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DENA KAYEH INSTITUTE

Protecting the ecological integrity of our lands and waters, and enhancing the cultural and socioeconomic well-being of our people.

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Our Vision

Our traditional territory is 24 million hectares (93,000 square miles), about the size of the entire state of Oregon. It spans three provinces and territories (British Columbia (BC), Yukon and Northwest Territories) and constitutes fully 25% of the Yukon Territory, and 10% of the entire land area of BC.

The majestic northern boreal forest regions of interior BC and the Yukon have some of the continents most expansive and impressive wilderness areas, with a great diversity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Extensive mountain ranges and wild rivers frame pristine boreal forest watersheds. Large free ranging populations of woodland caribou, moose, Dall’s sheep, Stone sheep, a full suite of large carnivores, and hundreds of thousands of migrating neo-tropical songbirds and waterfowl make their home in these diverse boreal landscapes.

Only a few roads cross this region, one of the wildest landscapes on the North American continent.

Dena Kayeh Institute - Vision
Dena Kayeh Institute - Our Mission
Dena Kayeh Institute - Our Mission

Our Mission

The Kaska Nation wants to reclaim our role as stewards of land and resources in our traditional territory. Toward this end, we want to develop long-term capacity and capability to promote and implement a Kaska land ethic. Our land ethic is an ecosystem-based approach to land management, based on the maintenance of biodiversity and ecological integrity. This approach requires that areas of high ecological, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic values are identified and protected, and ecological processes continue to generate biological diversity.

However, we recognize that land stewardship requires that our communities need to be healthy. We believe that economic activity that generates jobs and wealth can be achieved consistent with our land ethic.

The mission of the Dena Kayeh Institute is to protect the ecological integrity of our lands and waters, and enhance the cultural and socioeconomic well-being of our people.

Dena Kayeh Institute - Our Mission
Dena Kayeh Institute - Our Mission

Guiding Principles

Gūkēyeh Gūk’éh Gūs’ānī

(On our land we follow our ways)

Yédā́nendī – To Respect (Respect)

Kaska Dena respect the dignity in each person and being, and we are guided by the value of respect to each other and all living things. This means that Kaska Dena citizens will continue to steward the land while respecting our laws to ensure that the land and waters are able to sustain the Kaska way of life for future generations. This also means that Dene Kʼéh Kusān decision-making will be consent-based and respect different ways of knowing, including Kaska Knowledge, Local Knowledge, and Western Science.

A’ī – To Honour (Responsibility)

Kaska Dena commits to fulfilling our responsibilities to ensure good governance of our land and resources. Our inseparable and enduring relationship to the land is founded on our belief that all things have a spirit and are interconnected, and therefore, we, as Kaska Dena, have a duty and responsibility as land stewards to ensure that all decision-making is guided by the understanding of these interconnections. A healthy ecosystem is at the heart of healthy communities and healthy economies. Resource development and recreational use of Dene K’éh Kusān must support the ecological integrity of the area and traditional and cultural use locations. The duty to maintain ecological natural systems and sustain biological diversity is, at its core, protecting our way of life and is essential to the well-being of our citizens and communities.

Sōnes'in and Ándes'á' – To Care and Share (Reciprocity)

Within our kinship networks, there are roles and reciprocal responsibilities we have to each other. Balance and equality are paramount to the Kaska ethical value of reciprocity. Any Dene K’éh Kusān decision-making will consider balancing of ecological, social, economic, and cultural values to ensure that Dene K’éh Kusān can continue to provide for Kaska Dena citizens and all living beings for future generations. Benefits and risks must be shared equitably between Kaska and others and between present and future generations. Decision-making should consider our reciprocal relationships, including consideration of cumulative effects, collateral impacts, and the need to maintain our language and traditional knowledge.

Sats’éni – Our Relatives (Relationships)

Our relationship to the land is an elemental one. Many parts of our laws stem from the natural law of the earth, which came from higher universal principles that connected our ancestors to the observations of nature and the principle of peaceful relations that we need to have with all Creation. These principles are known as Dene K’éh –and guide the reciprocal relationship our people have to the world. For the Kaska, it is in our personal roles and relationships where our legal obligations are found. Everything we do is guided by our relationships to each other and to the land.

Time to Take Action

In the spirit and practice of reconciliation, we’ve asked the federal and B.C. governments to support our Indigenous-led conservation plan.
Add your voice to our efforts by signing the Statement of Support.

Latest News & Resources

Story Maps

StoryMap #2 – Flyover Tour

In this story map, we give you the opportunity to take a visual tour of…
Story Maps
StoryMap #1
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Kaska Land Guardians Use Audio Recorders To Identity Birds on Their Ancestral Lands

Kaska Land Guardians Use Audio Recorders To Identity Birds on Their Ancestral Lands
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News Release July 2025
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Kaska leadership applauds Province’s commitment to protecting an important part of Dena Kayeh
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Environmental Destruction
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