28 May Yinka Dene ‘Uza’hné Surface Water Management Policy
The Yinka Dene ‘uza’hné from Nadleh Whut’en and Stellat’en formally enacted the Yinka Dene ‘Uza’hné Surface Water Management Policy and Yinka Dene ‘Uza’hné Guide to Surface Water Quality Standards (Appendix 1).
Our Territories are located in north-central British Columbia and encompass an area of about 500,000 ha in the vicinity of Fraser Lake, B.C. (Appendix 2). We have been governing our Territories in accordance with the Yinka Dene legal tradition for thousands of years. There are several distinct elements of our governance system and legal tradition. In particular, our peoples are affiliated with various clans that include hereditary leaders known as ‘uza’hné. We also have land and resource management territories known as keyah associated with extended family units. The primary institution for governing keyah and clans is through our potlatch system of governance known as bahlats.