As we saw in the Introduction to this book, long ago our people lived in a world with no government buildings, no hospitals, no stores, no schools and no police force. Yet their society was almost crime-free and people lived peacefully. People were healthy and skilled.

How did they do that? The answer is that our extended Family group was the basis for our government, our health service, our police force, and our welfare system. And our Family groups worked together whenever necessary.

In past years, our Tahltan government was organized around our Family/clan system. As you see in the section on Family and clans, each Family group belongs to either the "Wolf" or the "Crow" clan or phratry. That means that each person was (and still is!) either "Wolf" or "Crow", following the clan of their mother. Originally, we had only three Wolf clans and three Crow clans. The Nanaai, a fourth Wolf clan, was added later, and have no specific hunting area. They share the hunting area of others. (Note that other people refer to the Crow clan as the "Raven" clan. They say that our system is similar to that of the coast where the clan is "Raven". And that we do not have crows [the bird] in our area.)

The Stikine River

Each of the six Family groups and the Nanaai had a headman and an assistant or second headman. Each clan had a main headman. The headmen of each clan were known by their title: Nonnock was the headman of the Crow clans. Kentai was the name given to headman of the Wolf clans.

Nonnock was the headman of the Iskahititoten Family and a Crow. He was also the headman of both Wolf and Crow clans. In other native societies, this man might be called the chief. Kentai was the headman of the Tagishquan whose hunting area was towards Teslin.

All decisions affecting us Tahltans was done through meetings or councils. The councils were usually made up the headman, the second headman, and older men. Women were able to voice their opinions at the individual family level, or, if a woman was knowledgeable, or very wise, she would be included in the council gathering.

At the council, each person present was permitted to state their point of view or express their concerns. During the discussion, the problem would be identified. Various solutions would be presented and further discussion would follow. All options put forth would be examined until a consensus was reached. Consensus means that the solution is agreed upon by all. The process we used has also been called "collective wisdom".

During discussion, everyone who had some point to add to the understanding of the issue was encouraged to do so, and their contribution was welcomed. It is a recognition that each person was valued and important in our co-operative society. Through this process, the problem was thoroughly examined until a solution was reached. The solution might not satisfy everyone, that is, they may be unhappy because of the decision that was reached. But each person recognized that of all the solutions put forth, the one chosen was "the best" for that particular situation.

Stikine River

It was the custom when a dispute or problem involved more than one Family to have discussions carried on separately. When one side wanted to communicate with the other, the headman or spokesperson stood outside of the lodge and spoke loudly. He told the other Family what his council had decided. The other Family then discussed this development, then they announced their decision the same way. Note that this process is different from other forms of government and decision-making. Respect is shown to everyone who has something to contribute. Their input is valued and included in the discussion and solution. In a society based on cooperation, there is an understanding of the value of teamwork. That each member of the team has a part to play. That is what makes a cooperative society strong and healthy.

In other forms of decision-making, the emphasis on respect for the individual is not so important. In an autocratic form of government, the ruler decides what is to be done. In a democracy, individuals do have a say, but "majority rules". If you were among the majority voters, you would be pleased with the result. If you were not and had serious concerns, these concerns might not be dealt with because you were not a supporter of the majority.

There were councils at each level of organization. Matters of concern to Family groups was decided by members of that Family at a family council. The family council was more informal than other councils. It was usually attended by anyone interested.

If the matter concerned more than one Family Group, then headmen and advisors from each Family dealt with the problem. If problems affected all Tahltans, then all Tahltan headmen and their advisors met to solve the problem. When all Tahltans met in council, Nonnock was the main headman and was given the place of honour opposite the door.

Each headman had certain duties within the Family and within the Tahltan council when we met as a group. The position of headman was shared somewhat with the second headman. However, it was not a position of power. That is, the headman did not enforce his will, but served as spokesperson and advisor for the Family. He did not have special hunting privileges or own land. He was respected as being a wise man and a strong leader. His responsibilities were:

One of the headman's main responsibilities was to make certain that game in the Family hunting grounds were cared for. The survival of all of our people depended on making certain that there would be a continuous supply of game animals. Game was our main source of food.

