Northern Tutchone facts for kids

Map of traditional territory of the Northern Tutchone

The Northern Tutchone are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group living mainly in the central Yukon in Canada.

Language and culture

The Northern Tutchone language, originally spoken by the Northern Tutchone people, is a variety of the Tutchone language, part of the Athabaskan language family. Song Keeper Jerry Alfred is leading a movement to keep the language alive through his music.

Governments

Northern Tutchone First Nations governments and communities include:

• First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (Mayo, Yukon) (Na-Cho Nyäk Dun - "Big River People", because they called the Stewart River Na Cho Nyak, meaning Big River, most northerly Northern Tutchone First Nation)
• Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation (Carmacks, Yukon) (Tagé Cho Hudän - "Big River People")
• Selkirk First Nation (Pelly Crossing, Yukon) (Hućha Hudän - "Flatland People", because of the landscape in Fort Selkirk, where the land is flat on both sides of the river)
• White River First Nation (Beaver Creek, Yukon)