The Gwichʼin Tribal Council is a First Nations organization representing the

Gwichʼin The Gwichʼin (or Kutchin or Loucheux) are an Athabaskan languages, Athabaskan-speaking First Nations in Canada, First Nations people of Canada and an Alaskan Athabaskans, Alaska Native people. They live in the northwestern part of North America ...

people in the

Mackenzie River The Mackenzie River (French: ; Slavey language, Slavey: ' èh tʃʰò literally ''big river''; Inuvialuktun: ' uːkpɑk literally ''great river'') is a river in the Canadian Canadian boreal forest, boreal forest and tundra. It forms, ...

Delta of the Northwest Territories. It was created in 1992 with the final ratification of the Gwichʼin Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement with the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

. Negotiations to achieve a Final Agreement, and thus, Gwichʼin self-government, are ongoing.

History

The Gwichʼin people have been present in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories since

time immemorial Time immemorial () is a phrase meaning time extending beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition, indefinitely ancient, "ancient beyond memory or record". The phrase is used in legally significant contexts as well as in common parlance. ...

. In 1921, chiefs and headmen representing the Gwichʼin (then known as the Loucheux) population in the Mackenzie-Delta signed

Treaty 11 ''Treaty 11'', the last of the Numbered Treaties, was an agreement established between 1921 and 1922 between King George V and various First Nation band governments in what is today the Northwest Territories. Henry Anthony Conroy was appoint ...

, but unresolved differences arose between the interpretation of aboriginal and treaty rights by the Gwichʼin and by Canada, and many obligations were never fulfilled. To provide certainty and clarity of rights to land ownership, and to ensure various rights and benefits to the Gwichʼin people, the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement was signed as a modern treaty on April 22, 1992. In September 2023, the

Biden administration Joe Biden's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 46th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Joe Biden, his inauguration on January 20, 2021, and ended on January 20, 2025. Biden, a member of the Democr ...

cancelled oil and gas leases in the

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR, pronounced as “''ANN-warr''”) or Arctic Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States, on traditional Inupiaq, Iñupiaq and Gwichʼin, Gwich'in lands. The refuge is of ...

, for which Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, thanked the administration.

Designated Gwich'in Organizations

The Gwitch'in Tribal Council represents the four Gwitch'in communities in the Gwitch'in Settlement Area of the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

, known as Designated Gwich'in Organizations (DGOs): * Ehdiitat Gwich'in Council (

Aklavik First Nation The Aklavik First Nation is a Gwich'in First Nations band government in the Northwest Territories. The band is located in Aklavik, a mixed community of First Nations, Inuit, and non-Indigenous people. The Aklavik First Nation, also known as the ...

Aklavik Aklavik (Inuvialuktun: ''Akłarvik'') (from the Inuvialuktun meaning '' barrenground grizzly place'') is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, with a population over 1,500, the community served ...

) * Gwichya Gwich'in Council (

Gwichya Gwich'in First Nation The Gwichya Gwich'in First Nation is a Gwich'in First Nations band government in the Northwest Territories. The band is located in Tsiigehtchic, a small, predominantly Gwich'in community on the Arctic Red River. The Gwichya Gwich'in First Nation ...

Tsiigehtchic Tsiigehtchic ( ; "mouth of the iron river"), officially the ''Hamlet of Tsiigehtchic'', is a Gwichʼin community located at the confluence of the Mackenzie River, Mackenzie and the Arctic Red Rivers, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territor ...

) * Nihtat Gwich'in Council ( Inuvik Native Band,

Inuvik Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories, third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Re ...

) * Tetlin Gwich'in Council ( Tetlit Gwich'in First Nation,

Fort McPherson Fort McPherson was a U.S. Army military base located in Atlanta, Georgia, bordering the northern edge of the city of East Point, Georgia. It was the headquarters for the U.S. Army Installation Management Command, Southeast Region; the U.S. Ar ...

) Gwitch'in communities in Alaska and Yukon are not members of the Gwitch'in Tribal Council.

Powers and responsibilities

Although not a full self-government, the Gwichʼin Tribal Council has authority over planning and conservation within its jurisdiction, and exercises full ownership of various lands and organizations. These holdings include subsurface rights to certain parcels in the NWT, as well as the Gwichʼin Development Corporation and Gwichʼin Settlement Corporation. An additional Yukon Transboundary Agreement extends some of these rights into a part of neighbouring Yukon, provided that other

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

in that jurisdiction are co-operated with.

Footnotes

{{authority control Gwich'in Politics of the Northwest Territories First Nations in the Northwest Territories Inuvik Region Dene governments First Nations tribal councils Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories