Now! - Gwich`in Tribal Council

Dâîî/Spring 2015
newsletter
Gwich’in Tribal Council
The Honourable Bernard Valcourt and President James
Wilson signing the Memorandum of Understanding on the
Gwich’in Internship Pilot Project (photo credit: GTC)
Board Values
Respect: we will treat everyone with respect
Commitment: we will work hard every day for the
Gwich’in people
Integrity: we will follow high standards of behavior and
always put the interests of the Gwich’in people first
Trust: we will be trustworthy and keep our word
Accountability: we will set and publish clear goals and
regularly report on progress and financial performance
Knowledge: we will build and preserve our traditional
and modern knowledge and make decisions based on a
thorough understanding of the matters before us
Transparency: we will conduct our business in an open
manner; we will report on all aspects of our operations
regularly; we will respond fully to questions from
participants on a timely basis
Solidarity: we will work together in open constructive
ways, respecting each other’s viewpoints but standing
behind our group decisions
Honesty: we will mean what we say and never be
untruthful or deceptive
Gwich’in Culture and Beliefs: our Gwich’in culture and
beliefs will guide our work and decisions
1
In this issue:
President’s Message3
Vice President’s Update4
Upcoming Events
5
Acting CFO Update6
Department of Intergovernmental Relations & Land Claims
Implementation
Gwich’in Services
Education and Training
7
8
Wellness9
Other Services9
Board of Directors Motions Summary
10
Designated Government Organizations
Ehdiitat Gwich’in
11
Tetlit Gwich’in
11
Nihtat Gwich’in12
Gwich’in Social & Cultural Institute
13
Gwich’in Language Report
15
Gwich’in Cup Sponsors
17
GTC Gear
17
Contact Us
18
2
President
James Wilson
Drin Gwiinzii Shilak Kat,
D
uring the past several months,
I have taken time to review and
analyze the progress GTC has made
over the past 20 years. Indeed, we
have made progress in some areas and
failed in many. This is understandable.
We should learn from these mistakes,
put our differences aside and strive for
a better future. The following are the
priorities that I feel are necessary to rebuild the organization, keeping in mind
that this will take a number of years to
complete. We have now completed
our recruitment and I feel confident we
have qualified staff to help us reach our
objectives.
Building the Organization
It is clear that management is key to
the success of GTC. Governance will
be a priority. Governance refers to the
processes, mechanism and relations
by which GTC is controlled and directed. It is important to recognize that the
Board is responsible for its operational,
strategic and financial performance,
as well as its conduct. The Board sets
its responsibilities by clearly setting
out the policies and the guidelines by
which they expect the executive to operate (by-laws, policies etc.)
Providing Financial
Leadership
The Gwich’in Development Corporation (GDC) has also been assessed to
determine its financial health. Presently, the GDC is undergoing a shareholders review to liquidate non-performing
assets. This activity will be ongoing. We
hope to provide you with full details of
all activities of the business at a later
date. A huge amount of work is also in
place reviewing by-laws, policies and
the working relationship between the
shareholder (GTC) and the GDC.
Building Human
Resources
It is essential that GTC has a full complement of staff to carry out these projects. Our objective is to have as much
of this information for you as possible
at the next general assembly. I ask for
your patience and understanding in
helping us reach our objectives sooner
rather than later. Building better relationships is key to helping us reach
these goals. Education, particularly
among our youth, is also a priority – to
build the future. I believe education is
the foundation upon which the health
of any organization is measured.
President James Wilson’s Swearing-in Ceremony
(photo credit: GTC)
Building Community
Relationships
It is our plan to build relationships with
our own organizations (DGOs, RRCs),
with our government partners, and
with the private sector. It should be a
priority to us all that GTC is an organization that acts with integrity. It has
become clear that we did not spend
enough quality time with our own
community organizations to ensure
that they function properly.
For more information, visit us online at http://gwichintribalcouncil.com
3
was completed in December 2014. Our
team, consisting of members from
each of the communities, legal counsel, and technical support, continues
to strategize and to attend main table
meetings. Now that the initial review
is over, we will be starting detailed negotiations. We hope to have a Draft
AIP at the Annual General Assembly in
September 2015. Thanks to outgoing
team member Carolyn Lennie for her
tremendous contribution to this process. Also thanks to the team for their
continued hard work and support on
this monumental task of negotiating
an SGA for our nation.
Vice President
Norman Snowshoe
Hello Shilak Kat,
F
irst of all, I would like to welcome
President Elect James Wilson to the
Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC). James
brings a wealth of experience and I
look forward to working with him.
Since the last newsletter, we have accomplished a lot within our nation. We
also had a lot of losses over the winter
and I hope the creator helps our people
with their grieving. Prayers and care
for each other help us get through
these difficult times. God Bless All.
The Self Government Agreement
(SGA) process continues to move forward. The Governments of Canada
and the Northwest Territories have
completed their initial review of the
Gwich’in Agreement in Principle (AIP)
Position Paper. The review of the
39-chapter document took a year and
During this reporting period, we also
moved a step closer to getting a Peel
Watershed Land Use Plan that we
support. The Yukon Supreme Court
“quashed” the Yukon Government’s
proposed Land Use Plan and sided with
the First Nations position that they
cannot unilaterally amend the Commission’s recommended plan. This was
a huge recognition of our rights in the
Yukon in terms of Land Management.
However, the Yukon Government has
decided to appeal the decision, so the
case will go before the British Columbia Court of Appeal. I am confident
that the decision will stand up in the
court of appeal.
Every ten years, we negotiate a new
Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim
Agreement (GCLCA) Implementation
Plan. We have been working closely
with the Governments to complete a
new one. This is huge task, because we
have to go through the entire claim to
determine what has been done, what is
being done and what still needs to get
done. Along with that review, we also
need to determine what the costs will
be to do the identified tasks. The tasks
have been identified and mutually accepted by the parties. We still need to
finalize the fiscal package associated
with carrying out those tasks.
