Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation

The Vuntut Gwitchin or Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is a Canadian First Nations in northern Yukon near the Alaskan border. They belong to the Gwich'in. Principal residence is Old Crow. Their language is the Gwichin, which belongs to the Athabascan language family. Known in the art, the group was by the Fund probably the oldest human traces in Canada in the Bluefish Caves, which are at least 10 to 12 thousand years old.

Closely related groups living in Fort Yukon and Arctic Village, Alaska, and in Blackstone. The local inhabitants are called Tukudh ( Dagoo ). At the Peel River Tetlit Gwich'in live.

The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is one of the four First Nations who signed the Yukon Land Claims agreement, a contract for land rights, in 1993.

2004, the tribe claims to be 756 people, according to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, however, only 512 people were registered as members of the tribe in August 2009.

The name Vuntut Gwitchin means " people of the Lakes".

Language

The language, also known by the name Loucheux, Kutchin or Tukudh, is spoken in Fort Yukon, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek, Venetie and Arctic Village. Other groups with the same language live in Aklavik, Inuvik ( Canada's largest city north of the Arctic Circle ), Arctic Red River and Fort McPherson.

History

The Gwitchin lived as nomadic and subsisted mainly by hunting caribou. Even today, the strain of the Porcupine caribou herd gain a significant portion of its food. Even muskrats are hunted. Approximately 40 km north of Old Crow are numerous lakes, where they are hunted. This happens each year from April to June. Each family had its own hunting area.

They appeared at the end of the 18th century in indirect contact with Europeans. Alexander Mackenzie was the first time 1789 came into contact with Gwich'in, 1806 was Fort Good Hope. Glass beads placed in the same region as exchange and as a measure of value by. Between Russian and British traders brought goods in the region, the Tlingit dominated this trade in the West, the Gwich'in in the Northeast. The occasionally referred to by the British as "Rat Indians" Gwich'in who hunted muskrats - in contrast to the "Council of Indians" further south - tried the laying of the trade center of gravity of the Hudson's Bay Company to Fort Yukon in the eastern Alaska to prevent what they succeeded in doing for several years.

Originally survived the Vuntut Gwitchin to Fort Yukon, Johnson House and LaPierre House and Whitestone Village, but also in other places. They were very interested in the British Fort Yukon. 1867, when the border between Alaska and British or Canadian area has been damaged, they moved into the Canadian Rampart House, a trading post.

Already in the 1860s missionary Archdeacon Robert McDonald ( 1829-1913 ) in the trunk. He translated, with the support of the tribe the entire Bible in their language, to prayer books and hymns. He also developed a writing system, but having inconsistencies. Therefore, his writing has been replaced by a system in the 1970s, the Richard Mueller, linguist and Bible translator, was developed.

In the 1870s, chief died Deetru ` K ` avihdik, whose name means " can I go crow" about means. In his honor, the region was named after him, and now is, slightly modified " Old Crow ". Capital is now Old Crow, a small village with about 250 residents, located in the extreme north of the Yukon. It is not accessible by vehicle, but only by airplane.

Due to the Klondike Gold Rush, which attracted around 100,000 people in the Yukon, grew from 1896 suddenly the meat and fur needs, so that many Indians went on the hunt. Even White chased what has already led in 1900 to overhunting by Dawson. Some Gwich'in seeking work on the ships which plied the Yukon, but in contrast to the Tukudh - Gwich'in from the upper Porcupine River and the Teetl'it - Gwich'in from upper Peel River were not significantly on the Vuntut local trade to Dawson participate. The government of the territory tried from 1923 to 1929 by a fee of $ 100 non- Yukoners excluded from the hunt, but in the north so that the Gwich'in have been hampered, in which case the Vuntut Gwitchin benefited from the fact that in the only group of Gwich'in Yukon were. In the late 1930s the last hunts took place. Cornelius Osgood (1905-1983) engaged in one of the first with the culture of the Gwich'in, but mainly of the Alaskan groups.

Current Situation

In the Treaty of 1993, the Vuntut National Park was established with effect from 1995, which mainly serves the protection of the Porcupine herd. He is managed jointly by Parks Canada and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

Simultaneously, the Vuntut Development Corporation invested in local companies, such as the Yukon airline Air North, in which it holds 49%.

The tribal house, the Abel - Chitzé Building, provides high-speed access to the Internet and in recent years the film equipment to produce two videos was used. Three film festival has welcomed the trunk.

In November 2009, lived on the 514 registered Vuntut Gwitchin only six men and one woman in their own reserve, a woman living in another reserve. The rest of the tribe lived either on your own crown land (243 ), or on that of another strain ( 10) or outside the reserves ( 253).

Chief Joe Linklater.

A shop, a division of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a nursing station, Bed and Breakfast, plus a tribal office, a skating rink, a youth center and a community center form the infrastructure. In the latter potlatches, dances and entertainment evenings. In addition since the early 1970s, the Chief Zzeh Gittlit School, where the native language is taught. The school has its own hut in the wilderness, where students learn traditional techniques. The elders tell stories and myths: to introduce their culture to the children. Students who aspire to a higher education than Grade 9 (ie after the 9th school year ) must be the capital of the territory, go to Whitehorse.