Tłı̨chǫ Community Services Agency

The Purpose of the TCSA

The purpose of the Tłıchǫ Community Services Agency (TCSA) is to improve the health, wellness, and education of the people in Tłıchǫ communities by providing a range of easily accessible, integrated programs and services. The Agency manages the delivery of education, health, wellness, and social programs and services for the NWT communities of Behchokǫ̀ (Rae-Edzo), Gamètı̀ (Rae Lakes), Wekweetı̀ (Snare Lake) and Whatı̀ (Lac La Martre).

The Agency is both new and old: established on August 4, 2005, the Agency is a creation of the Tłıchǫ Agreement. Section 7.10 of the Tłıchǫ Agreement called for an Intergovernmental Services Agreement (ISA) between the Government of Canada, the Government of the NWT, and the Tłıchǫ Government. The ISA creates the Agency and ensures that it continues to perform the educational, health, and social programs and services of the organizations from which it emerged, including the former:

Dogrib Community Services Board (1997-2005),
Dogrib Divisional Board of Education (1989-1997) and
Rae-Edzo School Society (1967-1989).

Mission

The mission of the TCSA is to develop a continuum of care that will return control of education, health, and social programs and services to the people of our communities, support them in the task of strengthening their families, promote the knowledge and skills they need to survive today and model the values they need to live in harmony with their families, our communities and our land.

Vision

“Do Nake Lani Nats’etso…Strong like Two People”
In 1971 a frail Chief Jimmy Bruneau officially opened the new Edzo school that was to bear his name. On this occasion, he spoke of the importance of a model of bicultural and bilingual education where equal emphasis must be given to educating children in two cultures. Some years later in 1991 at a meeting to discuss the work of a new Board of Education, a respected Behchokǫ̀ elder, Elizabeth Mackenzie, commented on her understanding of the words of Chief Jimmy Bruneau. She described his vision as asking for his people to be “Strong Like Two People”.