Tahltan Central Council president Chad Day spoke out today against operations of a mining company called Doubleview that is drilling near the Sheslay River in Tahltan traditional territory.
“Our people have been clear that the Sheslay area is not appropriate for major industrial development,” said TCC president Chad Day in a press release. “We have repeatedly asked Doubleview and the Province for the current work to stop, but we have been ignored.”
A stretch of land containing Tahltan First Nation burial sites, the release states that the province did not properly consult with the Tahltan before drilling permits were granted to companies in that area.
“In May, the TCC sent a letter to all exploration permit holders asking them to stop work. Since then, TCC has also met with the Province and with Doubleview to request that activity stops, with no success,” says the release.
Day accompanied a group of Tahltan elders to Doubleview's exploration site this week to ask the company to move out of the area.
Just this past year the Tahltan people voted in favour of a co-management agreement which saw the opening of the Red Chris mine in their territory.
But they also held out for years against Ontario coal mining company Fortune Minerals and the province this year bought back the coal licences from that company, putting a halt to the development in the Klappan Valley, also called the Sacred headwaters, for at least the next 10 years.