Yukon North Slope Inuvialuit Traditional Use Study Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) and Aklavik Hunters and Trappers Committee 2018 Yukon North Slope Inuvialuit Traditional Use Study Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) and Aklavik Hunters and Trappers Committee 2018 Yukon North Slope Inuvialuit Traditional Use Study Copyright: 2018 Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope), Whitehorse, Yukon Citation: Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) and Aklavik Hunters and Trappers Committee. 2018. Yukon North Slope Inuvialuit Traditional Use Study. Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope), Whitehorse, Yukon. 124 + xvi pp. Cover photo: Near Shingle Point. Photo by Peter Mather Thanks to Lee John Meyook, Michelle Gruben, Shawn Hughes and the Herschel Island Park Rangers for some of the photos in this report. Any other photos are courtesy WMAC (NS). Available from: Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope), P.0. Box 31539, Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 6K8 Canada Dedication This report is dedicated to the memory of the parents, grandparents and other ancestors of Inuvialuit whose footprints are everywhere throughout the Yukon North Slope, throughout the YNS, Mackenzie River Delta and other parts of Inuvialuit territory. They live on in memory and in practice, through the Inuvialuit oral tradition and in the hearts and minds of the people interviewed for this study and Inuvialuit living in Aklavik and other communities in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. Their experience, skills and traditional knowledge are the foundation upon which the traditional use documented in this report is built. iii Contents Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iii Foreword ........................................................................................................................... vii Report summary ................................................................................................................ viii Notes to readers .................................................................................................... viii Intellectual property statement ............................................................................................ix Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ix Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................x Interviewees, YNS Inuvialuit Traditional Use Study ...............................................................xi 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Study objectives ...................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Methods .................................................................................................................. 2 1.3 Brief history of the Aklavik Inuvialuit ........................................................................ 6 2. Previous research related to TU on the Yukon North Slope ........................................ 12 3. Traditional use on the Yukon North Slope ................................................................. 19 3.1 Travel routes and safe havens ................................................................................. 26 3.2 Cultural sites .......................................................................................................... 40 3.3 Large animals ......................................................................................................... 53 Moose and Dall’s sheep ......................................................................................... 61 Grizzly bear ............................................................................................................ 64 3.4 Furbearers, small game and waterfowl ................................................................... 68 Furbearers .............................................................................................................. 68 Small game ............................................................................................................ 74 Waterfowl .............................................................................................................. 78 3.5 Fish ........................................................................................................................ 79 3.6 Berry, medicine and other plants ............................................................................ 83 4. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 90 4.1 Changes to traditional use over time ...................................................................... 90 4.2 What the YNS means to the Inuvialuit .................................................................... 94 4.3 Final remarks ........................................................................................................ 108 Future TU documentation .................................................................................... 109 References ......................................................................................................................... 110 Endnotes ........................................................................................................................... 116 List of maps Map 1. Study area: Inuvialuit traditional use,Yukon North Slope (YNS) 3 Map 2. Selected Inuvialuit place names on the YNS 14 Map 3. Travel routes and safe havens 27 Map 4. Cabin and tent sites 41 Map 5. Cultural sites (birth, burial, special places and archaeological sites) 42 Map 6. Caribou harvest locations 55 Map 7. Grizzly bear harvest locations 60 Map 8. Moose and Dall’s sheep harvest locations 62 Map 9. Furbearer and small game harvest locations 69 Map 10. Plant and waterfowl harvest locations 70 Map 11. Fish harvest locations 80 Map 12. Summary map (all features) 91 Map 13. Comparison of YNS ITU study data with 1976 Usher data (pre-1955) 92 Map 14. Comparison of YNS ITU study data with 1976 Usher data (1955–74) 93 List of Tables Table 1. YNS ITU study interviewee characteristics 4 Table 2. Interviewee PINs, gender and birth years 5 Table 3. Regional groups of early Inuvialuit peoples 7 Table 4. Selected Inuvialuit place names on the YNS 15 Table 5. Terrestrial and aquatic animals, fish and plant species harvested by Aklavik Inuvialuit 22 Table 6. Some plants harvested by Aklavik Inuvialuit 84 Foreword The most powerful rights held by Inuvialuit under their 1984 comprehensive land claim agreement, the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (IFA), are those related to wildlife harvesting. These rights are central to protecting a way of life that is defined by the knowledge, ability and opportunity to hunt, trap and fish for more than 70 wildlife species. In the absence of these species and the habitats that support them, Inuvialuit harvesting rights are meaningless. It is for this reason that as a measure of last resort their land claim agreement contains possibly the most demanding compensation provisions of any modern-day treaty for loss of wildlife and harvesting opportunities due to development. The conservation of Inuvialuit traditional use of the Yukon North Slope (YNS), an area that they have occupied and used back to the time of their earliest ancestors — along with the wildlife and habitat that they depend on— is the legislated overriding management requirement for the area. Conserving and protecting Inuvialuit use of the Yukon North Slope begins with understanding it. That is the purpose of the Yukon North Slope Inuvialuit Traditional Use study and this report on the study. Building on earlier studies, this report is the most comprehensive documentation of Inuvialuit traditional use of the YNS that has been published to date. In so doing, this report and the study of which it is a part provide the basis for specifying the management requirements and protections necessary to conserve traditional use. Indigenous traditional land use in Canada and elsewhere has long been a subject of study. Litigation and case law resulting from these studies have contributed to gains in protections for traditional lands, recognition of Aboriginal title and justification and accommodation for infringement on the use of traditional lands by Indigenous people. The YNS Inuvialuit tradition- al use study provides important information for realizing the promises made to the Inuvialuit and giving effect to the legal obligations established in the IFA to protect a way of life that is central to cultural survival, economic security and community well-being. The Yukon North Slope and the Inuvialuit Settlement Region have seen their share of develop- ment scenarios, from boom to bust, for more than a century. Without question, a sustainable future for the Inuvialuit will include a central place for their continued traditional use of the Yukon North Slope. This study contributes to future work through the Yukon North Slope Wildlife Conservation and Management Plan that will identify what that future looks like on the YNS and what measures are required to achieve it. Lindsay Staples Chair, Wildlife Management Advisory Council (North Slope) vii Report summary Notes to readers These