Khàtìnas.àxh Community School
Teslin, YT
Khàtìnas.àxh [pronounced “Kaw keen ah sa”] is a Kindergarten to Grade 9 school in Teslin, YT. Teslin is a small village located in the Yukon Territory at Mile 804 (Km. 1244) on the Alaska Highway. It is bordered by the waters of Nisutlin Bay and Teslin Lake. Until the turn of the century, this was the summer camp or meeting place of the Tlingit tribe from southern Alaska.
Khàtìnas.àxh Community School, formerly known as Teslin School, is located in Teslin, Yukon, and serves students from Kindergarten to Grade 9.
Renamed in 2018 to honor the late Billy Fox—a respected community member whose Tlingit name, Khàtìnas.àxh, means “A raven that can be heard a long time after he is gone”—the school reflects the rich cultural heritage of the Teslin Tlingit people.
Emphasizing the Tlingit language and traditions, Khàtìnas.àxh Community School fosters a learning environment that integrates cultural values with academic education, strengthening the connection between students and their heritage.
Details
Population of Teslin
220
Languages Spoken
Lingit
English
Grades
Kindergarten - Grade 9
About Khàtìnas.àxh Community School
The Inland Tlingit community of Teslin is located on the shores of Teslin Lake in the southern Yukon. The community was first settled in the mid 19th century by Coastal Tlingit traders and explorers who had been travelling inland regularly in earlier times. The village became more permanent during the 1940's when the Alaska Highway was built through the area.
The village site had been a summer gathering place where the people came to rest and spend time together during the busy annual round of trapping, hunting, and harvesting. The people brought with them their clan system, potlatch tradition, language, songs and dances, and traditions which remain strong today.
Today the Teslin Tlingit Council has returned to a traditional form of government which operates through their clan system. The Chief is chosen by the General Assembly and the Elders, as are two deputy Chiefs, one from the Wolf side and one from the Crow moiety. The council is composed of five clan leaders, or spokespersons, who are chosen by their respective clans.
The Teslin Tlingit Council is actively involved in the implementation process, attempting to build new ways of becoming self-sufficient in a contemporary world and continuing to prosper in the old traditional ways, retaining the language, culture and laws for future generations.
