Day 16 Fort Mcpherson

We had stopped at Fort McPherson on the way up and decided to stop and see more on the way back. It was a marvellous discovery. 

I am still learning more abut this amazing little community, and going home with intentions to learn more. It was everything that Inuvik was not. People engaged us. The history informed us. The buildings, people and their activities enlightened us about how special this little community is to the Gwich'in people.

Modern house.

Unidentified structure.

The new Information Centre, manned by volunteers.

The Information Centre. We spent a lot of time here. The young woman on duty encouraged us to stay, to try her smoked dried whitefish which she declared to be the best food "I love it" she declared with a blush.

This new Information Centre is in the process of explaining to the world about the Gwich'in people. It has walls decorated with what they think explains to us about them. Part of it is history (a copy of the 1921 Treaty in which their chief ceded their territory to King George V hangs on the wall), valued books of the Gwich'in language lie on a table for us to see and admire. (only one elder retains ability on the Gwich'in language). One large section of the wall is decorated with photographs of the village people, most of the them are the highly valued elders of the community. I did not ask if all them were living or not. In one corner they had set up a table with coffee for visitors and we were encourage to have one (which we did). We briefly chatted about the Whitefish and other things that they hunted (ducks, geese and swans she said). I asked if they hunted for their eggs, and she laughed and said no. What about the feathers, do you use them for anything? And she looked perplexed at such a ridiculous thought, and then said no. We both laughed. Today the Gwich'in continue to hunt and fish traditional foods, which are supplemented by modern foods available to them in the large community store.

I wanted to stay all day and ask more questions, but I was too occupiued with examining all their communal treasures hanging on the walls. What a statement of how they thought of themselves. Everything important to them was there.

The girl asked us if we were going to stay for the music festival at Midway Lake. Unfortunately we could not. She looked downcast. Her attitude told us that this was a big BIG event for the community. Later we were to learn that it was a big BIG event for the whole area including Inuvik and other communities. We did see them setting up huge tents at Midway Lake after we left. We wished we could have witnessed that event.

The village of Fort McPherson was simply amazing. 

Photo: Visitor Info Centre

A central place for the village was St Mathew's Anglican Church, just around the corner from

the Information Centre. The  graveyard was immaculate, and the graves well tended and decorated 

with flowers. One grave we saw was entirely covered with flowers and then covered with a sheet of plastic to protect from the rain.

Another grave was obviously for a child as it had a construction over it that looked like a wooden crib.

Also in this graveyard are the 4 bodies of the lost patrol (RCMP), who left Fort McPherson with inadequate support and expired in the winter snow in 1911. They say that if they had had Gwich'in guides with them, the tragedy would have been averted.

Barbara Rick and Flossie