{"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