{"id":224875,"date":"2022-06-23T18:04:37","date_gmt":"2022-06-23T18:04:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecircleeducation.org\/?p=224875"},"modified":"2022-08-04T23:33:32","modified_gmt":"2022-08-04T23:33:32","slug":"summers-in-aklavik-to-explore-gwichin-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecircleeducation.org\/2022\/06\/23\/summers-in-aklavik-to-explore-gwichin-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Summers in Aklavik to Explore Gwich\u2019in roots"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rikilyn Traer\u2019s summers used to revolve around visits with family and friends in Aklavik in the Northwest Territories. The recent residential school findings were a turning point for her. It made her realize she wants to be more part of the Gwich\u2019in heritage and culture.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every year Rikilyn, her mom Wanda and her little sister Malorye visit their family up North. First, they fly from Vancouver to Whitehorse in the Yukon, from there they take a smaller plane to Inuvik in the Northwest Territories and then a boat to the small hamlet of Aklavik. Or in winter, when the lakes and rivers are frozen and new roads appear, they drive the 117-kilometer plowed ice highway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aklavik is the place where Rikilyn\u2019s mom grew up with her twelve older brothers and sisters. Her grandmother, several aunts and uncles, and lots of cousins, still live in the Gwich\u2019in and Inuvialuit communities of Aklavik, Inuvik, Tsiigehtchic, Fort McPherson and Tuktoyaktuk (also called Tuk). \u201cWith 600 residents, Aklavik is pretty small. Everyone knows each other,\u201d says Rikilyn. \u201cThere are only two stores and there is a small Health Centre, but no hospital. It gets very cold in winter, and in summer it doesn\u2019t get dark for a few months. I love to be out on those nights, spending time with my friends, riding quads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rikilyn\u2019s parents met in Inuvik. Her mom is part of the Gwich\u2019in Nation, which just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the signing of the land agreement. In 2000 they moved with Rikilyn\u2019s older brother Matthew (24) to the West Coast. Both Rikilyn (15) and her little sister Malorye (5) were born on Salt Spring Island. \u201cI have been going up back North with my mom since I was five. I don\u2019t remember a lot of the first years, but I can remember it was in winter and that I loved the snow. I went to school there for quite some time and I met a lot of kids that I still see when I go back to Aklavik, including my cousins and my best friend, who also turned out to be related to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Traditional mukluks worn by Rikilyn’s mom and sister.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Now that she\u2019s in high school, Rikilyn only spends the summers in Aklavik. \u201cMy mom doesn\u2019t want me to miss too much of school, but I would love to go back again in winter and spend a semester at school there. I really liked it when I was younger. We wear mukluks in class, soft boots made of moose hide, muskrat, rabbit, beaver or sealskin, and I also remember a school trip when we learned how to hunt geese and snare rabbits. It was really fun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past year, Rikilyn\u2019s interest in her Indigenous roots grew after the news aired of the countless unnamed graves found at residential schools. \u201cI heard stories from my mom about the residential schools before. My grandmother, who is 93-years old, my mom, and all her brothers and sisters went to residential school. My mom went to school in Aklavik, and then had to leave home to attend Grade 11 and 12 at the residential school in Inuvik. My grandmother had a very tough childhood and can\u2019t talk about her experiences at school, or the fact that her kids were taken away from her when they were 5 years old. It is too painful, too traumatic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stories about the residential schools that came pouring out, made her sad for all the years her family was not together. \u201cIt is just awful to think about what happened to so many people I know. That they were not allowed to live with their family, speak their language, and were cut off from their culture and traditions. And this happened not even that long ago. My mom was in residential school until 1994 and the last residential school closed in 1996. When these stories were all over the news, it triggered me. I wanted to be more involved, be more part of my culture and traditions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since then, Rikilyn tried to pick up bits and pieces of the language her family used to speak. \u201cMy grandmother spoke Gwich\u2019in when she was young but lost the language in residential school. My mom learned to speak Gwich\u2019in in elementary school, and when I went to school in Aklavik I attended Gwich\u2019in classes as well. Both my sister and I have a Gwich\u2019in language app on our phone that we use to pronounce Gwich\u2019in words. We know some basic words like good morning, good afternoon and thank you. It is not an easy language,\u201d Rikilyn says with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her favourite cultural traditions when visiting her family in Aklavik are the spring carnivals where everyone gathers together and celebrates that winter is over. The communities share traditional food, play traditional games and there is singing, drum dancing, jigging and square dancing. \u201cI haven\u2019t been involved in a lot of traditional activities in Aklavik so far because a lot of people are travelling in the summer. That is why I want to spend more time there in winter and spring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rikilyn in Aklavik.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rikilyn and her family celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day on June 21st<\/sup> on Salt Spring Island. Gwich\u2019in art, dreamcatchers, and a bowhead whale baleen are displayed on the walls of their home in Ganges. Each time her mom returns back from the North, she would bring home rabbit, goose, caribou, moose and beluga meat to prepare traditional meals at home. When Rikilyn is in the Northwest Territories, she lives a more traditional lifestyle than when she\u2019s on Salt Spring Island. \u201cI don\u2019t speak a lot about my background on Salt Spring Island\u201d, she says. \u201cThe topic came up when the residential schools were in the news, and the findings of unmarked graves of children were acknowledged in whole school meetings, but a lot of people don\u2019t even know that I am indigenous.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rikilyn, who wants to be a fashion designer, plans to keep going to the Northwest Territories on a regular basis but sees her future on the West Coast. \u201cVisiting my family is the highlight for me every time I return to Aklavik, but my life is here. There are more educational and future opportunities to choose from. Everyone strives to be successful, and I hope to make an impact on my family and especially my community.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rikilyn Traer\u2019s summers used to revolve around visits with family and friends in Aklavik in the Northwest Territories. The recent residential school findings were a turning point for her. It made her realize she wants to be more part of the Gwich\u2019in heritage and culture. Every year Rikilyn, her mom Wanda and her little sister […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":224876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[229],"tags":[230,251,243,231],"yoast_head":"\nSummers in Aklavik to Explore Gwich\u2019in roots - The Circle Education<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rikilyn Traer\u2019s summers used to revolve around visits with family and friends in Aklavik in the Northwest Territories. 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