About Us
Our Vision
The WRDC and CNLP strive toward the development and nurturing of strong and sustainable business interests in the areas of renewable energy, mining, resource exploration, industry services, rental services and tourism. This will be accomplished, in part, through the establishment and dedicated maintenance of respectful and meaningful relationships with our partners and stakeholders for the benefit of all. This approach will move purposefully toward the creation of a self-sufficient and viable collective business entity that creates a financially stable and secure future for its partners and stakeholders.
This approach will also improve and enhance the WRFN as a community and Yukon business partner that positively and consistently contributes to the overall quality of life and living for all people of the Yukon Territory.
The History of Copper Niisüü LP
White River First Nation holds 99.9% interest in the Copper Niisüü Limited Partnership and 100% interest in the White River Development Corporation. The White River Development Corporation holds 0.1% interest in the Copper Niisüü Limited Partnership.
WRFN is made up of two linguistic groups: Northern Tutchone and Upper Tanana. The asserted Traditional Territory of the White River First Nation is extensive, extending from the Kluane region up towards Dawson City. The First Nation also has cultural and familial ties to neighbouring communities in Yukon and Alaska.
For more detail on the WRFN, please refer to the section Our Shareholder below.
The White River Development Corporation was reactivated in Spring 2017 and a Board, made up of White River First Nation membership, was appointed by White River First Nation’s Chief and Council.
The Copper Niisüü Limited Partnership was created the same year with the purpose of entering joint venture partnerships that would achieve the goals and strategies set forth by the WRDC. CNLP started with a capital reserve of $100,000 and has since leveraged those funds to secure more than $2 million of committed project funding dollars.
Our Shareholder
White River First Nation’s Traditional Territory is located in western Yukon Territory, Canada. It’s leadership and administration offices are located in the most westerly community in Canada, Beaver Creek, Yukon. The languages spoken by White River First Nation members are the Athabaskan languages of Upper Tanana and Northern Tutchone. These two linguistic groups became connected through traditional marriages. In the early 1950s, they were merged into a single White River Indian Band by the Canadian Government out of administrative convenience.
In 1961 the White River Indian Band was amalgamated by the Canadian Government with the Southern Tutchone in Burwash Landing to be known as the Kluane Band (subsequently the Kluane Tribal Brotherhood and then the Kluane Tribal Council). In 1990, the Kluane Tribal Council split its membership into the Kluane First Nation, centered in Burwash, and the White River First Nation, centered in Beaver Creek. The White River First Nation participated in negotiations for a land claims agreement and had reached a memorandum of understanding on most issues, but the parties were not able to reach a final agreement to put forward to ratification by WRFN citizens. The federal government mandate to negotiate land claims in the Yukon expired on March 31, 2005 and on April 1 the federal government announced that discussions with WRFN “will no longer involve the possibility of concluding land claim and self-government agreements” and will instead focus “on how best to advance the interest of White River under the provisions of the Indian Act.”