He was a leader in making rules to insure that no area was over-hunted. He worked with others in his Family to share game fairly when parts of the Family Karea was low in game for any reason. The headman and the second headman kept track of where people were going to hunt and trap. This was usually a simple matter since most families had their traditional areas. However, it became important if there was low stock in some areas. This information was also needed in case of emergencies.

The headman made sure that all members of the Family were cared for. This involved decisions affecting the Family group. He saw to it that each person had adequate food and shelter. If a man was ill, for example, he would be unable to take care of his family. The headman made sure that this family was helped. He took care of communal property belonging to his Family group. He kept the ceremonial regalia of members of his Family in the communal house.

When the village of Goon-da-chagga (what we now call Tahltan village) was built, the houses were not the property of individual headmen. They were the communal houses of each headman's Family group. The headman and his family lived there. The regalia for the Family was kept in special trunks in these houses. This tradition of storing communal property in the communal houses was "forgotten" in the 1900's. The contents of the trunks burnt up, or were looted by outsiders, or claimed by Family members who did not understand that the ceremonial blankets, etc. belonged to individual members of their extended family.

The headman was responsible for settling disputes among members of his Family. If members of the family had a problem, they would not argue it out themselves, but would take the problem to the headman. He would call a Family council or not, depending on the type and seriousness of problem. In this way, everyday life among our people was usually carried out without tension, quarrels, and squabbles.

The headman represented his Family in settling problems between his Family and other Families. The Family, the extended family, was a unit. Anytime a person had a dispute with a member of another Family or another nation, then his or her whole Family group was involved. No problem was left unresolved. So again, there should be no tension between Family groups.

The headman was part of the council when matters involved us Tahltans and other nations.

At our Tahltan tribal councils, he represented his Family group. For example, if a Family went to war with the neighbours, all Tahltans would be invited to join. The decision of who would participate would probably take place at our Tahltan tribal council, which was attended by all headmen and their advisors. During wartime, the headman provided advice and was a leader.

In the late 1800's and early 1900's the number of us Tahltans dropped drastically. There were between 1500 and 3000 Tahltans in the early 1800's. But by 1896, there were only about 290! For this and other reason, we decided to have only one headman, Nonnock. It had been decided that since Nonnock had always been the headman of all Tahltans, he would continue to be. This meant that only a member of the Crow clan could become a Nonnock and only a member of the Iskahititoten Family.

However, this did not mean that all headmen were ignored. They were not. We see that their signatures are immediately below that of the late Nonnock on the Tahltan Declaration written in 1912.

The position of headman was hereditary. Our Tahltan society was matrilineal. This means that only a man could inherit the position, but the line of inheriting was traced through the woman's side of the family.

As an example of this type of inheriting, let us look at how the title of Nonnock was passed on. As we saw above, Nonnock was chosen from the Iskahititoten Family. So he was a Crow. He was required to "marry right" to become Nonnock. That means that he must marry a woman from the Wolf clan.

Nonnock's children could not inherit the title of Nonnock because they followed their mother's clan, the Wolf clan. Therefore, Nonnock's children were Wolf, not Crow.

In order to be of the Crow clan, the mother in the Family had to be Crow. This woman would be a sister or other close woman relative to Nonnock. His sister's children would be Crow. So, Nonnock's eldest sister's eldest son would be next in line to inherit the title of Nonnock. Her son would be Nonnock's eldest nephew (on his sister's side of the family).

The rule that the headman's eldest nephew inherited his title was not a strict one. Nonnock's brother was eligible to be selected to follow his brother, to be the next Nonnock. If a close male cousin was more suited to be Nonnock, then he might be elected. Any of the men in line to become Nonnock or other headmen, could refuse the position. All Tahltans took part in the selection of the Nonnock. At the Family level, all members of the Family would decide who should become the next headman.

We wanted our headmen, especially Nonnock, to be Lani Etie, a well-rounded person, skilled, energetic, intelligent, and wise. This usually meant that our headmen were men of good character and wealth. Wealth by itself was not important, but wealth showed that a person was knowledgeable, skilled, and energetic.

The rules that were used in inheriting a title were also the rules for inheriting. Basically, a man's nephew on his sister's side of the family was his heir. So, often that boy was given to his uncle to raise, since it is he who would inherit the uncle's property when the uncle died.

