Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What does TETLA mean?
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A: Tetla is not an acronym. The word tetla means "little money" in the Hul'qumi'num language spoken by native people on Vancouver Island. It is the name of a kind of gift certificates that can be redeemed at more than one business.
Q: Are tetlas a kind of money?
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A: Tetlas are actually gift certificates. They do work like money, though.
Q: Who issues tetlas?
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A: Tetlas are issued by a native organization called the Tetla Tsetsuwatil which is based on an Indian Reserve on Vancouver Island.
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Q: Can I exchange tetlas for Canadian or US dollars?
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A: No. If we did that, almost all tetlas would go out of circulation very fast. That's what happened with Salt Spring dollars on Salt Spring Island. At one time you could deposit them to any bank on Salt Spring Island and automatically convert them to Canadian dollars. So that's what people did, making it difficult to keep Salt Spring dollars in circulation. So the issuers of the Salt Spring dollar changed the rules to impose a percentage fee for conversions by businesses to try to minimize this. That made the Salt Spring dollar more like the tetla. Interesting. Also, the benefit of having a local currency that can't leak away to other places is lost if it can be converted to Canadian dollars and leak away to other places.
Q: Can I buy tetlas with Canadian or US dollars?
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A: No.
Q: How can I be sure tetlas are worth something?
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A: So long as businesses continue to accept tetlas at full face value at normal prices, their value is being maintained.
Q: Even if every business stopped accepting tetlas?
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A: tetlas can still be taken to the Tetla Tsetsuwatil and exchanged for reserve assets owned by the Tetla Tsetsuwatil. What assets are being held changes, but at the time this is being written, it includes a large number gift certificates issued by various businesses and other assets. The Tetla Tsetsuwatil attempts to maintain more than enough assets in its reserve to redeem all issued and outstanding tetlas by giving out reserve assets in exchange for tetlas.
Q: Why would I want tetlas instead of regular money?
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A: If you have a choice between being paid with tetlas or money, choose money. But offering to let people pay you in tetlas can bring you new customers who otherwise would not come to you at all. If you have a choice between tetlas or nothing, choose tetlas.
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Q: Can Non-natives use tetla Gift Certificates too?
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A: Yes. The Tetla gift certificate is intended not only to assist economic development in the S'amuna' Nation and other native nations, it is also intended for use in trade with non-natives and among non-natives. That's why many non-native businesses allow payment with tetlas.Has anyone else done anything like this before?
Yes. The most obvious example is Canadian Tire Money which has been around since 1958. There are many others such as Salt Spring Dollars, Calgary Dollars and Chemainus Dollars. See the links below.
Q: How can you tell if a tetla is genuine or counterfeit?
A: Look at the security features page on this website. Attempting to produce counterfeit tetla gift certificates to obtain something of value is a serious crime. Creating such a document is forgery and attempting to trick someone into giving up something of value in exchange for it because they think it's a real one is fraud. Both of these crimes are punishable by prison time. If you are aware of any efforts to produce or use counterfeit tetlas, please notify the police and the Tetla Tsetsuwatil. So far, there no known attempts to create counterfeit tetlas.
Q: How many tetlas have been issued?
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A: That changes all the time as new ones are issued and old ones are redeemed. At the time of this writing it's about 16,000.
Q: Are tetlas a government program?
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A: No.
Q: Is there a tax loophole here somewhere?
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A: Not that we know of. Tetlas are gift certificates and so far as we know there is no special tax treatment for gift certificates.
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Q: What if a business in the directory doesn't want tetlas anymore?
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A: That happens sometimes. That's why it is a good idea to check the directory. (Click the link that says "Where can I spend tetlas?") If the directory becomes out of date, please notify us and we'll update it. Also please tell us if you have any other problems spending tetlas at any business on the directory. We have removed businesses from the directory before if they did not provide a favorable customer experience.
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Q: What if a business in the directory can't be contacted?
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A: Some smaller businesses don't notify us when their contact info changes. Please notify us if someone does not respond to phone calls, emails or if their physical address has changed and we'll update the directory.
Q: Are tetlas worthless when they expire?
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A: No. The expiration dates on older tetlas do not matter. They are still valid. The original policy of having tetlas expire was changed before any expired. Now they never expire. That's why there are no expiration dates on newer tetlas.
Q: Why do tetlas have an expiration date?
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A: Originally, it was so the Tetla Tsetsuwatil doesn't have to be prepared to redeem them forever. Only series 2012 tetlas have expiration dates. The newer ones don't. The reason for this is that we have decided that it's better if they don't expire. For that reason, if you get a tetla with an expired expiration date, it doesn't matter. It's just as good as one with no expiration date. Also, since only the first run of tetlas issued in 2012 has expiration dates, you may find that they are collector's items. Collectors from four foreign countries (the US, the UK, Portugal and Australia) have already purchased tetla gift certificates as collector's items.
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Q: Can you send tetlas electronically over the internet like bitcoin?
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A: Yes. There is now an electronic version of tetlas. It is an asset on counterparty called "TETLAS". Like all counterparty assets, it runs on the same blockchain as bitcoin. You can find out more about counterparty at www.counterparty.io and www.counterwallet.io.
Q: Are tetlas going to go up in value a lot like bitcoin if a lot of people start using them?
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A: No. Tetlas are not designed to go up in value. They are designed to remain equal to the value of the Canadian dollar which actually goes down slightly in value every year due to inflation. Tetlas can be used to buy another alternative currency called Future Credits which are designed so that their value goes up and down.
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Q: Is there a connection between Tetlas and Future Credits?
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A: Not really. Future credits are a separate project started by one of the people involved in the tetla project. See futurecredit.org for more details.