Tales of Old: The Gwitch'in Quest

[Frozen Chosen]

You see, we have sorta an idea of how long the Gwitch'in lived in this far flung northern envirornment, partly through the elder’s tales and partly through carbon dating and all sorts of data collected by the Seekers (the anthro/archeologist-type). But in any case, these Keepers of the land were here when Hudson Bay explorers, like Robert Campbell and John Bell, first arrived on the scene sometime back in the 1840s.

If there is anything we know about these roamers and survivalists of the cold country, they were the hunters of the northern forest **. Traveling down streams and across the rugged high country of the Upper Yukon area and eastern Brooks Range all the way up to the MacKenzie River Delta area, these intrepid hunters were on a continual quest: a quest for game, for wild edible plants, and always on the trail of the mighty herd of the “snow shoveler”, the caribou. You see, the Gwitch'in followed the antlered animal on their winter foray through the spruce laden forests of the high country. The Indians subsisted on the meat, stomach, kidneys, heart, tongue, and hooves, which may have been saved for times of starvation. You see, here in the north land, those times did indeed come, just as you expect another Iditarod Trail race, that cruel time of “lack of food” always came, always was a part of life. As sure as another child was born, which, indeed had to be fed…that time came.^^^

But for now, as the long season of dark came and the first of the white powder settled across the landscape, the trail of the animals appeared. This sign, at first the lone track of an animal, soon led to another till a series of trails appeared, weaving through the spruce and birch, up hills and across streams. The mighty herd of the Porcupine caribou had arrived the land of the Gwitch'in, the Kutchin, the Loucheux (as the French called them)…the “real people”.

This herd, over a few hundred thousand strong some years, roamed freely from the land of the Gwitch'in, the Real People (as they called themselves), across the saddle between the Richardson Mountains to the east and the Brooks Range in the north and out into the arctic plains of the North Slope, the land of the Inupiat, the Eskimo of the northern ice, they in their own tongue, also called the “real people”.*** There, on the arctic coastal plains, this massive herd of hooves rambled spring after spring season, never missing a beat, to bare their young. Then, after a summer of foraging across the plains, this herd would make a “U” turn, and head back toward the interior, toward the Porcupine River (what the herd is called after)…toward the land of the Gwitchin.

It’s almost as if this lone herd has taken on a responsibility toward these two great tribes of roamers: to feed them, to clothe them, to keep them. Keepers of the land: its the duality of relationships you see, the mutual bond between man and nature that has kept this great land alive. And to this day, you see, the Gwitch'in, because of their keen understanding of the “snow shoveler”, this tribe has become the advocates for this great northern animal, which some say are in danger due to the development of oil across the arctic coastal plain.

Well, to make a long story short, the Gwitch'in, you see are on a new quest. One not necessarily differing from the traditional one of survival, of seeking sometimes sparse game, of seeking warmth from the deep freeze of winter (a lot like two weeks ago when temps across the Porcupine River country ranged from -55 to -70 Farenheit!). But maybe a quest that melds the old and the modern: of using national media, lobbying congress, and sending a Gwitch'in woman (Sarah James) to a far away land, the land of the seekers: Washington D.c. they call it. You see, the quest is an old one: that of preserving a traditional resource, the Porcupine snow shoveler.

If, today, one travels across the northern skies of Gwitch'in country, you’ll see teams glittering across the Yukon Quest trail. That of Lance and Ken chasing that elusive dream, that hard to get trophy, the YQ International Sled Dog race win. You’ll see scores of media, of ski equipped Cessna’s and Super Cubs. You’ll see the occasional fan…well most of us are hanging out right in our own warm abodes, watching…waiting, sipping mocha…maybe some Folgers (like the Gwitch'in do!)…checking out that last checkpoint. Well, while you do, my hope is that you remember the traditional occupants of this land of beauty: the Gwitchin and the snow shovelers. You see, they're the Keepers of the land, and their quest continues. It never ends.

Frozen


** Ever read the book by Richard Nelson, a premier northern eco-anthropologist: Hunters of the Northern Forest; and also he has a radio program on Tuesdays 7:30p Ak time on http://www.kuac.org, and his own website: http://encountersnorth.org/

^^^A great read, by the way, by a Gwitch'in (Velma Wallis), called "Two Old Women", is a Gwitch'in tale about starvation and how a tribe and two old women dealt with it. google: Velma Wallis

***The Inupiat call the caribou "tutu" or "tuktu", which means "that which shovels". These graceful animals use their large front hooves to dig into the hard crusty snow in search for their winter food, lichen (some call caribou or reindeer lichen), which is very abundant across the arctic tundra and black spruce forests across the circumpolar world. The Inupiat word for shovel (the tool we pull out at the first sign of snow) is "tuuktuun", pronounced "Toolk-toon" (the first part as in "tool", then a hard "k" quickly, then the accent before "toon" as in cartoon.

[dilli]

Thank you for another gracious and deeply profound teaching (((Frozen)))

More on Sarah James
http://gildartphoto.com/story/sarah_james.htm

Mitakuye Oyasin and blessings

[Jan]

Frozen -

Another wonderful tale of the wild & wonderful North! Keep 'em coming! You have such a way with words - I do hope that someday you'll gather all these tales and others yet to be told in a book - I'll be first in line to buy it.

Jan

[Di*]

That was a great read Frozen...I'm learning a lot from you. Jan he IS writing a book, I can't remember in which thread but he said he was working on one isn't that right Frozen?! I told him we would all be in line with our money just as soon as he wrote it!

[MotorWerk]

A great tale.

[klmobile]

Thanks FC!!

[braider]

Didn't frozen say that Lance told him at the start of the Yukon that he'd 'give him something to write about'? ...Dave

[Another UK Fan]

Thank you Frozen

[dilli]

bumps up for FDF

[fladogfan]

Thanks dilli,

I had 'found' several threads that were way down on the list that I didn't see yesterday. The article about Sarah James was interesting and informative . Think I was reading FC's story when you posted