This fall, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) started the
construction of a Fiber Optic Line down
the Mackenzie Valley, ending in Inuvik.
The GTC negotiated an access and
benefits package with the GNWT as
required by provisions of the GCLCA.
The GTC and the Gwich’in Development Corporation (GDC) negotiated
an agreement that would provide employment and business for our people
for two years. The deal included lease
agreements for the life of the project.
When I ran for Vice President, one
commitment I made clear was my
support for education and training for
Gwich’in - the youth in particular. Since
2012, we have developed a 10 Year Human Resources Strategy, an annual
Gwich’in Education Forum, a Regional
Youth Council, University Workshops
(the 2015 workshop will be hosted
by Memorial University in St. John’s,
Newfoundland), the introduction of
Gwich’in Curriculum into the public
high school system, and, for me the
highlight of this reporting period, the
official signing of the Gwich’in Internship Pilot Program. We continue to
support our post-secondary students
with funding and assistance from
our Education staff. I am very excited
about the work we are doing with the
young people.
Since President James Wilson came
aboard, we have started to look closely
at our organization and how we can
work closely with the communities. I
really support this initiative because
we need to work together as a nation.
It is through this commitment to working together that we can accomplish a
lot. At this point in our history, it is so
crucial to identify our challenges and
address them. For myself, I have been
employed by the GTC on and off since
1998 and have seen first-hand the conflicts we have in our organization.
The GTC is on Instagram! @gwichintribalcouncil
(...cont’d on page 5)
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Vice President Norman Snowshoe, President James Wilson and Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau My message for this newsletter is that
the only way to move forward as a nation is to identify our differences and
address them directly. I am confident
that, through honest communication, we will eventually become a unified Nation that will accomplish great
things for our people.
Mahsi cho.
(photo credit: GTC)
Upcoming Events
March 16-17, 2015:
Gwich’in Tribal Council
Board of Directors Meeting
(Inuvik, NT)
April 3, 2015:
Good Friday (offices closed)
March 23-27, 2015:
Gwich’in Students
University Tour
April 10-13, 2015:
Peel River Jamboree
(Fort McPherson, NT)
March 27-30, 2015:
Muskrat Jamboree
(Inuvik, NT)
April 22, 2015:
Gwich’in Day Open House
(Inuvik, NT)
April 2-6, 2015:
Mad Trapper Jamboree
(Aklavik, NT)
April 24-27, 2015:
Mackenzie River Jamboree
(Tsiigehtchic, NT)
April 6, 2015:
Easter Monday (offices closed)
Follow the GTC on Twitter! @GwichinSelfgovt
5
Acting CFO
Scott Thomas
Participants matter!
Boards of Directors
matter!
U
ltimately, all Board members and
Participants must make decisions
objectively and in the best interest of
the organization. They must satisfy
themselves on the integrity of management decisions; on the integrity
of financial information; and that the
controls and systems of risk management are robust and defensible.
Further, as it is the Participants’ and
Board members’ responsibility for
the employment vetting of senior executives, organizational culture will
be defined by the basis of manpower
decisions made by the Board and, in
addition in the case of the GTC, its Participants.
right thing to do.” Sage words from
Justice Potter Stewart of the U.S. Supreme Court.
This is the subtle essence of ethics.
Just because an action is legal, it is
not automatically ethical. The law sets
the benchmark for permissible behavior, but it is up to individuals to know
the difference between what is legal
and what is right. Individuals often
have very different moral compasses.
Therefore, the onus inevitably resides
with the organization to ensure and
(through example-setting) help define what is right and what is wrong in
terms of organizational behavior.
Therefore, ethics and integrity cannot
be separated from organizational culture. In fact, organizational culture will
have the defining override in terms of
the moral compass that influences individual behavior.
I am excited to be invited to participate
as a member of the transition team of
the Gwich’in Tribal Council; I serve at
the pleasure of the GTC.
As a “Southerner”, I have a lot to learn
regarding your culture. Be patient
with me as I discover the beauty of
the Western Arctic, the realities of life
and business within this hidden gem in
(...cont’d on page 7)
This is not restricted simply to hiring
or electing the “right” individual, but is
also influenced by the nature of performance management and compensation. This is probably the single most
important decision that a Board and
its Participants are involved with, as it
will define the future direction and culture of the organization.
Leadership matters!
Setting the right “tone at the top” is
critical. Following through with proper
senior executive behavior helps define
and reinforce the “right” organizational culture.
People matter!
People determine the effectiveness of
the organization, not the products and
services delivered. People matter!
Integrity and Ethics
“Knowing the difference between what
you have a right to do, and what the
Gina Firth with Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau Check out the Gwich’in Tribal Council on Facebook!
(photo credit: GTC)
6
Canada. As I visit the communities and
Designated Gwich’in Organizations to
provide updates on our businesses, I
will make honest mistakes (like interrupting an Elder). The list is long, I’m
sure, but I learn from these errors.
Hopefully we can all laugh about it after.
Ultimately, my desire is to contribute
my expertise to assist your leadership
in improving operations and building a strong base for the future. This
transition will be a multi-year process
and will not be without its challenges.
During our community meetings, I am
committed to discussing in greater
deal our plans and the financial realities, but more importantly what we are
doing to stabilize and fix.
We need to embrace transparency in
our business operations and organizations. We need to take governance seriously. More importantly, we need to
ensure that we develop the capacity to
better deliver services and opportunities to our communities and Partici-
pants. We need to change the conversation amongst all of our stakeholders.
We need to talk about our responsibilities, not just our rights.
Your Finance team is busy preparing
for our year-end audits and other yearend activities. This is a fantastic team
of people who are working hard to the
benefit of all Participants. Due to the
nature of accounting, they often do
not receive positive feedback. They deserve our appreciation and support for
their efforts in improving and delivering the services asked of them.
Department of
Intergovernmental
Relations and
Land Claims
Implementation
Patrick Tomlinson,
Director
Drin Gwiinzii,
T
he Department has been very busy
over the past few months.
To begin, we have started to implement the instructions of the GTC Board
to restructure the Department. We
have welcomed two new staff members to our lands team, Helga Harlander and Darren Campbell, who both
bring a ton of great experience and
knowledge. April 1, we will welcome
the Enrollment Board Administrator
position onto the team, and hopefully
a Policy Analyst and Department Administrator.
Participant Ruth Wright with Liberal
Party leader Justin Trudeau (photo
credit: GTC)
The Department is busy preparing for
the upcoming GTC Academic Conference, which will occur this year on the
St. John’s campus of Memorial University. After a very successful call for applications, 10 Gwich’in youth, residing
across the Gwich’in Settlement Area
and beyond, have been selected to
travel to Newfoundland where they
will spend 10 days living together
in houses. The purpose of the trip is
to provide a realistic experience of
studying away from home at the postsecondary level. The youth will be accompanied by several Gwich’in chaperones, will attend university lectures at
both the undergraduate and graduate
levels, and will participate in presentations delivered by Gwich’in community
leaders.
Regional Youth Council recently held
its third meeting since being created
at the Annual General Assembly. Youth
have been appointed from all four GSA
communities to sit on the Council. The
work of the Council has included the
creation of an annual work plan and
budget, strategic planning of future
events, and training sessions, including a three day workshop on “Building
your Communications Toolbox” and
“The Art of Reframing” with a certified
conflict mediator from the British Columbia Justice Institute.
The next six months will be very busy
on the Self-Government negotiations.
The GTC has scheduled five main table
meetings with the governments to attempt to achieve as much progress as
possible before the next Annual General Assembly. A proposal has been prepared for consideration by the Board
of Directors to hire field workers in all
four GSA communities, as well as to
hold at least three rounds of community meetings prior to September.
At the last Implementation Committee
meeting, the Government of Canada
confirmed that the GTC has received
the most supplemental funding of any
aboriginal group in the NWT in the past
three years. This money was all granted because of successful applications
for program and contribution funding.
Continuing this trend, the GTC has re(...cont’d on page 8)
For more information, visit us online at http://gwichintribalcouncil.com
7
ceived close to $70,000 to issue new
status cards and to make changes to
the enrollment registry. We received
another $40,000 to print updated versions of the GCLCA. Both projects will
be carried out early in the next fiscal
year.
All in all, 2014 was a very successful
year. We are anticipating even more
success in 2015!
Gwich’in Services
Robert Charlie, Director
T
he Gwich’in Services team consists
of the following staff:
Donna Neyando
Manager Education and Training
Cheryl Wright
Office Manager
Gina Firth
Receptionist
Suraj Chhetri
IT Support
Mariah Peterson
Career Development Officer
Susan Ross
Resolution Health Support Worker
We are responsible for various activities within the department:
Education & Training
W
e have three sources of funding
available for those who want to
continue their education:
The Education Foundation supports Gwich’in Participants attending post-secondary institutions who
have obtained major funding for their
program. The Education Foundation
will provide a top-up bursary to assist
these students. We also provide scholarships, graduation gifts and tutoring
support.
The Imperial Fund is for students at-
tending programs related to the Oil
and Gas industry. The Imperial Fund
will provide a top-up bursary to these
students.
The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Strategy (ASETS)
fund assists clients with education and
training that will lead to employment.
We have received a one year extension
to this agreement for April 1, 2015 to
March 31, 2016. We anticipate that the
ASETS agreement will continue with
some minor changes, but this is yet to
be determined.
Activities:
We have been quite busy in the education and training area with the following activities:
Community Visits
At the beginning of February, Mariah
Peterson and Donna Neyando traveled
to Fort McPherson and Aklavik to meet
with local businesses, companies and
organizations to provide them with information about the ASETS program.
The aim was to discuss partnerships,
training on the job and wage subsidies.
While in Fort McPherson, they met
with the Canvas Shop, Housing Association, Tl’oondih Healing Society, the
Co-op, Northern Stores, LJ’s Contracting, Language Centre, Aurora College
Learning Centre, and the Designated
Gwich’in Organization.
Their trip to Aklavik was very successful. They met with Aklavik Indian Band,
Hamlet of Aklavik, Aklavik Head Start/
Child Development Centre, Aklavik
Community Corporation, the Northern
Store and the Employment Officer.
School Visits
Before meeting with the school Principals, Mariah and Donna met with the
Employment Officers to discuss the
2015/16 Education & Training work plan
and goals. The discussion focused on
the implementation of the proposed
plan and to conduct regular school visits to promote the importance of education and career planning.
The community Employment Officers
will be coming to Inuvik in the near future for a Professional Development
session on the KETO database and information on school visits.
The visits to the Moose Kerr School
and Chief Julius School were very successful. The Principals were supportive
and saw the need for career planning,
beginning at the junior high grade
levels. They expressed the need for
more community involvement to send
a positive message to the students
that there are resources available in
the community. The following are the
dates and locations for Career Fairs:
March 12
• Inuvik • Fort McPherson
March 18
• Aklavik
April 2
ASETS:
The Aboriginal Skills to Employment Training Program (ASETS) is
delivered by GTC on behalf of Service
Canada. We have submitted our Annual Operational Plan and are waiting
on approval from Service Canada. The
three strategic priorities of ASETS are:
1. Demand driven skills development,
2. Partnerships with the private
sector and across the whole of
government, and
3. Accountability for improved
results.
The following are some of the objectives of the program:
• Help improve the employment opportunities of aboriginal people
The GTC is on Instagram! @gwichintribalcouncil
(...cont’d on page 9)
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• Enable them to fully participate in
the Canadian economy
• Increase the participation in the Canadian Labour Market
• Be responsive to the skills demands
of employers and promote strategic
partnerships with the private sector.
The criteria for ASETS are very specific.
The program aims to improve the “Employability of Aboriginal People” within
the Gwich’in Settlement Area.
Wellness
W
e are concentrating on support
to clients who are going through
the Independent Assessment Process
related to claims under the Indian Residential School program. In addition,
we have taken on the responsibility of
assisting clients with their applications
for Personal Education Credits. Clients
who have received a Common Experience Payment are eligible for $3,000
in Personal Education Credits. These
credits can be used for their education,
transferred to family, or used for other eligible wellness-related activities.
A majority of clients are using these
credits for on-the-land activities. The
deadlines are very tight and there are
a lot of issues with the implementation
of this program, but we are doing the
best we can under the circumstances.
The following are the deadlines:
March 9, 2015
PEC application deadline
June 8, 2015
Redemption Forms deadline
August 31, 2015
Personal Education Credits must be
spent
Anti-Poverty Meeting
Held in Yellowknife December 2-4,
2014. Susan Ross and I attended on
behalf of GTC. This meeting focused
on input from the Beaufort Delta, De-
hcho, North/South Slave, Sahtu and
Yellowknife NGOs. Each region focused on the following areas: housing,
poverty, food security/high cost of living, education, childcare, youth and
elders, and mental health issues.
An Action Item for the Beaufort Delta
is to work with the Inuvialuit Regional
Corporation (IRC) to host a regional
meeting, using community wellness
plans as a guide.
Cancer Sharing Information
Hosted by the IRC on January 20-21,
2015 at Ingamo Hall Friendship Centre,
this two-day sharing session encouraged community members, cancer
survivors, and caregivers to share their
experience with cancer and to identify
the gaps and challenges in the current
cancer system.
The sharing session also provided opportunities for participants to highlight
what is working well in their community and what could be done to address
current gaps and challenges throughout the cancer journey. Through this
process, recommendations were generated to facilitate positive action and
change for the communities and the
current health system.
NWT Senior Society
During the three-day meeting (February 10-12, 2015), a lot of concerns
were brought forth from community
participants regarding elder abuse,
more awareness within our communities, work with RCMP and schools
to promote education regarding this
topic on elder abuse, support systems
in the communities and working with
our leadership. I will be working with
community groups to host meetings to
discuss the possibility of a regional elders or community meeting to identify
issues/concern regarding community
programming, support services and
how we can work together.
Health Canada Regional Training
February 17-19, 2015 in Yellowknife.
Resolution Health Support Workers,
Cultural and Elder Supports from the
three territories of Nunavut, NWT and
Yukon and Health Canada staff participated in three days of training.
Indian Residential School
Students and family members continue
on their healing journey and their Independent Assessment Process hearings.
This is ongoing. The Cultural Supports
from the communities of Aklavik, Inuvik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic
continue to provide emotional supports to clients on an as-needed basis.
On the Land Healing Program (OTL)
This program is funded under the
GNWT. GTC Wellness Department is
hosting four camps in the Gwich’in
Communities for five days. The first
OTL program was in Aklavik from January 25-30 and in Inuvik from February
23-28, 2015. Participants are enjoying
the program and are looking forward
to more programs in their respective
communities.
The next programs will be in Fort
McPherson from March 15-20, 2015
and in Tsiigehtchic from March 23-28,
2015.
Other Services
R
egional Training Partnership
(RTP) Donna Neyando attends
the meetings of the RTP to strategize
with other education service providers
in Inuvik on potential opportunities for
training in the region.
Enrolment This is an ongoing activity.
To date, we have approximately 3400
participants enrolled.
Gwich’in Harvester’s Assistance Program A review of the GHAP is in progress. We have received the report from
the Contractor and will be reviewing
(...cont’d on page 10)
Follow the GTC on Twitter! @GwichinSelfgovt
9
the protection of staff and their privacy.
This ends our report from Gwich’in Services. We would like to thank you for
the opportunity to provide you with an
update on our activities.
Haii.
Board of Directors
2014 Motions Summary
T
he final meeting for the GTC Board
of Directors in 2014 was held on
November 24 & 25. The following decisions were made during the regular
meeting:
Executive
• Approve the Tetlit Gwich’in Council
appointment of Abraham Wilson to
the Gwich’in Settlement Corporation
Board of Directors for a one year term.
• Approve the appointment of James
Wilson to the Gwich’in Settlement Corporation Board of Directors.
• Approve the purchase of one turkey
per family living in the GSA and one
payment of $35 per family not living in
the GSA.
• Accept the elections results for the
Gwich’in Tribal Council president election held November 2014.
it with the Communities to get their
input and final decision. This will then
be presented to the Board for their approval and we can implement this new
Policy for the Winter 2015 allocation.
Administration We assist clients with
funding requests, job searches and resumes, update the KETO database and
develop contribution agreements.
Information Technology (IT) A new
server and telephone system have
been installed. We are up to speed with
the latest technology. We have completed the setup of the Auto Attendant
in our telephone system so that callers
can connect to an operator, access additional menus, look up callers in a dialby-name directory and dial extensions
or connect to a specific department.
We have also implemented and enforced a new IT policy ensuring that IT
is used effectively to protect the organization and its business and to ensure
• Approve the Tetlit Gwich’in Council
appointment of Wilbert Firth to the
Gwich’in Tribal Council Board of Directors.
