Description
The Kaska, a group of Athapaskan-speaking Indians closely related to the Tahltan, live in northern British Columbia and southeastern Yukon Territory in Canada. Formerly spread out thinly over a wide area, most now live on several reserves in the region. There are four bands or subgroups: Frances Lake, Upper Liard, Dease River, and Nelson Indians (Tselona). Most Kaska today are relatively fluent in English. There may be as many as twelve hundred Kaska now living on the reserves in the general area. The Kaska continued to inhabit their traditional lands, and in the early 21st century the Kaska in British Columbia were negotiating a treaty settlement. Although they considered themselves one nation, the Kaska were divided by the Indian Act into five bands, now considered First Nations.
Language
The Kaska language originated from the family of Athabaskan languages. Traditionally Kaska is an oral aboriginal language that is used by the Kaska Dena people.
Culture
The nomadic Kaska were primarily caribou hunters and lived in temporary dwellings—tepees or huts made of poles and brush or, sometimes in summer, simple lean-tos. Transport was by canoe, snowshoe, and toboggan. Although not much is known of their religious beliefs like the Sekani farther south, believed in animal spirits and in the practices of medicine men. The Kaska believe that there have been several different periods of the world and that the period they are in was ended by a flood at some point, but eventually restored by Crow. Feasts were held to commemorate important milestones in one's life such as the birth of a child, marriage, and the first time a youth successfully hunts an animal. Potlaches are also held when someone in the community dies.