OUR LANDS
Traditional Territory
Yekooche First Nation’s traditional territory is located northwest of Fort St James, British Columbia. The territory is comprised of four reserves on a total of roughly 180 hectares of land. Most of the year, our band members live in Reserve #3 (Yekooche), located along the northwest arm of Stuart Lake, where Nancut Creek drains Cunningham Lake into Stuart Lake. However, in the summer months, we spread out to our keyohs where we can live on the land with our extended families.
Our traditional lands are very important to our people. Since the 1800s we have used them to support our way of life with hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, as well as gathering medicinal roots, herbs and berries.
The surrounding lakes are also very important to us. They offer places to catch fish, and serve as a link to neighbouring First Nations communities. Ye Koo Che literally translates to the Dakelh location of the community as “Ye Koo” refers to Cunningham Lake and “Che” refers to the end or tail of Nankut Creek.
