Telegraph Creek

Telegraph Creek
Telegraph Creek is located in British Columbia
Telegraph Creek
Coordinates: 57°54′N 131°10′W / 57.900°N 131.167°W / 57.900; -131.167[1]
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Regional districtKitimat–Stikine
Area
 • Total1.46 km2 (0.56 sq mi)
Population
 • Total53
 • Density36/km2 (94/sq mi)

Telegraph Creek is a small community located off Highway 37 in northern British Columbia at the confluence of the Stikine River and Telegraph Creek.[3] The only permanent settlement on the Stikine River, it is home to approximately 250 members of Tahltan First Nation and non-native residents. The town offers basic services, including Anglican and Catholic churches, a general store, a post office, a clinic with several nurses on-call around the clock, two Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers, and a K-9 school. Steep river banks and rocky gorges form the terraced nature of the geography.

The community includes Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve No. 6, Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve No. 6A, and Guhthe Tah Indian Reserve No. 12[4][5][6] which are under the governance of the Tahltan First Nation of Telegraph Creek. Stikine Indian Reserve No. 7, which is one mile west (downstream) and on the opposite side of the Stikine River, is under the governance of the Iskut First Nation of the settlement of Iskut, which is on the river of the same name. The two bands together comprise the Tahltan Nation.

Tahltan (or Nahanni) refers to a Northern Athabaskan people that live around Telegraph Creek, Dease Lake and Iskut.

  1. ^ "Telegraph Creek". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. ^ a b Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (February 8, 2017). "Census Profile, 2016 Census - Telegraph Creek, Indian reserve [Census subdivision], British Columbia and Kitimat-Stikine, Regional district [Census division], British Columbia". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved September 21, 2020.
  3. ^ "Telegraph Creek (community)". BC Geographical Names.
  4. ^ "Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve 6". BC Geographical Names.
  5. ^ "Telegraph Creek Indian Reserve 6A". BC Geographical Names.
  6. ^ BCGNIS entry "Guhthe Tah Indian Reserve 12"