The Dease River flows through northwestern British Columbia , Canada and is a tributary of the Liard River . The river descends from Dease Lake , though its ultimate origin is in the headwaters of Little Dease Creek at Snow Peak, approximately 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of the lake. The river flows 265 kilometres (165 mi) generally north-eastward, draining into the Liard River near Lower Post, British Columbia . Large sections of the river parallel the Cassiar Highway , helping to make it a popular destination for canoeists, kayakers, and rafters.
25-621: The area has a rich history. It is important to the history of Tahltan and Kaska First Nations , who continue to reside along the river. The first European known to have visited the river was John McLeod , a Hudson's Bay Company fur trader and explorer, in August 1831. He named the river for Peter Warren Dease , at the time Chief factor of the Mackenzie River District of the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1837, Robert Campbell established
50-519: A coalbed methane mining project planned by Royal Dutch Shell . The Sacred Headwaters (Klappan Valley) is home to the headwaters of the Nass , Skeena and Stikine Rivers . Not only do these rivers provide a home to important salmon stocks, Tahltan oral history holds that these headwaters are the place where the earth was first created and where Talhtan culture began. According to the Klabona Keepers,
75-450: A river or stream is the point on each of its tributaries upstream from its mouth / estuary into a lake / sea or its confluence with another river. Each headwater is considered one of the river's sources , as it is the place where surface runoffs from rainwater , meltwater and/or spring water begin accumulating into a more substantial and consistent flow that becomes a first-order tributary of that river. The tributary with
100-500: A Hudson's Bay Company fur trading post at Dease Lake. The community of Dease Lake has a population of approximately 650, and is the major centre in the river's watershed. In fiction: In Jack London 's short story, "Love of Life," the protagonist is trying to make his way to "the river Dease," where he has a cache of food and supplies hidden. 59°55′00″N 128°29′00″W / 59.91667°N 128.48333°W / 59.91667; -128.48333 This article related to
125-552: A river in the Interior of British Columbia , Canada is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tahltan The Tahltan or Nahani are a First Nations people of the Athabaskan -speaking ethnolinguistic group who live in northern British Columbia around Telegraph Creek , Dease Lake , and Iskut . The Tahltan constitute the fourth division of the Nahane (People of
150-438: Is marshland . The furthest stream is also often called the head stream. Headwaters are often small streams with cool waters because of shade and recently melted ice or snow. They may also be glacial headwaters, waters formed by the melting of glacial ice . Headwater areas are the upstream areas of a watershed , as opposed to the outflow or discharge of a watershed. The river source is often but not always on or quite near
175-415: Is "in a location that is the farthest, along water miles, from where that river ends." Under this definition, neither a lake (excepting lakes with no inflows) nor a confluence of tributaries can be a true river source, though both often provide the starting point for the portion of a river carrying a single name. For example, National Geographic and virtually every other geographic authority and atlas define
200-581: The Bulkley Valley against a project planned near Telkwa, British Columbia . In a unanimous 2003 resolution, the Union of B.C. Municipalities asked for a moratorium on coal-bed methane mining in the province. Since 2005, the Klabona Keepers, a group of Tahltan elders, have watched the road leading through Tahltan territory towards the Sacred headwaters (Klappan Valley) in opposition to development there, specifically
225-577: The Tahltan Nation , which comprises the membership and governments of the Tahltan First Nation and Iskut First Nation . Ten thousand years ago, the Tahltan people used obsidian from Mount Edziza to make tools and weapons for trading material. This is the main source of obsidian found in northwestern British Columbia. Coal-bed methane extraction had already been the subject of protests in
250-608: The B.C. government announced that Shell would be withdrawing its plans to explore and drill for coalbed methane gas in the Tahltan Territory. According to the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition , Shell has launched a lawsuit against Talhtan elders for loss of revenue. The Klabona Keepers have filed a counter-suit for failure to consult. Employment opportunities have come from natural resources development in recent years. Because of various concerns over
275-575: The USGS at times considers the Missouri River as a tributary of the Mississippi River . But it also follows the first definition above (along with virtually all other geographic authorities and publications) in using the combined Missouri—lower Mississippi length figure in lists of lengths of rivers around the world. Most rivers have numerous tributaries and change names often; it is customary to regard
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#1732844179167300-470: The West). The Tahltan cultural practices and lifeways varied widely as they were often widely separated and would have to endure varying conditions depending on their locality. In Tahltan culture it was believed that some of their ancestors had knowledge that others did not from times before a great flood. Some of these ancestors used that knowledge for the good of the people, while others used it for evil and to
