and other things they needed …
— Maggie Gilbert, as told to Marian Nickelson, circa 1969
The story narrated above is one of many that were once handed down from generation to generation but have recently become less familiar to many if not most in the community. Rather, a White, postcolonial version of history overshadows much of what was once common knowledge. Yet such stories clearly reveal insights into not only the past but also some of our present priorities, fears, and conundrums.
It is only logical and of necessity to carry out a study of the Nets’aii Gwich’in of the twenty-first century by first looking back in time. We must seek to understand their history—of who they are and how they came to settle at Arctic Village—not merely via convenient academic constructs but also, whenever possible, by relying on Gwich’in narrative or memory. Like any colonial narrative, the story of the Nets’aii Gwich’in has taken on a life of its own, being shaped to fit a certain set of preconceived ideas, attitudes, and beliefs.
As yet one more in a series of such observations, the story being told here also runs the risk of further reifying the colonial narrative, suggesting that globalization has brought new thoughts and behaviors to the Nets’aii Gwich’in. Yet, as the narration noted above illustrates, internecine conflict, cross-cultural trade, and a sense of intellectual curiosity about the unknown need hardly be ascribed to a twenty-first century mindset. These ideas and more are all present in this brief narrative. Every effort will be made here to acknowledge that the Nets’aii Gwich’in are not passive recipients of the impacts of White-induced “modernity” or of other similar forces acting upon them but rather active participants in their own lives and, further, in their own destinies.
CHAPTER 1
How Did We Get Here?
An Overview of the First Century
So finally they said “Let’s all live in one place and vote to have one leader, and we will see what happens.” So from around Arctic Village we went down to where the trail meets from Fort Yukon. That’s where we stayed. They say that so they can tell anyone coming along either trail about their plan. So that’s what they did.
— Maggie Gilbert, quoted in Craig Mishler (1995)
A Background Geography and History of the Nets’aii Gwich’in of Arctic Village, Alaska
The story of the Nets’aii Gwich’in’s settlement at Arctic Village has been told and retold over the years by a variety of interested outside observers (see, for example, Caulfield 1983; Hadleigh-West 1963; Lonner and Beard 1982; Mishler 1995). Still, in order to provide context, it is necessary to repeat some of this information here.
In short, the Nets’aii Gwich’in were a nomadic hunting and gathering tribe living in the region now known as northeast Alaska and northwest Yukon, Canada, for several millennia (see Map 1.1). As elder Moses Cruikshank explains in Mackenzie’s biography of Johnny Fredson (1985: 5–6):
The Netsi Kutchin [also “Natsit Gwich’in” as it appears in Osgood 1936 or “Natsitkutchin” in Mason 1924: 12, meaning “strong people”] of the Chandalar region were Athabascan Indians who had hunted the muskeg and scrubby forests of the Yukon Flats northward toward the snowcapped Brooks Range, and traveled northeastward toward the Yukon Territory for trade with the coastal Eskimos [i.e., the Inupiat] for more than a thousand years. They didn’t own much, only what they could carry on the hunt—a knife, some baskets, snowshoes, warm skin clothing, and until white traders came, only bows, arrows and spears to hunt with … The skins of caribou and moose provided almost everything else they needed.
The environment made the Nets’aii Gwich’in people who they were in ways large and small. In turn, the Gwich’in made and remade their environment over the millennia, shaping it to conform to their needs while also responding to its strength that would ultimately, along with other social forces determine their fates.
The region that the Alaskan Gwich’in call “home” is comprised of nearly 37,000 square miles of land (Andrews 1977:103) located in the interior region of northeast Alaska known as the Northern Plateaus Province (Wahrhaftig 1965: 22). The area has historically experienced extreme temperatures—90 degrees Fahrenheit is possible in summer and –50 degrees or lower in winter. Summers are typically more moderate, however, usually in the 60s and brief in duration. Sunlight is plentiful (Illustrations 1.1 and 1.2), as are a variety of species of voracious mosquitoes. Winter lasts from mid-September, when the first snows fall, until breakup in mid-June. In reality, it can snow virtually any day of the year. Much of the winter is also enshrouded in a blue haze, not so much dark as lacking in actual direct sunlight (see Illustrations 8.1 and 8.2). The region varies from marshy lowland valleys to flats that stretch for miles beyond the Yukon River’s banks to foothills of the Brooks Range. These hills generally reach summits no higher than 1,500 to 2,500 feet. Boreal forest covers the land (Slobodin 1981: 514) comprised of permafrost. Flora is limited to lichens, conifers, and the like; fauna includes bear, moose, caribou, and small furbearers (Wahrhaftig 1965: 23).
Historically, the Nets’aii Gwich’in (also referred to in the literature as “Chandalar Kutchin”; see Slobodin 1981) were seminomadic hunters, gatherers, and fishers, structured in small groups and bands known as “restricted wanderers” (Hosley 1966: 52) whose community pattern “adapted to scattered or seasonably available food resources” (VanStone 1974: 38). Thus, the region’s severe geography dictated the lifestyle and behavior of the people. While larger mammals served as the primary food source, smaller mammals (beaver, ground squirrel, Arctic hare) were used for clothing and trade (Slobodin 1981: 515).
It is uncertain exactly when the Nets’aii Gwich’in of northeast Alaska were first contacted by Europeans. While some argue that first contact occurred in 1847, with the establishment of Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Yukon (Hadleigh-West 1963: 21; Nelson 1986: 13; Slobodin 1981: 529), others indicate a later period, the 1860s (Caulfield 1983: 88), when the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England began sending missionaries to the region (see chapter 2). Either way, interaction occurred with those of both French and English origin beginning in the latter part of the nineteenth century. As will be seen in greater detail (chapters 2 and 3), the colonization process was rapid and thorough, and would ultimately have a long-lasting impact on the Nets’aii Gwich’in with permanent outcomes and ramifications.
Map 1.1 Arctic Village and neighboring Gwich’in villages in the Yukon Flats.
The village was founded in 1908 (Caulfield 1983; Hadleigh-West 1963) or 1909 (Lonner and Beard 1982) and named Vashr’aii K’oo, meaning “Creek with Steep Bank” (Mishler 1995: 434). The origins of the name “Arctic Village” are unknown (Hadleigh-West 1963:17). Chief Christian (1878–1947) was, in effect, the founder of the village when he built the first cabin for him and his wife, Rachel (Peter 1966; Nickelson 1969b; I. Tritt 1987a). The building of a cabin was itself an innovation; only with the introduction of the axe was log cabin construction a possibility, and the poor ventilation of the buildings, heated by wood stoves, often led to various health difficulties. Thus, more than a decade later, a few skin houses still existed in the community alongside the small log cabins (Mason 1924: 27).
Although some have reported that settlement was fostered in part by the purported murder of a White man by unknown Nets’aii Gwich’in assailants (see Stern
