Old Crow is a community in the Canadian territory of Yukon. Located in a periglacial environment, the community is situated on the Porcupine River in the far northern part of the territory. Old Crow is the only Yukon community that cannot be reached by motor vehicle, requiring visitors to fly in to Old Crow Airport. It is a dry community. Old Crow is also the northernmost non-

Inuit Inuit (singular: Inuk) are a group of culturally and historically similar Indigenous peoples traditionally inhabiting the Arctic and Subarctic regions of North America and Russia, including Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwe ...

indigenous community in North America, and one of only a few such communities north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

outside of Eurasia.

History

A large number of apparently human modified animal bones have been discovered in the Old Crow area, notably at Bluefish Caves, about south, and the Old Crow Flats, located about south, that have been dated to 25,000–40,000 years ago by carbon dating, several thousand years earlier than generally accepted human habitation of North America. An Indigenous chief named Deetru` K`avihdik, literally "Crow-May-I-Walk", helped settle a community here around the 1870s and the town was named after him. The village was founded around muskrat trapping, which continues to provide basic income. The people of Old Crow are dependent on the Porcupine caribou herd for food and clothing. The Porcupine caribou herd migrates to the coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) 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 ...

to give birth to their young. Many citizens of Old Crow believe the herd is being seriously threatened by oil-drilling in the ANWR and have been heavily involved in lobbying to prevent it. Fiddling and dances are important to the local culture. The first fiddle was brought to the community over 100 years ago after being introduced by the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. Fiddler Benjamin Boyd noted that many fiddlers would learn tunes at the dances, and due to the isolation of the community, the fiddle style in Old Crow is unique. In 2024, Old Crow was inducted into the Canadian Fiddle Hall of Honour at the Canadian Grand Masters held in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Demographics

In the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, whic ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Old Crow had a population of 236 living in 116 of its 168 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 221. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Most of its population are Gwichʼin, a

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 ...

people who belong to the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Old Crow Airport provides year-round transportation to other communities. During winter time, a temporary winter road is sometimes built from Eagle Plains to transport freight into Old Crow; it is not annual, but only when a significant need arises such as a major building project.

Energy supply

Electric energy is supplied by three diesel generators (170 kW, 330 kW and 600 kW), operated by ATCO Electric Yukon. As the community has no road access, diesel fuel needs to be flown in. In 2019, the

microgrid A microgrid is a local electrical grid with defined electrical boundaries, acting as a single and controllable entity. It is able to operate in grid-connected and off-grid modes.

was extended by a PV plant which generates electricity in the summer season, thus saving about 190.000 litres of diesel per year (~$400,000 /a). The plant has been built in a back-to-back configuration to receive a mostly continuous solar harvest during the day. Consequently, the DC capacity of the PV panels (in sum 940 kW_peak) is partly orientated westwards and partly eastwards; the AC capacity of the PV inverter is 480 kW. A battery

energy storage Energy storage is the capture of energy produced at one time for use at a later time to reduce imbalances between energy demand and energy production. A device that stores energy is generally called an Accumulator (energy), accumulator or Batte ...

system (BESS) has been added with an energy capacity of 350 kWh, balancing out smaller cloud fluctuations and avoiding rapid start stop cycles of the diesel gensets. The whole PV-BESS plant is $6.5 million and shall last for at least 25 years. By May 2021, the solar plant had begun producing electricity, projected to be fully operational by July and capable of letting the community turn off their diesel generators on sunny days.

Communications

Old Crow is served by Northwestel since 1971. The long-distance connection originally relied on a microwave relay at Rat Pass near the Yukon/NWT border, which also provide a radio-telephone base station along the Dempster Highway, but it was frequently out of service in winter when weather conditions made helicopter access hazardous. In the late 1980s, a satellite ground station was installed in Old Crow, providing more reliable service. The long-distance connection is noteworthy for two minor incidents. In 1985, the Yukon territorial election was covered by live television coverage for the first time, sent by satellite to Toronto for switching into the network stations in Yukon; however, results from Old Crow were unavailable due to the microwave failure. On 11 September 2001, the satellite connection went out of service, and an aircraft bringing a technician to repair it was challenged by Canadian Forces aircraft for violating the closure of airspace throughout North America. The community operated its own television transmitter to carry CBC television signals from satellite. The current status of this transmitter is unknown since the CBC in 2012 closed down analog transmitters it owned. The community has APTN television, as well as CHON-FM and CKRW transmitters and a community-owned transmitter picking up CBC station CHAK-AM in Inuvik.

Geography

Climate

Old Crow has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a continental climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Dfc'') with mild summers and severely cold winters. Average annual temperature is . Old Crow experiences annual temperature average daily highs of in July and average daily lows of in January. Record high temperature was on August 30, 1976, and the lowest was on January 5, 1975. Precipitation is very low, but is somewhat higher in the summer. Average annual snowfall is and rainfall is . As Old Crow is located north of the

, it experiences polar day or

midnight sun Midnight sun, also known as polar day, is a natural phenomenon that occurs in the summer months in places north of the Arctic Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle, when the Sun remains visible at the local midnight. When midnight sun is see ...

in summer and

polar night Polar night is a phenomenon that occurs in the polar regions of Earth, northernmost and southernmost regions of Earth when the Sun remains below the horizon for more than 24 hours. This only occurs inside the polar circles. The opposite phen ...

in winter. The midnight sun is typically between May 5 and August 8 inclusive, while the polar night usually starts around December 14 and ends by December 29.Sunrise Sunset Old Crow 2012
/ref>

Notable residents

* Edith Josie, journalist * Bertha Allen, feminist activist

Notes

References

External links

Old Crow's official website
{{Authority control Settlements in Yukon Gwich'in Populated places in Arctic Canada Road-inaccessible communities of Canada