Copies of approved Gwich’in Tribal Council minutes are available through the Executive Office or upon request to:
Lucy-Anne Kay
Corporate Governance Administrator
(867) 777-7900
[email protected]
Join the GTC Education, Training & Employment Opportunities group!
10
Designated
Gwich’in
Organizations
Ehdiitat Gwich’in Council
(EGC)
Robert Buckle,
Executive Director
Drin Gwiinzii.
DGO activities
e are pursuing training for
guides. The Eco-Tourism Small
Business Development Course will help
the guides start their small businesses.
There were 17 people trained in Aklavik
for Guiding Level I and Level II. Many
of them have achieved their Level I and
Level II in Outfitting and Guiding.
W
We have accessed funding from the
GNWT Anti-Poverty Program. We have
done some fishing to help families and
Elders offset the high cost of living in
Aklavik and provide nutritional country food. We will be working with the
WoodMiser this month - getting it running to cut some logs into lumber, providing some employment.
This month we will be working on the
Aklavik Visitors Centre, upgrading and
building displays for artifacts for next
season. We are going to get the woodstove installed and will also start working on finishing the logs and stairs.
Other activities
We continue to lobby for a Community
Garden and work with families on gardening.
Our finance officer is preparing for the
fiscal year end and for our annual audit by making sure our documents and
minute book are all up to date. We are
preparing to review last year’s budget
and plans for the upcoming fiscal year.
Acceptance and approval of the revised Bylaw No. 1 and the transition
to the Canada Not for Profit Act have
been reviewed by Council.
The EGC will create an Assembly Committee to prepare for and begin planning next year’s 2015 GTC Annual General Assembly.
Work will continue on organizing
Gwich’in Municipal lands, including
creating files on all properties registered to the EGC.
Preparation has begun on new proposals to be reviewed by the EGC and sent
to the funders.
We would like to congratulate Annie
B. Gordon on this year’s Wise Women
Award for the Mackenzie Delta.
I would also like to mention a big Mahsi
Cho to Your Majesty Commissioner of
the Northwest Territories George Tuccaro for coming to visit the Elders at
the AIB Elders’ Luncheon. He also entertained the elders with his music, accompanied by Hank Rogers on guitar
and Aklavik’s own Pat Kasook on Bass.
It was a wonderful lunch with their
awesome music.
We thank the Gwich’in Tribal Council
Executive Staff for coming to Aklavik
and speaking with Council and staff.
Hai Choo.
Tetlit Gwich’in Council
(TGC)
S
ince our October 27th elections, we
have been busy with the organization as it was left with no transitional
plan and no files being handed over
from the Executive or Council. We are
now working out the structure and
how we are organized as a Council. We
will need to create a strategic plan for
the next three years, including input
from both staff and Directors that will
spell out how we get there together.
This will be a joint exercise with staff
and Directors. The organizational chart
is being put together with input from
the Directors and staff and will show
how we are structured and how we are
staffed.
The first meeting we had was to appoint our directors to the Gwichin
Tribal Council and Gwichin Settlement
Corporation. Shortly, we will appoint
to the other Organizations. Signing authority for the Tetlit Gwichin Council,
Rat River, and subsidiaries is now done
by the elected Directors.
From a brief review of Bylaw #1, we
have concerns and would like to make
some changes. To do this, you need a
lawyer. Changes made at the GTC Assembly were not done by the Lawyer
as directed. We will have to find a way
through the GTC to make changes
with the other DGOs and have it done
once, so that it takes effect through
the respective DGO meetings. From
discussions with the GTC, we are going
through the same review and changes
internally. The Bylaws and policies will
mirror each other when all is done.
We will be appointing members to
the Committees shortly by 6.16 of the
Bylaws. This will be effective after the
resolution is passed at the meeting.
All Boards and Committees will eventually be changed and new direction
given. We will be posting who is on the
Boards and Committees.
We are having discussions on a trip up
to Curtain Mountain and Trail Creek,
which will probably happen in late February or early March.
We are working on a Bereavement
policy to use as a guide in the future,
a waiver of liability for anyone doing
work or making trips on Council busi(...cont’d on page 12)
For more information, visit us online at http://gwichintribalcouncil.com
11
ness. An Orientation session will take
place soon the Directors and committees of the TGC.
Any direction or ideas you have can be
given to any of the Directors who you
elected and represent you on the Tetlit
Gwichin Council (DGO).
Nihtat Gwich’in Council
(NGC)
Josef Carnogursky,
President
I
t is my pleasure to provide this update on NGC activities for this newsletter. The current NGC Directors are
Amy Amos, Barry Greenland, Duane
Debastien, Richard Ross Jr. and myself,
Jozef Carnogursky as President. The
NGC appointed members to the GTC
are myself and Barry Greenland. Staff
at NGC consist of Terry Peterson, LeeAnn Nerysoo and Allen Firth.
The NGC has been very busy on a number of initiatives. We continue to show
strong management with regard to financial matters both under NGC and
within our business ventures. Nihtat
Services Ltd. is up and running and
showing a profit, operating the gas
bar in Inuvik and providing all the fuel
needs on the Mackenzie Valley Fiber
Link project. This business has created jobs in Inuvik and we are now in a
position to offer discounts on gas and
diesel to members that are registered
under the NGC. We are hopeful that we
can start the discount to our members
in the next week or two.
Grizzly Marine Services Ltd (GMS) is a
company owned by the Nihtat Corporation. It has held the Ferry contract
at the Peel and Mackenzie rivers for
the last five years. GMS had one of the
company’s most successful years ever
in terms of profit and services. In fact,
our management and the work of our
staff resulted in the following release
from the GNWT:
YELLOWKNIFE (December 11, 2014)
-- Traffic is flowing safely and reliably
across both Dempster Highway ice
crossings. This is the first year highway
service to the Beaufort-Delta region has
been interrupted for only a short time
during freeze-up.
