A new book offers readers a glimpse of traditional Gwich'in life directly through the stories of Elders.

Our Whole Gwich'in Way of Life Has Changed is based on interviews with 23 Elders speaking about their lives growing up in the Beaufort Delta and northern Yukon.

Elders speak about traditional life

The Elders recount traditional activities like hunting, fishing and trapping, their culture and interactions with Euro-Canadians.

Published in late 2020, the book is the result of two decades of work, after the first interview took place in 2000.

SA国际影视传媒� an anthropologist and co-author of the 717-page tome along with the (GTC) SA国际影视传媒� joined the project in the late 1990s.

Back then, the GTC was called the Gwich'in Social and Culture Institute (GSCI).

At that time, the GSCI prepared a strategic plan to document, preserve and promote Gwich'in culture, language and values, McCartney said.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey outlined different projects they wanted to do. One of them was doing biographies of prominent Elders. They figured there's a lack of information about Gwich'in Elders (and) it would be wonderful if Elders could share their knowledge for the project,SA国际影视传媒� said McCartney, who is an associate professor and oral history curator at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. SA国际影视传媒淚 met with Elders along with the GSCI to ask them what was important to pass on to the next generation. (Our team) interviewed them at fish camps and at people's homes.SA国际影视传媒�

Most of the interviews took place in Aklavik, Inuvik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic.

At those four locations, Gwich'in speakers helped translate the interviews when Elders spoke in their first language. Others interviewees spoke in English or a mix of Gwich'in and English.

Intense interview process

McCartney described the process as intensive as it involved a lot of people with different skills.

SA国际影视传媒淲e transcribed, edited and published (the interviews). We were still using tapes at that time and digital still wasn't there yet. I think there were over 60 hours of recordings, and that all had to be translated and transcribed.SA国际影视传媒�

In addition, McCartney conducted a tremendous amount of research on Gwich'in history and culture to build context around the Elders' stories.

Most chapters of the book include sidenotes that contain genealogical, historical and linguistic information that helps contextualize the stories.

Translation challenges

Alestine Andre, a translator and logistics assistant with the project, said accurately conveying Gwich'in concepts into English can be a big challenge.

SA国际影视传媒淭hat's tricky even for me as a speaker,SA国际影视传媒� she said. Now retired, Andre worked for the GTC's department of cultural heritage.

SA国际影视传媒淟et's (take) the term 'dinjii zhuh'. For myself and our Elders who can speak, it clearly means 'people from here.' The loose term in English is 'native to a particular place.' A good example would be my father when he was alive in the 1990s and seeing on television the San people in the Kalahari Desert (of southern Africa). My father called them 'dinjii zhuh.' The people from that land.SA国际影视传媒�

Elders happy to share stories

A highlight for Andre in being part of the book was seeing how happy the Elders were to share their stories.

SA国际影视传媒淭he Gwich'in people are story people, like many Indigenous people around the world. We need to tell stories, we're interested in stories. (The Elders) were happy to tell us about their travels on the land, whether they were walking or going by dog team,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淭heir early lives on the land SA国际影视传媒� you could tell it was a good life they were talking about. It wasn't just a subsistence life to survive but also birth, death and tragedy. It's all there.SA国际影视传媒�

Sharing Gwich'in values

The book's stand-out chapter for Andre is the final one: 'Listen to What I'm Saying.'

That chapter details such Gwich'in values as respect, honour, love, laughter/humour and spirituality. For each value, the Elders explain what they mean to them.

Catherine Mitchell, from Aklavik, talked about respect in the context of hunting.

SA国际影视传媒淲hen Dad or other men came home, they had these wrappers for toboggans. It was the carry-all,SA国际影视传媒� she recalled. SA国际影视传媒淭hey were so good at hunting and the way they handled it was clean. You don't see a stain on the toboggan wrapper. Not even on their feet, very clean. Not like today. Boys go hunting and they're just full of blood when they come back. It's not good. They're not hunters. They're careless.SA国际影视传媒�

Sense of accomplishment

When the project started, the Elders were in their later years and more than half of them were in their 80s at the time of their interviews. One of them SA国际影视传媒� Sarah Simon SA国际影视传媒� was 99. But all of them, except for Mary Firth have since passed away.

SA国际影视传媒淚 think they were happy knowing that they told their stories to be shared with their grandchildren. That's what they wanted and it was done,SA国际影视传媒� Andre said.

McCartney hopes the book communicates a better understanding of the history and culture of the Gwich'in in the NWT.

SA国际影视传媒淭he Elders wanted to give the next generations a sense of pride of being Gwich'in, and pride in their culture and how their ancestors lived, and the legacy they gave the next generation.SA国际影视传媒�

One-thousand copies of the book were published by the . Readers can buy copies at the Yellowknife Book Cellar or online.