\u201cThe model moose-skin boat, fish trap (basket) and snowshoes were made by Brian Francis of Ft. McPherson, Northwest Territories, in 1963\u201364. Brian Francis is a Peel River Kutchin, born about 1892. His father, Francis tsIk [Tsik] (Slim), was chief of the Peel River band from 1891 until his untimely death in 1905. Francis is the youthful chief who plays a prominent part in George Mitchell\u2019s gold-rush reminiscences, The Golden Grindstone (Graham, 1935). Indeed, Francis and his wife, Flora \u2014 Brian\u2019s mother \u2014 might be called the hero and heroine of those memoirs.\n<\/p>\n
\nFrancis tsIk [Tsik] was the eldest son of Charles Francis t\u2019ok tsUl [T’ok Tsal] (Small Nipples), chief of the band from about 1860 to 1891, the first Kutchin chief to be baptised. t\u2019ok tsUl [T\u2019ok Tsal] had succeeded his father, vIcinyitsai t\u2018I [Visriiniintsaiiti\u2019] (Father of Him Whose Face Is Painted Properly), the chief at the time Europeans first ascended the Peel in 1840, who died a pagan in about 1860.\n<\/p>\n
\nFrancis tsIk [Tsik] was succeeded by Julius Martin, son of an older sister of Francis. Julius remained chief until his death in 1949. Since then, the chieftainship has not been hereditary. Throughout most of the first half of this century, Chief Julius, Brian Francis, the Rev. James Simon (now of Old Crow, Y.T.), and five other grandsons of t\u2019ok tsUl [T\u2019ok Tsal] formed a rather cohesive confraternity of able and influential men; first cousins are equated with siblings in the Kutchin kinship system.\n<\/p>\n
\nFor as long as I have known him, that is, since 1938, Brian Francis has been known as a humorous and rather witty man … in his youth he was … skilful and conscientious in his work. As he grew older, he added prudence and foresight to these qualities. Thus, in the winter of 1963, when caribou came very close to Fort McPherson, almost everyone ran out of .30-.30 shells. The stores at Fort McPherson were depleted. Then it turned out that Brian had cases of ammunition, which he had gradually cached away through the years. He saw to it that no one who really needed meat was unprovided [for].\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014 Richard Slobodin, 1963\u20131964 <\/p>\n
Brian Francis and Harriet Stewart<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cThe model moose-skin boat, fish trap (basket) and snowshoes were made by Brian Francis of Ft. McPherson, Northwest Territories, in 1963\u201364. Brian Francis is a Peel River Kutchin, born about 1892. His father, Francis tsIk [Tsik] (Slim), was chief of … Continue reading