From the signing of a climate change emergency declaration to detailed announcements of a new community centre coming to Old Crow, it was a busy weekend in the community. CHON-FM has the highlights.
New Community Centre
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Chief Dana- Tizya Tramm, Yukon MP Larry Bagnell, and others announced almost $11 million in funding for a new Old Crow Community Centre during Caribou Days on Sunday.
The new 913-square meter building will boast game and meeting rooms as well as a gathering area for Elders, and the new facility will replace the existing recreational space for local residents.
While Chief Tramm says there were some difficulties getting prices nailed down for the building with fluctuating US steel tariffs, the new kitchen space will ultimately help the community more easily cook a variety of traditional foods.
"It really started from the ground up and we knew this was a major requirement. We've had some issues with our current community hall. It is aging, and there some issues with the kitchen. We can put temporary fixes to make it operational, but in the long term, issues also with the water tank were significant investments to fix."
Chief Tramm also says construction of the community centre is part of other big capital infrastructure projects coming to Old Crow in the near future.
"We have the foundation in the ground and we've drilled the pilings and the steel frame near the bottom (of the building). We should be finished by 2021. There's still a lot more work to go and with the number of capital projects we have in the community, we're looking into the building of an ice road in the 2020 season. That would let us bring in a lot of supplies and let us finish off a lot of projects".
The funding announcement is part of a bigger $4 billion investment in Budget 2019 to support infrastructure project in Indigenous communities.
Emergency Climate Change Declaration
Other events also occurring in Old Crow over the weekend was the signing of a Climate Change State of Emergency Declaration by Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation council members.
The declaration outlines the impacts a 2.4 degrees Celsius rise in temperature in recent decades is having on the community, and acknowledges the community's responsibility to protect their own history, traditions and rights around a warming climate.
Chief Tramm says the signing of the declaration is already empowering other Indigenous communities to have a greater voice around climate change.
"We want to empower not just our community's territorally and nationally, but Indigenous people across the world. From July 10th through to the 14th, in Fort Yukon, Alaska, there will be a Gwich'in climate change conference. Also in the fall, I've been invited over to Sweden for a Sammi (climate change) conference,which basically are the Indigenous peoples of those regions."
Chief Tramm says while the difference of a degree might not be necessarily be felt for people living in big cities, those connected to the environment are seeing climate change's irreversible impacts.
"This is something we're experiencing now. We're seeing it in the priming of our furs, to the freezing and breakup of our rivers and lakes, to increased mercury and bio-magnification of our fish, to the willow's overtaking our areas to forest fires. It continues on and on. We're experiencing this in our lives today."
Management Plan
The Ch’ihilii Chìk Habitat Protection Area management plan was also signed over the weekend in Old Crow.
The new protection area covers almost 500 kilometres of wetlands and lakes between Old Crow and Fort Mcpherson, including the protection of many whitefish, beaver, muskrat and caribou living in the area.
Chief Tramm says the new signed management plan will also help to protect numerous fish and other wildlife populations, which is also intertwined with climate change efforts.
"We now have about 31,000 square kilometres of (total) protected area within the Vuntut Gwitchin traditional territory. That speaks to a large amount of land that is protected. We have to ask ourselves why the Gwich'in people since our inception have endeavored on such a heavy and lengthy lifting approach. The truth is that Gwich'in wealth is measured by the integrity of our waters and the health of our animals."
The community of Old Crow in northern Yukon is located in the heart of Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Territory with approximately 250 inhabitants.
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