Carrier Sekani Tribal Council

The Carrier Sekani Tribal Council (familiarly known as CSTC) is a tribal council representing eight First Nations in the Central Interior of British Columbia. It was originally known as the Lakes District Tribal Council. The CSTC was incorporated in 1979 and is a registered non-profit society.

Its current members are:

Not all Carrier or Sekani bands belong to CSTC. Three Blackwater Carrier bands, Ulkatcho Indian Band, Lhoosk'us Dene, and Red Bluff Indian Band, belong to Carrier-Chilcotin Tribal Council. Other bands, such as the Cheslatta Carrier Nation and the Lheidli T'enneh in the Prince George area, are independent.

CSTC is governed by a Chief, elected at large by the individual members, and a Council consisting of one representative of each of the member bands. Social services are provided by Carrier Sekani Family Services, a now separate organization spun off by CSTC. The Yinka Dene Language Institute, charged with linguistic and cultural matters, is indirectly controlled by CSTC, which appoints the majority of its Board of Directors.

In January 1994, the CSTC entered the treaty process. By April 1997, they had reached Stage 4 of the six-stage process - negotiation of an agreement in principle. The CSTC borrowed $14 million (CAN) from the government to resolve grievances regarding unceded territories. By 2007, negotiations reached a deadlock. In her report to Parliament in December 2006, Auditor General Sheila Fraser, noted that the financial burden placed on First Nations when negotiations are drawn out, are among the factors that have led some First Nations to use litigation or other options for settling land claims. DINA's process was complex, inflexible and slow. In March 2007 during a Treaty Forum hosted by the CSTC that provided an opportunity for the Membership to listen to the Governments and the British Columbia Treaty Commission officials, the CSTC made the historic decision to vote to abandon treaty negotiations because the British Columbia Treaty Process had failed to produce expected results in Carrier territory.

The CSTC focuses on issues related to Carrier & Sekani heritage and identity, self-government, land claims, standard of living, social and economic independence and public relations on behalf of member nations.

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