Website: www.vgfn.ca
Description: The Vuntut Gwitchin is the name of our people, which in our language means “people of the lakes.” We, the Vuntut Gwitchin, are part of the larger Gwich’in Nation, which in our language means “people of the land”, spanning across northern Alaska in the United States, across the Yukon Territory and into the Northwest Territories in Canada.
Strategically placed by Gwich’in elders to overlap with the seasonal migration routes of the approximately 200,000 strong Porcupine Caribou Herd (so-called because of the herd’s crossing of the Porcupine River during its fall and spring migrations) the Gwich’in villages still depend on this magnificent herd for food, clothing, and various crafts. The Porcupine caribou are the centre of Gwich’in culture.
The Vuntut Gwitchin of Old Crow make up a community of approximately 300 people. A community with no road access to the rest of the world, one can only reach this village by boat in the summer, snow machine in the winter, or plane year-round. This isolation is a blessing for our people, for it enables us to preserve our language, traditional pursuits such as fishing, trapping, snow shoeing and hunting — particularly hunting the Porcupine Caribou Herd.
With boundless pride in our ancient cultural heritage and ancestral homelands we exercise our inherent right to self government, to take the responsibility for the general welfare of our citizens, and to provide for the good government of our communities, lands and resources.
Treaty/Land Claim Agreement: Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Final & Self-Government Agreements
Signatories to the Agreement: Government of Canada, Yukon Government, Vuntut Gwitchin Government
Key Dates: May 29, 1993 – signing of the VGFN Final Agreement.
Brief description of the region covered by claim: We live in the northernmost community of Old Crow located 128 km (80 miles) north of the Arctic Circle at the confluence of the Crow and Porcupine Rivers in Canada’s Yukon Territory.
Total Land Area: VGFN traditional territory is 55,000 square km, and settlement land is 7744.06 square km
# of Beneficiaries: Approximately 1,000 (300 of which are in Old Crow)
First Nations/Inuit within the Land Claims Area: Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation
Indigenous Languages Spoken: Gwich’in
Head Office Address:
P.O. Box 94
Old Crow, Yukon
Canada, Y0B 1N0
Telephone: (867) 966-3261
Media contact:
Gyde Shepherd
(613) 804-4273
gyde.shepherd@vgfn.ca
LCAC Representative:
Stephen Mills
stephen.mills@northwestel.net
