated literally means “I am going to tell you about a very bad disease.” This report does exactly that—it documents the leadership of the Tsilhqot’in Nation in a time of unprecedented, global crisis. Woven through this report are two themes. First, the Tsilhqot’in Nation has led a coordinated and largely successful pandemic response through the exercise of its laws and jurisdiction. Second, despite exercising this jurisdiction, the Nation has faced numerous systemic and institutional constraints when seeking support from its government partners, impeding coordinated emergency response. This report follows on Nagwedizk'an gwanes gangu ch'inidzed ganexwilagh (The Fires Awakened Us), the Tsilhqot’in Nation’s report on the 2017 wildfires. Like its predecessor, this report culminates in a number of Calls to Action intended to allow the Tsilhqot’in Nation and its government partners to harmonize provincial and federal measures with Tsilhqot’in jurisdiction to transform the lives of the Tsilhqot’in people. This report is specific to the COVID-19 pandemic. But the message that materializes is that the emergency is
not simply the pandemic. Rather, the underlying and ongoing emergency is the persistence of colonialism in Canada, and its impacts on daily life.
The Tsilhqot’in Nation is made up of six communities spread over a large swath of territory in Central Interior B.C., as well as a large and dispersed off- reserve population. As a Nation, the Tsilhqot’in exercise jurisdiction over the whole of their traditional and unceded territory. A portion of this territory is also declared Aboriginal title, established by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2014 (Tsilhqot’in v. British Columbia). Through the exercise of Tsilhqot’in jurisdiction, combined with strong community cohesion and some luck, tremendous efforts have been devoted to preventing and containing the spread of COVID-19.
Keywords
- Indigenous Law and Jurisdiction,
- COVID-19 Pandemic,
- Aboriginal Law,
- Settler Colonalism
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring March 18, 2021
Citation Information
Jocelyn Stacey, Crystal Verhaeghe and Emma Feltes. "Dada Nentsen Gha Yatastɨg/Tŝilhqot’in in the Time of COVID" (2021) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jocelyn-stacey/13/
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.