Keyoh


Keyoh is a Dakelh word meaning "".
The principal traditional meaning, is the area of which a certain
aboriginal or indigenous extended patrilocal family group, has historical use, occupancy, customary governance, stewardship and ownership rights. It is also applied
to designate areas such as countries and settlements such as villages
and towns. It is also used to designate a trapline in the non-native sense,
that is the area within which a certain person has the right to trap,
but the common translation "trapline" is misleading both in that it
is not restricted to the right to trap and in that it is independent
of the provincial system of trapline registration. Indeed, one source
of disparity between provincially registered traplines and keyoh
is that provincially registered traplines are held by a single individual
who for many years had to be male, while keyoh are held corporately, with its chief also being strongly patrileneal, who is known as the Keyoh Holder or keyohwhudachun. The term is used in an English context in reference to Section 35, aboriginal rights to territory, country, and village, as on the web site of the
The word takes the form keyah in the more western dialects.
It is also the name of one of the student residence halls at the University of Northern British Columbia. UNBC defines Keyoh as "our community", and Neyoh, the name of another hall, as "our home"