Barbara Latkowski
Caledonia Courier
The next time you enter Tachie, get ready for a road sign just outside of town.
These signs say a lot about a place. It introduces you, it welcomes you and gives you a glimpse of where you about to enter.
Charlie Joseph built and painted the sign.
He along with Ryan Felix, both from Tachie, were busily mounting the sign and cutting away the brush nearby on June 2.
“It means a lot to us,” Joseph said. “This is the first time we’ve had a sign like this. I made and painted it myself.”
“I didn’t think I was an artist but here it is. Our separate clans all painted as one.”
The paint is still wet but so clearly and brightly portrayed.
“Things were a lot different back in the day but today we are still here,” Joseph said.
Whether it may be from the caribou, bear, beaver or frog clan, these people have for many years, been part of the Tl’azt’en Nation.
It is a community that still today more than ever, celebrates and practises traditional uses as caretakers of the land. This includes Elders, Keyoh Holders and hereditary systems.
Tl’azt’en Nation is a First Nation Band located along the north shore of Stuart Lake near the outlet of the Tache River, about 60 km north-west of Fort St. James.
Joseph remains passionate about his people and their way of life.
“It is a sign of our ancestry and we must keep it going.”