Gwitchyaa Zhee History and Culture

Our People’s Acknowledgement and Oral History:
The Gwich’in Tribe inhabited the Yukon Flats area for thousands of years as passed down from our elders and their elders. Located at the confluence of the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers, Ft. Yukon is about 145 air miles northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska. Some describe our location as ‘straddling the Arctic Circle,’ which is a village based on the Yukon River with no accessible roads.

Our Written History:
Alexander Murray, of Hudson's Bay Company in 1847, built an original Fort unknowingly in Russian territory. The Fort was situated on the Yukon River and used for trading. Fort Yukon quickly became an important trade center for the Gwich'in Indians who inhabited the vast lowlands of the Yukon Flats and the rolling hills of the Chandalar, Sheenjek, Porcupine and Draanjik (Black River) Valleys. A mission school was established in 1862, as churches came to the Alaskan territories to begin their missionary work.

The fur trade of the 1800's, the whaling boom on the Arctic coast (1889-1904), and the Klondike gold rush spurred economic activity and provided some economic opportunities for our Native inhabitants. The Native population was afflicted with major epidemics and introduced diseases within the Fort Yukon population from the 1860’s until the l920's. A Fort Yukon post office was established in 1898.

Over the years Fort Yukon continued to serve as a mission & a trading center. Archdeacon Hudson Stuck, who made the first ascent of ‘Mt. McKinley’, the highest mountain in North America, in 1913, made Fort Yukon his headquarters, and is buried in the Hudson Stuck Native Cemetery. Stuck wanted the Great Mountain to be acknowledged in the Gwich’in language,’ Denali’, which it has been officially renamed to its original name, Denali, by President Obama in 2015. In 1914, the Episcopal Church established a hospital, which served the community until the mid-1950's.

Further changes came to Fort Yukon: the first recording of an airplane landing here is 1921. By 1945, the settlement continued to grow. A major flood destroyed the original ‘Old Village’ site in 1949, where the Red Cross came in to help the villagers relocate to higher grounds eastward, where present day Fort Yukon has its major business area. The City of Fort Yukon was incorporated in 1959, with building roads and organizing a municipal government.

In 1949, the Fort Yukon Utility Company, a private system, was established to provide the town with electricity. In 1955, the U.S. Air Force built an aircraft control and warning site and has since extended the White Alice Communications Network to the village. The State school system was built in the 1950’s.

Today, Gwitchyaa Zhee Utility Company, owns and operates the electric power to the community, with diesel operated generators. The power plant had substantial upgrades in 2017.

In the 1980s, the City of Fort Yukon installed piped water for the community. Water is derived from two wells, is treated and stored in a 110,000-gallon tank. The piped water system and household septic tanks were installed in 1984. A new upgraded system, started in 2002, was made with an Arctic insulted pipe system and a lift station gravity style sewer system.

Tribal Government

The Gwichyaa Zhee Gwichin Tribal Government, formally recognized as Native Village of Fort Yukon, set up offices in the reconstructed Fort, near the Hudson Bay Cemetery in the eastern part of the village in early 1985. Currently, the GZGTG operates the HUD & BIA housing programs and an Elderly Program. Our Chief is elected, and the Tribal Government is operated by an appointed Executive Director.

Fort Yukon is a hub for 10 surrounding villages, with the creation of a health consortium, CATG. With federal grants, the community was able to build a regional medical health center which replaced the old IHS health system. Currently, we have an updated Tele-Med system, the Yukon Flats Health Center. The CATG organization is the largest employer in the region.

In the Yukon Flats all the Chiefs are working towards revitalizing our Gwich’in culture and our language. We value our traditional ways with seasonal gatherings and celebrations.

Telecommunications

The village had a small telephone exchange system in the early 1970’s. After receiving satellite communication upgrades, our community is serviced by two companies. Our school system and health systems are both equipped with Wi-Fi IT set ups. Residential service is available, but the systems are slow as remoteness poses significant challenges.

Economic Growth

Limited river travel and air travel makes working here unique. With government offices open, and the school system functioning under Yukon Flats areas control, the Yukon Flats has economic opportunities and is culturally rich. The Alaska Commercial Company has a large general mercantile store here, and an airline operates out of Fairbanks, serving Fort Yukon several times a day. Fort Yukon has growth potential and a rich history. Crowley Fuel delivers home heating fuel and there are many local wood vendors servicing those who burn wood for heat.

Gwitchyaa Zhee Village Corporation

The Gwitchyaa Zhee Village Corporation was officially incorporated, July 23, 1973, under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which is referred to as ANCSA. This corporation promotes the economic, social, cultural, and personal well-being of all Natives enrolled in the Native Village of Fort Yukon.

Our Village Corporation, records Walter J. Peter as the first registered agent. We had five initial Board of Directors, Jonathon Solomon, Walter J. Peter, Richard C. Carroll, Paul Solomon Sr., & Nancy James. It is noteworthy that Donald Peter was the notary and John C. Sackett was the approving residing president of Doyon, Limited.

Gwitchyaa Zhee Corporation is responsible for opening lands in our village for growth. In the mid 1970’s, the Angle Pond Subdivision was formed, and our village built their homes on the new sites. Since then, we have extended this subdivision in two additional phases. Today, the city water and sewer system services this area.

Our corporation purchased the Fort Yukon Utilities in 1983, and is now named the Gwitchyaa Zhee Utility Company. We have a history of many ventures some of which ended with lessons learned.

We have obligations to complete 14C1, 14C2 & 14C3. According to the ANSCA rules, we were to identify and convey title to surface rights. 14C1 was reviewed in the early eighties; these lands were to be given to occupancies in 1971, as a primary place of residence, primary place of business, subsistence camp site, headquarters for reindeer husbandry. For many years, our village corporation worked on these projects, then in 2008, we finally got the 14C1 claimants list to BLM. These sites were surveyed and in 2015, twenty-six claimants received title to their claims, which leaves twelve more to finalize.

In 1994, a Land Transfer Agreement was signed with the Native Village of Fort Yukon, which transferred a warranty deed of 103,680 acres to the Native Village of Fort Yukon. This was believed to protect our lands from debtors and taxation yet retaining certain rights in the lands.

In 2003, the Corporation opened the GZ Fuel Store, a gas station quick mart in our village. Today, our business is sound and offers employment and we have paid dividends to shareholders since 2012.

In 2015, we started a new CHP, Combined Heat & Power Plant. The plan is to have a biomass boiler with waste heat from diesel generators going through a heat loop at a strategically located site. Here, it will heat the school properties and go up to the water treatment plant utilizing a cost-effective way of heating in place of fossil fuels. We opened our new plant in 2017.

Currently, plans are being prepared to construct our new Gwitchyaa Zhee Corporate Headquarters on East 3rd Ave., to utilize the heat loop.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE YUKON RIVER