(...cont’d on page 13)
Nunavut MP Leona Aglukkaq, Gwich’in President James Wilson
and Vice President Norman Snowshoe discussing CanNor funding (photo credit: GTC)
The GTC is on Instagram! @gwichintribalcouncil
12
“For the first time ever, we have provided near-continuous highway service to
Inuvik during freeze-up,” said Minister
of Transportation Tom Beaulieu. “We operated both ferries 24 hours a day while
constructing the ice bridges. This investment significantly increased access to
the region. It lowered the cost of living,
improved mobility and provided more
secure energy resupply to the BeaufortDelta during what has always been a
time when reliable highway access was
not possible.”
GMS also provided the training for
Darcy Firth, a Gwich’in, who has now
completed all necessary requirements
for his Minor Water Captain designation. The NGC sends our congratulations to Darcy and we look forward to
seeing him as Captain of the Louis Cardinal this summer. The NGC is hopeful
that we will secure the ferry contract
long term and continue with the success of GMS into the future.
The NGC has also been busy preparing
the site for the new building location.
We have just completed the demolition of the old building that was on
site and plans are underway to start
the construction of the new building.
Our members at our community assemblies felt strongly that we needed
our own “home.” The NGC is well on
its way to making that a reality for our
members.
The NGC is also drafting a new election
code and reviewing the by-laws as directed by our Assembly. We will be in a
position to present these drafts to our
Assembly in July for consideration. If
approved, the new election code will
guide the next election for NGC which
is scheduled for September of this year.
The NGC continues to be a strong supporter in community functions and we
will continue to support our members
in such events and programs as Aboriginal Day, Canada Day, Gwich’in Day
and the East Three Breakfast Program,
soccer, hockey, basketball, curling, figure skating and as well as continuing to
do our best to donate to families that
may be in need.
Once again, I want to thank the NGC
Directors, NGC staff, my family, my
friends and supporters for their ongoing encouragement and support during this term.
Gwich’in Social &
Cultural Institute
(GSCI)
Sharon Snowshoe,
Executive Director
Arctic Council
I
ngrid Kritsch and Alestine Andre
submitted two GSCI projects to the
Arctic Council for inclusion in a compendium called “Best Practices in
Promoting Traditional Ways of Life”
upon the request of Grant Sullivan,
Executive Director of Gwich’in Council
International. Descriptions of the two
projects - the Gwich’in Ethno-botany
Project and the Gwich’in Place Names
Project – were submitted in early January 2015. The compendium will highlight unique, successful approaches
taken in promoting traditional ways of
life by Arctic indigenous peoples and
communities.
Teetl’it Gwich’in
Googwandak Land Use
History Book Project
O
ver the next two years, GSCI will
work with Dr. Michael Heine and
the community of Fort McPherson to
write a draft of the Teetl’it Gwich’in
Googwandak community history
book. This book will be based on oral
history, traditional land use and ethnoarchaeological research GSCI has carried out with the community over the
past 20 years, plus archival research
conducted by Dr. Heine. The COPE
stories recorded with Gwich’in Elders
during the 1970s, information from a
variety of theses and the published literature will also contribute to the story
told in this book.
The Teetl’it Gwich’in Googwandak
Steering Committee and interested
public met with Dr. Heine and GSCI
staff on February 6, 2015 at Chief Julius
School. The committee learned about
the progress to date and provided input into the draft Table of Contents to
ensure we produce a book that everyone is proud of. Sixteen elders, plus
staff from the school, and a youth representing the Tetlit Gwich’in Renewable Resources Council participated in
the meeting.
Canadian Museum of
History’s First Peoples
Hall
O
n February 18-19, 2015, Alestine
Andre was invited by the Canadian Museum of History (formerly
called the Canadian Museum of Civilization) in Hull, to be one of four content advisors from across Canada to
tour the First Peoples Hall and provide
feedback on renovations to this exhibit
including the introduction, its themes
and relevancy, and the presence or absence of Aboriginal voices.
Self-Government
Committee in Ottawa
December 2014
haron Snowshoe made a presentation to the Self-Government Committee in Ottawa by conference call on
December 18th entitled “Implementing the Gwich’in Land Claim through
Heritage Research.” A further meeting
will take place between GSCI staff and
Board and the Self-Government Committee in the Gwich’in Settlement Area
in the new fiscal year.
S
Follow the GTC on Twitter! @GwichinSelfgovt
(...cont’d on page 14)
13
Gwich’in Goonanh’kak
Googwandak: The
Places and Stories
of the Gwich’in
Online Atlas, Maps, Yukon submissions
Gwich’in Online Atlas with Carleton
University GSCI is working with the
Geomatics and Cartographic Research
Centre at Carleton to finalize the online atlas so it can be officially launched
this spring.
Gwich’in Maps – 300,000 scale wall
map and series of 1:250,000 scale
maps GSCI has now finalized these
maps and will make them available in
digital form plus print format and distribute copies to the communities.
Yukon Official Place Name Submissions GSCI has submitted over 200
place names for official recognition in
the Yukon since 2011. Approximately
60 names have been officially recognized to date. GSCI will continue to
answer any questions and, if funding
permits, attend Yukon Geographical
Place Names Board meetings in Whitehorse with Elders from Fort McPherson
to review the submissions as they are
reviewed.
A meeting took place on November
25 and 26, 2014 where William Firth
and Joanne Snowshoe participated on
our behalf. Teetl’it Gwich’in Elder Mary
Decker represented GSCI at the most
recent meeting which took place in
Whitehorse on February 13th.
