Gwich'in Tribal Council opens office in Edmonton

The Gwich'in Tribal Council celebrated the opening of their first office in Edmonton this past weekend. The space will serve the beneficiaries of the Gwich'in land claim.

A grand opening celebration was held this past Saturday at #201 14220 112th Ave. NW, Edmonton, with more than 100 people showing up to help open the new space. Musicians from the North were on hand to perform and had the crowd dancing all afternoon.

Grand Chief Ken Kyikavichik said the centre will be a hub for beneficiaries living in Alberta. According to Kyikavichik, there are 3,500 people registered under the land claim, with more than 60 per cent living outside the Gwich'in Settlement Area communities of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort McPherson and Tsiigehtchic.

"There is a lot of people who live in the Edmonton area, some of which have never been to the Gwich'in Settlement Area or our four communities. In some cases, they long for a connection to our nation, to our people, and this provides a gathering place for our people," Kyikavichik said.

Country foods like caribou, fish and rabbits can be rare in the city due to shipping costs and availability. Kyikavichik hopes the office will ease some of those concerns.

"Many people during COVID-19 went without our traditional food, and coming out of the pandemic, one thing we found was getting things like meat and fish to our people was incredibly important." he said.

The office space will also give beneficiaries access to resources on Gwich'in Tribal Council programming, computer access for job searches and a sense of local culture from the Gwich'in Settlement Area.