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About Us
We are a group of community members with an interest in developing a proactive approach to wildlife management in our remote region of northern British Columbia.
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Our Vision
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To facilitate an adaptive, collaborative, and traditional approach to wildlife management that ensures healthy wildlife populations, and productive habitats for future generations.
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Our Values & Guiding Principles
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The Guiding Industry in the Tahltan Region in Historical Context by Bob Henderson
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History of Guide Outfitting in the Cassiar District
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Throughout the ages, the Pacific Northwest has had many examples of clearly-defined, traditional and effective economies. Nowhere was this more evident than in the Stikine River basin, where the Tlingit, Tahltan, Kaska, and Thloadene had a trade network which rivalled any that are in force today. For generations the Tlingit traded wildlife, furs, and obsidian tools with the Tahltan, for seafood and European goods from the coast. The Tahltan, acting as middle men, traded both ways; upstream with the Kaska and Thloadene, and downstream with the Tlingit, to great advantage. Over time, due to the importance of the trade cycle to the lives of those living in the region, it became part of the social, cultural, and ceremonial elements of life on the Stikine pre-contact. It is not surprising then, that in this culture, the hunter and his hunting knowledge was highly regarded.
The historic balance of trade between the Nations was threatened with the arrival of both Samuel Black and Robert Campbell who were representing the Hudson Bay Company, circa 1825. They needed local knowledge to both traverse the country and to procure sustenance. In both instances, these were provided by the Chiefs of the Thloadene and Kaska Nations respectively. In the case of Black, he needed his guides' assistance to reconnoitre the area north of the headwaters of the Finlay Rivers for the presence of the much-valued beaver. (it is interesting to note, that the route taken was almost completely devoid of beaver habitat, unlike the route just a few kilometres west where the beaver is abundant. Obviously this was a case where the self preservation of the Thloadene and their role in the already established trade arrangements was the key to the route chosen. They also turned at the northern end because they, his guides, convinced him that the Kaska were prepared to kill them all to protect their sovereignty over wildlife). In Robert Campbell's situation, he had over wintered at Dease Lake and established a Hudson Bay Post at Sawmill Point. Unused to hunting in the Cassiar Region, he and his men were living mainly on the few rabbits that they could snare. Out of charity, the Chief of the Kaska, a matriarch, arranged for some of her hunters to provide enough meat for the camp to last the winter, but once spring came, the HBC crew had to quit the post least they starve. Thus, the economic equilibrium had been restored for several more generations. After gold was discovered on Choquette's Bar on the Stikine River in the 1860s, there was a fresh attack on the economy and land base from the outside world. Prospectors from Europe and Asia travelled up the river and then over onto the Dease watershed. With them came stories of the abundance of large mammals, and these animals soon became the focus of some very dedicated sportsmen from Europe and North America. As the hunters came, so too came the need for guides and someone to outfit them. The Tahltan and Kaska were quick to adapt to the growing demand for their hunting skills and knowledge of the local habitats to gain a new and important source for their economy. In 1884, J.C. Callbreath started the first official outfitting business out of Telegraph Creek. He hired Tahltan guides to conduct hunts throughout the Cassiar District. Soon a number of other outfits sprang up. Many were owned and operated by Tahltan members as well as others who had settled in the area. In an article in the 1916 August edition of the Rotarian, Charles French wrote about a hunting trip he took to the Cody Lake area for caribou. He travelled from Victoria up the Stikine to Telegraph Creek where he was joined by his outfitters/guides, Louis and Meabe, who he described as being Tahltans from the area. They collected four fine caribou before returning to Telegraph. Charles reported that he knew of at least 20 other hunters who came that season on a similar expedition. The contribution of this tourism industry to the local economy was significant. During the 1930s, most industries in North America were in severe decline. This was not so for those who