Gwich’in Land Use
Planning Board (GLUPB)
I
ngrid and Alestine assisted the
GLUPB by providing input into their
Terms of Reference for proposals for
a Report on Cultural Resource Management in the Gwich’in Settlement
Region. They also reviewed the draft
report submitted by the consultants
who were awarded the contract (Consilium Consulting Group) in December
2014 and a recent document following
up on recommendations in this report
to create a consultation plan for management plans for two heritage sites
in the Gwich’in Settlement Area – Nagwichootshik (Mouth of the Peel) and
Shìłdii.
Ethno-Astronomy Project
With Dr. Wayne Horowitz, Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, Israel
A
lestine and Ingrid have been working closely with Dr. Wayne Horowitz on the Gwich’in Ethno-Astronomy
Project – a project GSCI has been involved in for several years now. Dr.
Horowitz, an internationally renowned
archaeologist who teaches Assyriology, specializes in studying Sumerian
and Akkadian cuneiform tablets to understand Mesopotamian Civilization
cosmography (concept of the universe
and ancient astronomy). He is particularly intrigued with the Gwich’in story
of “The Boy in the Moon” and the parallels between it and the “Babylonian
Man in the Moon.”
Between February 10 and 17, Wayne
and Alestine travelled to Aklavik, Inuvik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic
to present to school classes and hold
interviews with Gwich’in elders followed by open public meetings in each
community. They also travelled to
Old Crow to determine if the Vuntut
Gwitchin were interested in being involved in this project. A one-page article about the project was published in
the October/November 2014 issue of
Up Here magazine.
Wind River Booklet
A
draft map book has been produced
for the length of the Wind River by
GSCI Affiliate Kristi Benson. Each page
contains a section of the river and is
illustrated with text and images. The
pages highlight:
1) Gwich’in place names – including
cultural information about the names,
2) Gwich’in trails and other land use information, and
3) Gwich’in ecological knowledge.
The book will be finalized this spring
and made available for download from
the GSCI website – www.gwichin.ca.
GNWT Culture &
Heritage 10-Year
Strategic Framework
I
n July 2014, Ingrid Kritsch was invited to be a member of a Strategic
Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) established by the GNWT Dept. of Education, Culture and Employment. This
group is part of a steering committee
mandated to develop a Culture & Heritage Strategic Framework – a set of
broad values, principles and priorities
about NWT culture and heritage that
GNWT will use for the next 10 years
when making decisions, creating new
policies, or developing programs. The
Framework is intended to enhance the
GNWT’s ability to work with NWT residents and Aboriginal Governments to
preserve, promote and enhance their
culture and heritage.
The Premier has given the Department
of Education, Culture & Employment
the mandate to develop this framework
on the GNWT’s behalf. The Framework
is being developed through extensive
consultation with Aboriginal Government leaders; artists; arts, culture and
heritage organizations; multi-cultural
organizations; Elders from various
cultural backgrounds; cultural tourism
operators; youth; GNWT departments
and agencies; interagency committees
and working groups; and MLAs. The
goal for completion of the Framework
is July 2015.
(...cont’d on page 15)
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14
Students
G
SCI will continue to work with the
following students as needed:
• Thea Luig, Ph.D. student,
University of Alberta – Ontological
Security, Movement, and Well-being:
Teetł’it Gwich’in Experiences of Life
Transformations. Thea defended her
thesis in December 2014 and has just
completed making her final edits. She
will be providing a copy of her thesis
and a plain language summary to participants and organizations that participated in her research.
• Crystal Fraser, Ph.D. student,
University of Alberta – History of Education in the NWT from 1940-1996.
Crystal returned to the Gwich’in Settlement Region from February 2 to February 8 to provide an update and ask for
feedback on her doctoral research.
• Angela James, Ph.D. student,
Simon Fraser University – Long Ago
and Today – A narrative focusing on stories of NWT Elders’ traditional Aboriginal pedagogies and comparing them to
contemporary educational approaches.
• Elaine Alexie, M.A. student, University of Victoria – Limits of Sovereignty: Practices of Indigeneity among
the Teetl’it Gwich’in.
• Chanda Brietzke, M.A. student,
University of Victoria - Monitoring
changes in muskrat health, habitat, and
abundance in the Mackenzie Delta: Traditional knowledge and scientific perspectives.
• Daryl English – Heritage and
Culture Certificate Program, Yukon
College.
Language Projects
W
illiam Firth has hired Eleanor
Mitchell-Firth as the part-time
Resource Coordinator to assist and
provide support to the Aboriginal Instructors who work in the schools in
each of the Gwich’in Communities.
Eleanor participated in an in-service
workshop with the aboriginal instructors during the week of January 19th.
Eleanor is also assisting William with
recording the terms from the dictionary and transferring them to the
computer. Elders provide assistance
to Eleanor with the recording of the
terms from the dictionary. Early in December, William and Eleanor went to
Whitehorse for a training session on
how to enter the terms from the dictionary into a computer database.
William delivered all of the equipment
received through the Gwich’in Language Plan to assist the communities
with language learning. The equipment
included computers, audio recorders
and more. It was delivered to the communities of Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik, Fort
McPherson and Inuvik.
William is also assisting each Gwich’in
community to deliver Gwich’in Language Lessons.
Gwich’in
Language Report
Regional Language
Planning Session
I
n April 2014, representatives from
each Gwich’in community gathered
in McPherson for a two-day Planning
Session to set up tentative programs
and projects to take place in each community of Aklavik, Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic
and McPherson. Each community
was given a binder with all the information from two separate Aboriginal
Language Symposiums as to what the
communities wanted to see happen in
their communities when this funding
became reality.
Work was to begin in May, after an
intensive review and inventory of the
Gwich’in Language Centre was undertaken. Because we did not have a Re-
source Coordinator in place, we were
unable to fully complete the review.
Cataloguing and classifying all information was needed.