325-562: The confluence of the Madison and Jefferson rivers, rather than the source of its longest tributary (the Jefferson). This contradicts the most common definition, which is, according to a US Army Corps of Engineers official on a USGS site, that "[geographers] generally follow the longest tributary to identify the source of rivers and streams." In the case of the Missouri River, this would have
350-460: The disadvantage of others. Raven is considered to be the protagonist hero against these evil ancestors. Tahltan social organization is founded on matriarchy and intermarriage between two main clan designations. The two main clans of Tahltan people are Tses' Kiya (pronounced Tses-kee-ya) ( Crow ) and Chiyone (pronounced Chee-oanah) (Wolf) . These two clans are further subdivided into four parties: Contemporary Tahltan society constitutes itself as
375-619: The edge of the watershed, or watershed divide. For example, the source of the Colorado River is at the Continental Divide separating the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean watersheds of North America . A river is considered a linear geographic feature, with only one mouth and one source. For an example, the Mississippi River and Missouri River sources are officially defined as follows: The verb "rise" can be used to express
400-554: The headwaters and, in June 2007, 14 different environmental groups sent a joint letter to Shell opposing the project. Representatives from Shell assert a determination to reach consensus in the community and note that the elected Tahltan Central Council (TCC) agreed to the exploration. Chief Jerry Asp was forced to resign in 2005 after protests from Tahltan members accusing him of a conflict of interest because of his involvement with two pro-development organizations. On December 18, 2012,
425-680: The headwaters, but in 2005 four Shell employees who arrived at the band office in Iskut were turned away by a group of elders and no drilling occurred that summer. Non-violent blockades in 2005 and 2006 delayed development efforts and led to the arrests of 13 protesters. Talhtan territory was the site of half of all the mining exploration in British Columbia during 2006. Protests in Smithers have been as large as 600 people. David Suzuki and Wade Davis have both criticized plans for coal-bed methane mining in
450-502: The lands, the parties involved balance development and environmental aspects. Talk of an Alaska-Canada railroad traversing Tahltan lands recurs every so often with feasibility studies being done. Tahltan is a poorly documented Northern Athabaskan language . Some linguists consider Tahltan to be a language with three divergent but mutually intelligible dialects. Other linguists consider these to be separate languages. The number of speakers are below. Headwater The headwater of
475-413: The longest course downstream of the headwaters is regarded as the main stem . The United States Geological Survey (USGS) states that a river's "length may be considered to be the distance from the mouth to the most distant headwater source (irrespective of stream name), or from the mouth to the headwaters of the stream commonly known as the source stream". As an example of the second definition above,
500-551: The longest tributary or stem as the source, regardless of what name that watercourse may carry on local maps and in local usage. This most commonly identified definition of a river source specifically uses the most distant point (along watercourses from the river mouth ) in the drainage basin from which water runs year-around ( perennially ), or, alternatively, as the furthest point from which water could possibly flow ephemerally . The latter definition includes sometimes-dry channels and removes any possible definitions that would have
525-628: The river changes names numerous times along its course. However, the source of the Thames in England is traditionally reckoned according to the named river Thames rather than its longer tributary, the Churn — although not without contention. When not listing river lengths, however, alternative definitions may be used. The Missouri River's source is named by some USGS and other federal and state agency sources, following Lewis and Clark 's naming convention, as
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#1732844179167550-595: The river source "move around" from month to month depending on precipitation or ground water levels. This definition, from geographer Andrew Johnston of the Smithsonian Institution , is also used by the National Geographic Society when pinpointing the source of rivers such as the Amazon or Nile . A definition given by the state of Montana agrees, stating that a river source is never a confluence but
575-582: The source be well upstream from Lewis and Clark's confluence, "following the Jefferson River to the Beaverhead River to Red Rock River , then Red Rock Creek to Hell Roaring Creek ." Sometimes the source of the most remote tributary may be in an area that is more marsh -like, in which the "uppermost" or most remote section of the marsh would be the true source. For example, the source of the River Tees
600-617: The source of the Nile River not as Lake Victoria 's outlet where the name "Nile" first appears, which would reduce the Nile's length by over 900 km (560 mi) (dropping it to fourth or fifth on the list of world's rivers), but instead use the source of the largest river flowing into the lake, the Kagera River . Likewise, the source of the Amazon River has been determined this way, even though
625-491: The valley is used for fishing, hunting, and trapping. It is the site of a Tahltan burial ground and a cultural camp where Talhtan youth can learn their culture in the summer. In 2004, Shell was awarded the oil and gas rights to the Klappan Valley, one of British Columbia 's largest coal deposits with an estimated 230 km (8 trillion cu ft) of methane . That year, Shell drilled three exploratory wells at
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