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Gwich'in Tribal Council Current Knowledge and Gaps Assessment Gwich’in Knowledge of Porcupine caribou State of current knowledge and gaps assessment Department of Cultural Heritage Gwich’in Tribal Council March 2019 K. Benson Long ago, human was caribou and the caribou was human. Department of Cultural Heritage, Gwich’in Tribal Council Fort McPherson, NT www.gwichin.ca Author: K. Benson Quotation: Mary Kendi in Kofinas 1999: 448 Cover page photo credits: Ingrid Kritsch, Department of Cultural Heritage (bottom). Frostnip CC BY-NC- SA 2.0 (top) Gwich’in Knowledge of Porcupine caribou: State of current knowledge and gaps assessment. March 2019, Department of Cultural Heritage, Gwich’in Tribal Council. Page i Executive summary The Gwich’in of the Northwest Territories live in Fort McPherson, Aklavik, Tsiigehtchic, and Inuvik. Their lands span the NWT-Yukon border, including the Peel Plateau and the length of the Peel River, along with many of the tributaries of the Peel; the entire length of the Arctic Red River; and the area around and to the north of the Mackenzie River. There are two dialects of the Gwich’in language spoken among these communities: Gwichya Gwich’in, associated mostly with the community of Tsiigehtchic at the confluence of the Arctic Red and Mackenzie rivers, and Teetł’it Gwich’in, associated most strongly with the communities of Fort McPherson and Aklavik. The Teetł’it Gwich’in have a special relationship and history with the Porcupine Caribou Herd. In broad terms, the herd migrates into their territory in the fall, over-winters in their territory, and migrates back through and out of their territory in the spring. When the herd is migrating far to the west and therefore out of the Gwich’in homelands, it still plays a key role in Gwich’in culture and subsistence. Due to their special relationship, the Gwich’in have a deep and thorough knowledge about caribou. This knowledge is based on experience and teachings, generally passed down from knowledgeable people. Unlike scientific data found on the pages of a journal, it is based on observations and experiences over a large time-span, multiple seasons, and it is constantly being refined and updated. This report contains Gwich’in traditional knowledge and traditional use of Porcupine caribou. For the Gwich’in, the word “traditional” has a special meaning, and it is this meaning that is used throughout this report. Traditional refers to the Gwich’in way of doing things. Traditional hunting practices, for example, are practices which are based on Gwich’in rules and culture. Although traditional use and knowledge are built on the rich Gwich’in history and culture, they are not historical or out-of-date. Traditional knowledge is the modern body of information held by Gwich’in knowledge-holders, based on experiences and teachings stretching back millennia. And traditional use is the way the Gwich’in make a living in their lands, based on the teachings of the elders and their very modern needs and requirements. There is no separation of identity or practice into “pre-contact” and modern: there are only continuities. This report has three main sections. The first, Gwich’in and the Porcupine Caribou Herd: Culture, Practice, and Continuities, contains information about how Gwich’in use Porcupine Caribou and how their culture is intertwined with the lives of the caribou. This includes how the Gwich’in use and used the various parts of the caribou and how the caribou and the Gwich’in interact across space and time. It also includes legends, which codify Gwich’in history, spiritual practice, laws, and rules through the Indigenous use of story-telling. The second section, Porcupine Caribou: Health, Behaviour, Biology, and Interactions contains information about caribou and caribou habitat. Finally, threats to caribou, information about the writing of this report, and a summary of information gaps are included. The goal of this report is to both present well-vetted information about Porcupine caribou and identify Gwich’in use, which is protected. Gwich’in Knowledge of Porcupine caribou: State of current knowledge and gaps assessment. March 2019, Department of Cultural Heritage, Gwich’in Tribal Council. Page ii Table of Contents Executive summary ....................................................................................................................................... ii Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Methodology in Overview ........................................................................................................................ 4 Caribou and the Gwich’in Language ......................................................................................................... 5 Modern consumption and use of caribou ................................................................................................ 6 Gwich’in and the Porcupine Caribou Herd: Culture, Practice, and Continuities .......................................... 6 Caribou and being a good hunter ............................................................................................................. 6 Learning how to hunt and process caribou .......................................................................................... 7 Change and continuity in caribou harvesting practices over time ..................................................... 10 Women, men, and the caribou hunt .................................................................................................. 12 Taking care of the caribou is a part of Gwich’in culture ..................................................................... 13 Traditional trails ...................................................................................................................................... 18 Traditional place names .......................................................................................................................... 21 Hunting and processing caribou ............................................................................................................. 23 Hunting using a corral or fence ........................................................................................................... 27 Calling caribou and masking sound..................................................................................................... 30 Butchering and field dressing caribou ................................................................................................ 31 Caribou meat....................................................................................................................................... 33 Caribou drymeat and other storage options ...................................................................................... 36 Caribou brains ..................................................................................................................................... 38 Caribou intestines, marrow, and blood .............................................................................................. 38 Healing properties ............................................................................................................................... 40 Caribou fat and bone grease ............................................................................................................... 41 Bones and antlers ............................................................................................................................... 43 Caribou hides .......................................................................................................................................... 43 Tanning and preparing caribou hide ....................................................................................................... 46 Caribou skin clothing ........................................................................................................................... 49 Caribou skin housing ........................................................................................................................... 54 Caribou leg skins ................................................................................................................................. 55 Games ................................................................................................................................................. 57 Caribou in legends .................................................................................................................................. 59 Gwich’in Knowledge of Porcupine caribou: State of current knowledge and gaps assessment. March 2019, Department of Cultural Heritage, Gwich’in Tribal Council. Page iii Caribou hunting and the seasonal round ............................................................................................... 60 Places where Gwich’in have always harvested caribou ...................................................................... 63 Caribou and medicine ............................................................................................................................. 67 Traditional management practises ......................................................................................................... 68 Respect ................................................................................................................................................ 69 Cooperation, leadership, and traditional co-management ...............................................................
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