Entrepreneurial spirit of the Tahltan booms in BC

VANCOUVER — When British fur traders first came across the Tahltan First Nation in northwest B.C. almost two centuries ago, the aboriginal group already had its own trading economy, being positioned as a middleman between the coastal tribes and those living north and east of the Stikine. After dealing with these colonists for decades, the Tahltan Nation eventually lost its monopoly when the Hudson’s Bay Co. opened its first trading post in the traditional territory during the Cassiar gold rush in the 1870s. Now, with mining and exploration companies flocking once again into northwest B.C. to explore and develop world class copper-gold deposits, the Tahltan Nation’s legacy is coming full circle, and the aboriginal group is ready for business. Owned by the Tahltan Central Government, as well as band councils at Telegraph Creek and Iskut, the Tahltan Nation Development Corp. (TNDC) was established three decades ago to participate in economic activity within the tribe’s ancestral lands. Read the entire story at The Northern Miner.