Under our traditional Tahltan laws, when a man died, his wife and his children did not inherit from him. His side of the family, including his nephew who was the heir, would also inherit the responsibility for taking care of his widow.

Any male member of the deceased man's family would be eligible to take the widow as a wife. Whoever took her to be a real wife, would also inherit the man's house and half of his movable possessions. In rare cases, none of the man's male relatives agreed to take the woman. She was then released from her role as widow and daughter-in-law.

The nephew could inherit his uncle's movable property, his uncle's widow, his uncle's house, his uncle's slaves, and his uncle's hunting area.

If a woman died, her personal property would be given to members of her family. Her family would also be responsible for raising her children.

Hunting areas were important in our society. These areas were the source of our livelihood. First, they provided food. In later years, when furs became articles of value, they provided trapping areas.

There were no strict boundaries, but areas were defined and respected. As a show of respect, if a man killed an animal for food while he was traveling through a neighbour's hunting area, he gave the pelt to the neighbour. It was a way to recognize the neighbour's hunting rights and to say "thank you" for the food. Young boys had hunting rights in their father's area. When they reached manhood, they hunted in their mother's area. Although they could still hunt in their father's area, this was not often done. After marriage, a man is allowed to hunt in his wife's family's area. It can be seen that having wives in more than one Family or in neighbouring native nations was an advantage to a hunter.

Hunting areas were a serious matter

There were no written laws in our history. The rules we lived by were taught to us from childhood and were based on respect. We were expected to respect ourselves, to show respect for others, to show respect for all things in our world, and to show respect for our environment. In this way, we believed that our world would be in harmony and we would live a long and healthy life.

It was the responsibility of the individual to behave in a respectful manner at all times. If a person did not behave respectfully, it brought shame and dishonour to the Family. After all, the Family was responsible for teaching children to behave in a respectful way. If children did not behave well, then the Family was at fault. They had not taught the children properly.

A person was guilty of disrespectful behaviour if they lied, cheated, or stole. Killing (especially a Family member) was also forbidden.

If a person chose to act against these unwritten rules, their behaviour was judged by their Family group. The punishment for crimes was usually decided by the Family. If the crime was very serious or affected the Tahltan people as a whole, the matter would be decided by a council of all Tahltan Families. Whatever was decided by the council was accepted without argument.

The penalty for breaking the rules depended on the seriousness of the crime. A person might be banished, thrown out of the Family. This was a serious punishment in a society where survival depended on the cooperation of many family members. Or the person (or Family) might have to pay (money or furs, etc.) for the crime. Or they might be sentenced to die.

If a person was guilty of disrespectful behaviour, the family dealt with the problem. For instance, if a man stole from a cache, his family would pay several times the value of what was taken in retribution. The man would then be helped, for he must have poor respect for himself to behave in such a manner. His family would provide support for him.

If he stole again, a finger might be cut off, to remind him that this is a wrongful act. If he persisted in stealing, his hand might be cut off, or he might be killed. Maybe his family could not afford to continue to pay for his wrongs. Anytime that the punishment was to be death, a man from that person's Family would have to do the killing.

Chart of Crimes and Punishment
Broken "Rule"	Penalty
repeated lying about important things	death
stealing from cache	if he tells, no penalty if he does not tell, his relatives are shamed & reprimand him; they pay several times the value of the items stolen if he repeats, his family kills him
improper behaviour with a woman in his family is incest	killed
improper behaviour with a woman not in his family, not as serious	punishment varied
breaking some rules	take property away; the family disowns him become a "slave" for a certain length of time, eg. a slave of Nonnock or other headman
serious, repeated breaking rules	banished, "thrown out" of Tahltan country and not allowed to return (This penalty was used in the early 1900's.)

Our Tahltan society has changed dramatically from the mid-1800's. In those years we lived as the Tahltan nation in our own country. The coming of the gold miners in 1862 brought more than non-natives to Tahltan country. It caused our Tahltan country to be claimed by the province of British Columbia. We became citizens of Canada and so were subject to new laws. Our laws were replaced by the laws of British Columbia and Canada.

One change that came with the new laws was the way our leaders are chosen. Our system of hereditary headmen was abolished. All native Bands in Canada are now governed by a Council made up of elected Counselors. The Chief Counselor is the head of this Council.