Gwichyaa Gwich’in are a Gwich’in

Gwich’in

The Gwich’in , literally "one who dwells" or "resident of [a region]", are a First Nations/Alaska Native people who live in the northwestern part of North America mostly above the Arctic Circle...

 people who live in the Yukon Flats

Yukon Flats

The Yukon Flats are a vast area of wetlands, forest, bog, and low-lying ground centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Yukon Flats are bordered in the north by the Brooks Range, in the south by the...

 area of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, USA. This includes the Fort Yukon

Fort Yukon, Alaska

As of the census of 2000, there were 595 people, 225 households, and 137 families residing in the city. The population density was 85.0 people per square mile . There were 317 housing units at an average density of 45.3 per square mile...

 (originally "Gwicyaa Zhee"; translation: "house on the Flats

Yukon Flats

The Yukon Flats are a vast area of wetlands, forest, bog, and low-lying ground centered on the confluence of the Yukon River, Porcupine River, and Chandalar River in the central portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Yukon Flats are bordered in the north by the Brooks Range, in the south by the...

") area on both banks of the Yukon River

Yukon River

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. The source of the river is located in British Columbia, Canada. The next portion lies in, and gives its name to Yukon Territory. The lower half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska. The river is long and empties into...

 from Birch Creek

Birch Creek (Alaska)

Birch Creek is a river in the U.S. state of Alaska. 113 miles of the river is managed by the Bureau of Land Management as a wild river under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The river travels through state, private, and National Wildlife Refuge land for 344 miles before emptying into the...

 to Porcupine River

Porcupine River

The Porcupine River is a river that runs through Alaska and the Yukon. Having its source in the Ogilvie Mountains north of Dawson City, Yukon, it flows north, veers to the southwest, goes through the community of Old Crow, Yukon, flowing into the Yukon River at Fort Yukon, Alaska...

;, the Senati 65.266°N 151.183°W area of the middle Yukon River, the namesake of Sahneuti

Sahneuti

Sahneuti , died c.1900 was a Gwichʼin First Nation chief and a fur trader.After the establishment of the Hudson's Bay Company trading post at Fort Yukon in 1847, Alexander Hunter Murray appointed him Chief Trader...

, Gwichʼin chief and fur trader; and Venetie

Venetie, Alaska

Venetie , pronounced VEEN-ih-tye, is a census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States...

.

Etymology

The Gwichyaa Gwich’in have been known by many other names, including: Eert-kai-lee (1892), Fort Indians, Ik-kil-lin (1892), Itohali (11th Census, Alaska, 1893), It-kagh-lie, It-ka-lyariiin (1877), I't-ka-lyi, Itkpe'lit (1876), Itkpeleit, Itku'dlln, Koo-cha-koo-chin (1866), Kot-a-Kutchin (1874), Kotch-a-Kutchins (1869), Kouehca Kouttohin (1891), KutchaaKuttchin (1865), Kutcha-kutchl (1851), Kutch a Kutchin (1862), Kutchia-Kuttehin (1876), Kutsha-Kutahi (1854), Lowland people (1869), Na-Kotchpo-tsohig-Kouttchin (1891), O-til'-tin (1887), Toukon Louchioux Indians, Yukon Flats Kutchin (1936).

History

The Gwichyaa Gwich’in are the easternmost of the Gwich’in groups.
In addition to the Kutchakutchin, there were four other main Kutchin groups in the upper Yukon-Porcupine regions: the Hankutchin

Han (North American people)

The Han are a Northern Athabascan people who speak the Hän language. Only a handful of fluent speakers remain. Their traditional land centered around a heavily forested area around the Yukon River straddling what is now the Alaska-Yukon Territory border...

 (upper Yukon), the Natsikutchin (Chandalar River

Chandalar River

The Chandalar River is a river in Alaska. Its peak flow recorded by the USGS was 62,800 cubic feet per second , on June 9, 1968....

 drainage), the Tranjikutchin (Black River

Black River (Alaska)

The Black River is a river in eastern Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. It flows 160 miles from its source to its mouth at the Porcupine River near the city of Fort Yukon. The local Gwich'in name for the river is "Draanjik," which translates as "Caches Along The River." The...

), and the Ventakutchin (Crow River area). Two bands of the main tribe are extinct, the Tatsakutchin of Rampart, Alaska

Rampart, Alaska

Rampart is a census-designated place in Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 45 at the 2000 census. In the 1950s, a large hydroelectric project called the Rampart Dam was considered for the Yukon River near the village. Had the project been completed, it would have...

 and Tennuthkutchin of Birch Creek.

In 1827, Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...

 Chief Factor, Peter Warren Dease

Peter Warren Dease

Peter Warren Dease was a Canadian fur trader and arctic explorer.-Early life:Peter Warren Dease was born at Michilimackinac on January 1, 1788, the fourth son of Dr. John Dease, captain and deputy agent of Indian Affairs, and Jane French, Catholic Mohawk from Caughnawaga...

 gathered information from the Gwichyaa Gwich’in. They told him that no other tribe but themselves frequent the Peel River

Peel River

The Peel River may refer to:*Peel River in Australia*Peel River in the Yukon and Northwest Territories, Canada...

 and that they come upstream in barges every year as far as Arctic Red River

Arctic Red River

The Arctic Red River is the name of a tributary to the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories, Canada.In 1993 the river was designated as part of the Canadian Heritage Rivers System. It was also the name of a community on the Mackenzie where the river joins, now known as Tsiigehtchic...

 for trade. In 1928, Mooney

James Mooney

James Mooney was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. He did major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as those on the Great Plains...

 estimated the 1740 population to be 500.

Culture

Jones

William Jones (anthropologist)

William Jones was a Native American anthropologist of the Fox nation. Born in Oklahoma on March 28, 1871, after studying at Hampton Institute he graduated from Phillips Academy and went on to receive his B.A. from Harvard...

 described the Kutchakutchin as being split into three clans: Tchitcheah (Chitsa), Tengeratsey (Tangesatsa), and Natsahi (Natesa). At one time, a man was required to marry outside his caste, but eventually the custom fell into disuse. Other former customs included polygamy

Polygamy

Polygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...

, slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

, and burning their dead.

Hodge described the Kutchakutchin as being partially nomadic. Their traditional livelihood was based on hunting and trapping. After the introduction of the trading post, the Gwichyaa became traders as well. Their standard of value was the Nakieik, a string of beads 7 ft (2.1 m). A string's value was equivalent to one or more beaver skins.

The dwellings were made of deerskins pieced together over curved poles in the shape of inverted teacups. Men cooked while women performed other tasks. Because they lacked pottery, the Gwichyaa's used other materials such as wood, matting, horns, or bark. Wooden troughs functioned as dishes while horns functioned as drinking pieces. Kettles were obtained from the Hankutchin.

Present-day Gwichyaa Gwich’in rely on hunting (bear, caribou, moose, waterfowl) and fishing (salmon, whitefish) for subsistence. They make an income from trapping and selling handicrafts.