Gwich’in Language
Dictionary
O
ver the years we have collected
numerous terms and phrases, paradigms, translations of specified terms
relating to different aspects such as
Health, Renewable Resources, Politics,
Land and Water, etc. to be added to the
Dictionary. More recently, we have had
to keep up with the times and are now
working on validating all information
and placing it into a ‘talking dictionary’
where interested persons can see and
hear our Gwich’in language. To address
this to the fullest, training was needed.
With help from the Yukon Department
of Education, we have finally received
that training and are now on our way
to completely converting all files into
a audio database which can be transferred onto the computer. We hope to
have that up and running by the end of
the summer of 2015.
Mentor-Apprentice
Program
I
n early June, we attempted to start a
Gwich’in Language Mentor-Apprentice Program with the assistance of
the British Columbia First Peoples’ Program. With their help, other such communities within and outside of B.C.
have succeeded in launching such programs and are thriving with first time
and fluent speakers other than their
individual languages. We contacted
them and were supposed to continue
Mary &due
Peter
Kay
our work. However,
to unforeseen
(photo credit: R.A. Alexie)
circumstances, we had to forfeit this
as we were unable to continue on our
journey without their help. We plan to
attempt this again this summer and
will keep communities up to date on
our progress.
(...cont’d on page 16)
For more information, visit us online at http://gwichintribalcouncil.com
15
Gwich’in Literacy
Project
E
ach November, the Yukon Native
Language Centre in Whitehorse
facilitates a Gwich’in Literacy Session
specializing in the Tukudh (Dagoo)
Language and Liturgy. Invitations to
attend are often sent to interested individuals. Many in our communities
have attended this three-day workshop where the works of Archdeacon
Robert McDonald’s material is worked
on, translating the traditional orthography to the modern. Those that work
in language are given a chance to address questions or are given insight
into what work was done, in what capacity and, in some cases, where the
information originated. During this
time, Gwich’in hymns and tunes are
shared. Many come away with a better understanding of the work, which
can always be used in the Anglican
churches within our region. More recently, we are working on a Tukudh
Language Curriculum to be taught
both in our schools and online. We
hope to have this up and available by
the end of 2015/2016. In our long range
plan, we are working towards an extension to the availability of linguistic
resources for those that would like to
teach language on a wider scale with a
Workshop in Verb Stem Structure. This
will be taking place before the end of
August 2015 with the assistance of a
Gwich’in Language Linguist.
Regional Gwich’in
Language Classes
F
unding was again received from
Heritage Canada through a proposal written in March 2014. However,
due to a delay in receiving the funding
and the availability of persons to take
on the projects in their respective communities, most of the funding will be
returned. This is our second attempt
in teaching language within the communities. Only two communities have
taken on the efforts and tried to continue their classes.
Audio-Visual Projects
W
e are working on a Singuistics
Project with Pinnuaq Literacy
Projects out of Pangnirtung, NU. The
proposal was submitted in January and
has recently been given the green light
to begin working on the submission
of three Gwich’in songs and teaching
materials based on those three songs.
This has proven successful in previous works with the group. We are the
only Athapaskan language group that
has attempted to continue this in our
language. We strongly believe this can
work - children learn language easier
through song. We will keep you updated on our progress!
Digitizing Tech Support
W
e have hired a Tech Support
worker to digitize all audiocassettes within the Gwich’in Language
Centre. We hope to have all audiocassettes available for the new school year
for all teachers within our education
system. Further work with the remaining VHS and BETA videos will continue
as soon as we have found someone to
take it on.
Regional Language
Planning Session
For 2015/16
efore the end of March 2015, we
will be contacting the community
DGOs to select a person or persons
to participate in a Planning Session
for Language Funding and Programs/
Projects within their respective communities. We would like to have their
participation in dividing up the funding
and workload so that they are taking
responsibility for their own community and their own language efforts in
working towards language revitalization. It is important that we all take on
our respective roles in helping to bring
back our language from its demise.
B
Photo credit: GTC
Preschool Material
Projects
W
e are working on updating and
putting audio to all booklets and
teaching materials within the Gwich’in
Language Centre that are currently
used by school students in the region.
We now have all material in book form,
but due to the fact that all materials today are going digital, we are following
suit to keep our students interested in
learning our language and culture.
The GTC is on Instagram! @gwichintribalcouncil
16
Dave Jackson Consulting
Mahsi’ Choo
We have a limited quantity of new
Gwich’in Tribal Council Full Zip Hoodies
available in three colours - $40 each.
Available at GTC Office in Inuvik.
Contact Gina @ 777-7900
Follow the GTC on Twitter! @GwichinSelfgovt
17
Contact Us
Gwichya Gwich’in Council
PO Box 58 Tsiigehtchic NT X0E 0B0
Ph: 867-953-3011 Fax: 867-953-3018
Ehdiitat Gwich’in Council
PO Box 118 Aklavik NT X0E 0A0
Ph: 867-978-2340 Fax: 867-978-2937
Tetlit Gwich’in Council
PO Box 30 Fort McPherson X0E 0J0
Ph: 867-952-2330 Fax: 867-952-2212
Nihtat Gwich’in Council
PO Box 2570 Inuvik NT X0E 0T0
Ph: 867-777-6650 Fax: 867-777-6651
To update your mailing address, please call the Enrolment office (toll free): 1-866-414-4670
Winter sunset (photo credit:GTC)
@GwichinSelfgovt
@gwichintribalcouncil
facebook.com/gwichinselfgovernment
Gwich’in Tribal Council
1-3 Council Crescent/ PO Box 1509
Inuvik, NT X0E 0T0
Phone: (867) 777-7900
Fax: (867) 777-7919
www.gwichintribalcouncil.com
Join the GTC Education, Training & Employment Opportunities group!
18