MAY 2, 2013

CARMACKS RODDY BLACKJACK DIED-ARCHITECT OF THE YUKON LAND CLAIMS AGREEMT

Blackjack, born in 1927, was chief of the Little Salmon Carmacks (LSC) First Nation from 1968-70. In 1973, he joined Chief Elijah Smith, President of the Yukon Native Brotherhood, in a delegation to Ottawa to present then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau with the document Together Today For Our Children Tomorrow that would be the basis for the future Yukon Land Claims Agreement (YLCA). Negotiations, begun in the late 1970s, culminated in the “Umbrella Final Agreement” (UFA) in 1990. The UFA was the template for individual agreements with each of the Yukon First Nations recognized by the federal government. It was signed in 1993 and the first four First Nations ratified their land claims agreements in 1995. Blackjack returned as chief of the LSC from 1986-90.  For his role in the YLCA, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002.  Roddy also served as an executive elder of the Council of Yukon First Nations until 2011 & “elder in residence” at Yukon College.

Sources:
  “Elder who helped start Yukon land claim process dies at 86,” CBC News, 5/2/2013.  Retrieved 7/28/2022, Elder who helped start Yukon land claim process dies at 86 | CBC News
Wikipedia
Map:  Government of Canada, 9/15/2010. Permissive Use.  Source: Archived - Yukon Land Claims and Self-Government Agreements - Tri-annual Report 2004-2007 (rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca)