The changes must be approved by local management and then by all other parties to the agreement – including the Yukon government and the federal government. “These are simple adjustments,” he said. “It gives us strength and leverage to work together, reach mutual agreements and move our First Nations forward in partnership.” Vuntut Gwitchin, in northern Yukon, wants to make adjustments to their final land agreement for eight unmarked cultural sites on their traditional territory. Tizya-Tramm says his first nation approached the Gwich`in Tribal Council around 2016 to begin consultations to amend its final agreement. But a year after the final land agreement was signed, the First Nation learned that eight of these sites were described in the wrong place. Earlier this week, members of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation met with the Gwich`in Tribal Council of the Northwest Territories in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., to discuss the correction of the locations of four of these sites in the final agreement of their fetal claim. Members of the federal and Yukon governments were also on hand. The final First Nation agreements include the actual legal agreements of the three parties, the federal government, the Yukon government and the First Nation. These agreements are protected by the Constitution and can only be amended with the agreement of all three parties. They are often referred to as “modern contracts.” The FNFA contains all the provisions of the framework agreement, adding “specific provisions” applicable to the First Nation. The final agreements reach habitat areas and address issues of economy, wildlife, land and resource management and other issues such as cultural heritage. Strategically placed by the Gwitchin elders with the seasonal migration routes of the 150,000 to 180,000 Porcupine Caribou kilns (so-called because of the herd crossing the Porcupine River during its autumn and spring hikes), the villages of Gwitchin still depend on this magnificent herd of food, clothing and various sanc ration works. The Porcupine Caribou are the center of Gvitchin`s culture.
LCAC Representative: Kris Statnyk kris@mandellpinder.com Media Contact: Rebecca Shrubb (867) 966-3261 ext. 258 rshrubb@vgfn.net She said the country to change has about the size of the terminal strip of Old Crow Airport, about 16 hectares. The leaders of both Gwich`in organizations are scheduled to meet next week in Ottawa while they are there for further meetings. Some people feared losing their harvesting rights in parts of the Yukon. Others felt that the sites to be corrected were “enormous,” she said. “Our members should understand that no country is lost here by either side, Gwich`in Tribal Council or Vuntut Gwitchin,” said Mr. Greenland-Morgan. Brief description of the area covered by the claim: We live in the northernmost community of Old Crow, 128 km north of the Polar Circle, at the confluence of the Crow and Porcupine Rivers in the Canadian Yukon Territory. Description: The Vuntut Gwitchin is the name of our people, which means in our language “the people of the lakes”. We, the Vuntut Gvitchin, are one of 19 communities spread across the state of Alaska and the Canadian territories of the Yukon and northwestern territories.
These 19 villages and towns are inhabited by more than 7,500 people who together form a nation of men: the nation of Gvitchin. Head Office Address: P.O. Box 94 Old Crow, Yukon Canada, Y0B 1N0 “If you pack a team of dogs in the middle of the snowstorm at midnight, these elders can take you to these key areas.
