#25Anniversary Fact Chäk nänkąy • Six. We haven’t always had all of these offices to work from and we’re certainly thankful that we do today. We hope you enjoy fact #6 out of 25!
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The transition from Moosehide Council to one based on the Indian Act was hard. There were more responsibilities and not a lot of resources. Percy Henry, who was elected Chief in 1969, set up the first government office for Tr'ondëk Hwëch’in (then named the Dawson Indian Band) in 1971. That building was known as the Hän Fisheries building. Percy told the following story in a 1993 interview:
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“I got that building from Clinton Creek. Clinton Creek got to know me pretty good now, because ferry operator and I used to deliver stuff to—for the fall for them. But when that general manager tell him I want to talk to him, ‘oh,’ he say. ‘Come right down.’ I did that. He didn’t ask why, he just said ‘come.’
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So I got there—and a lot of big shot there with black suit—and he said, ‘Well, Chief is here. You got to go. Excuse us for a while.’ …And then I tell him I really—again, I say, ‘I can’t get help, can’t get building, can’t get nothing. I have no office. So he said, ‘Well, take our one.’ He say, ‘I can’t fix it for you,’ but he say, ‘I’ll pay for the land for the next five years till we get that—that paper title.’
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So he took care of land, everything. And then, once that settled, I bought it for a dollar. So that’s the way we went through.”
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Photo: Men working on the Hän Fisheries Plant on Front St. in the north end of Dawson City. Behind the building the Moosehide Slide is visible. The man nearest to the building has been identified as Ed Balentine, the man on the far right is David McLeod, and the man in the middle is Joseph Joseph. Credit: Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Government Fonds, Tr'ondëk Hwëch’in Archives.
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Celebrations of the 25th Anniversary will take place on Tr'ondëk Hwëch’in Traditional Territory from July 13th to July 16th.
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To celebrate the 25th Anniversary of our signing the Tr'ondëk Hwëch’in Self-Government Agreement and Final Agreement, we will continue posting 25 historical facts until July 16, 2023.