provided services to hunters in the Cassiar. There were still a few families in North America who were not burdened by financial losses and could still afford to go on what were, at the time, long and arduous adventures. Families such as the Carnegies and Melons hunted the area often and took the sport seriously enough to form the Boone and Crocket Club, which encouraged fair chase and selective hunting through its publication North American Big Game. It is in these pages that, over the years, many names from local Cassiar families such as Abou, Carlick, Campbell, Creyke, Day, Dennis, Gleason, Jack, Porter, and Quock appear as providing the expertise for a successful hunt. Outfitting was not without its problems, even in those days. Transportation throughout the region was still accomplished mainly on foot or by horseback. As business increased after the Second World War, it was obvious that more horses would have to be imported. To date, all the horses in the area had been shipped from the south be sea to Wrangell, and then by river boat up the Stikine to Telegraph Creek. George Ball, who outfitted out of the Diamond B Ranch at Glenora, decided to buy 62 head of horses from the prairies and have them shipped by rail to Hazelton. From there the plan was to use the recently-abandoned Yukon Telegraph Line as a route north. Unfortunately, the trail had not been maintained and there were a lot of 'blow downs' and second growth alder on the Skeena River portion of the trail. Travel was extremely slow and the horses uncooperative in such harsh conditions. The trip was planned to take 30 days. It took 44. A number of horses had run back to Hazelton and the food for the riders had pretty much run out. In fact, when they reached the Stikine, they only had a little barley and salt left in the grub box and, more importantly, just 39 head of exhausted horses. George recruited horses off the Alaska Highway in succeeding years. After the Second World War there was a pent-up demand for hunts in the north. To meet this new opportunity, a number of new outfitting businesses were born. For example, George Dalziel, an flying legend of his time, started his guiding business in the territory that is still operated by the same family today. In 1948, Tommy Walker and his wife Marion brought a pack string from Bella Coola, on the mid-coast of the province, some 800 miles to Cold Fish Lake in the heart of the Spatsizi, having been told that the Province was going to institute a trial program whereby there would be an exclusive guide area in conjunction with the Class A Guide License. He operated the area for 20 years. He was later instrumental in the creation of the Spatsizi Plateau Wilderness Provincial Park, as well as the Gladys Lake Ecological Reserve. He was also a strong supporter of Val Geist's two-year study of Stone's Sheep on Sanctuary Ridge in the Reserve. During this period, George Ball was still operating from his ranch in the Stikine across from Glenora. His area was eventually passed on to his son Bobby and his wife Nancy. The 1960s brought a new generation of outfitter. Now more Tahltans were becoming outfitters as well as guides. John Creyke, Fletcher Day, and Arnold Edzerza ran successful outfits out of Kinaskan, Shesley, and Atlin respectively. They were later joined by Dempsey Callison and Thomas Dennis, and many others throughout the years and are still operated by the same families. It was during this period that the legislation had gone to the second reading on a Bill that would open the entire Province to hunting without a guide, including non residents. A delegation of outfitters, including George Dalziel and Tommy Walker, met with the Minister and convinced him to reverse that section of the Act, so that non resident hunters must be guided. After the turn of the century, paved roads and improved access to what had been pure wilderness areas throughout the north and, in particular, the Cassiar, were starting to have an effect on wildlife populations and the quality of the hunting experience. There was a general consensus amongst the local outfitters that the situation was deteriorating to such a degree that they needed to form their own guides association to represent their interests and create a much needed northern voice. This was done in 2008, with Fletcher Day, Willie Williams, Vern Marion, Rick McLean, Jerry Creyke, Rudy Day, and Dempsey Callison becoming inaugural members. Later, there were other outfitters that joined who shared the same view that a new approach had to be taken to enhance the values which mean so much to local residents from an historic, cultural, and economic perspective. The focus of the Association, which is now under the Presidency of Rudy Day, is to explore new ways to both support the wildlife and wilderness values in the area through research and cooperative programs with the managing agencies, as well as to ensure that the sustainability of wildlife populations for future generations. |