Link to external website
Click here“A winter scene south of Old Crow, [showing] a rawhide snare for moose or caribou." Photo:...
Click hereThe Thomas Creek caribou surround, northwestern Old Crow Flats, Yukon, based on a 1968 sketch by...
Click hereCollection of Annie Beebe.
Click hereWalter Alexie by the Bonnet Plume River during the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute’s...
Click hereJames (Jim Edward) Sittichinli, 1960. Photo: Emily Stillwell, Northwest Territories Archives,...
Click hereCollection of Rachael Villebrun
Click herePhoto: National Film Board of Canada, 1949 Canadian Museum of Civilization IMG2011-0326-0001-Dm
Click hereThe Thomas Creek caribou surround, northwestern Old Crow Flats, Yukon, based on a 1968 sketch by W. N. Irving
Source: McClellan, Catharine and Glenda Denniston, 1981
“Kutchin caribou surround, last used in 1894, at the head of Thomas Creek in northwestern Old Crow Flats, Yukon Territory. The corral ... was about one-half mile [800 m] long and consisted of 2 parallel fences about 20-30 yards [18–27 m] apart and closed at one end, constructed of upright poles about 8 feet tall [2.4 m] set 4-5 feet [1.2–1.5 m] apart, once probably interlaced with brush with narrow openings in which, as well as inside the corral, hundreds of caribou-babiche snares were set. The diverging arms of the corral were made of smaller, more widely spaced poles. The whole impressive construction may have included 10,000 poles. In Sept.-Oct. caribou herds crossing the area were driven toward the surround by small groups of people running behind the animals and imitating wolf cries, while hunters with bows and arrows and spears were stationed at the entrance and along the corral — although most caribou were caught in the snares. The corral itself was concealed from the approaching animals by the dense timber and by a low ridge across the extended arms.”
— Richard Morlan, 1973
Gwadàl’ Zheii: Belongings from the Land has been developed in collaboration with the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute (www.gwichin.ca), Northwest Territories, and the Heritage Branch of the Vuntut Gwitchin Government (www.vgfn.ca), Yukon. Explore the rich cultural heritage of the Gwich’in through artifacts, historic and contemporary photographs, and oral histories and stories told by Elders.