HISTORY OF CONSERVATION

i) Traditional Conservation of the Vuntut Gwitchin

Norma Kassi of Old Crow has clearly expressed the Vuntut Gwitchin traditional conservation ethic: "In my village of Old Crow, we know we can rely on the caribou, the birds, the fish, in general the land for our basic survival. We can trap and hunt and fish and survive. We have the skills of conservation - we have a powerful traditional law that we must abide by. 'If we destroy we are then destroying ourselves.' When we take, we have our own ways of giving back. We are part of the natural cycle and must live that way to maintain an all around balance" (Kassi 1987:20). "...the Gwich'in people, we have hopes and aspirations for the future: - that the cultural and traditional values of my people, the Vantat Gwich'in and other cultures would continue to follow the natural laws of respect, caring, sharing and kindness" (Kassi 1987:25).

ii) Reaction to Oil and Gas Exploration

With their input into the Berger Commission on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline in the 1970s, the Vuntut Gwitchin of Old Crow opposed the oil and gas exploration and the proposed pipeline as a threat to the caribou and their traditional use of area, particularly the Old Crow Flats (Berger 1977).

In his report on the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry, Thomas Berger (1977) recommended that the Arctic Gas Pipeline should not be built across the northern Yukon. He further recommended that a wilderness park be set up under the National Parks system. This new park "would afford absolute protection to wilderness and the environment by excluding all industrial activity within it. Of course there would have to be guarantees permitting the native people to continue to live and carry on their traditional activities within the park without interference" (Berger 1977, p. 46-48). More specifically, he also suggested that "the people of Old Crow must play an important part in the management of the park and, in particular, of the caribou herd."

Vuntut Gwitchin Elders and others travelled around North America and attended international meetings regarding caribou conservation in the 1980s. Several people from Old Crow made presentations at the Beaufort Sea EARP (Environmental Assessment Review Panel) hearings in 1983. Lazarus Charlie noted that the native people have always lived in this land and depended on the caribou. His assessment of the seismic line that was put through the Old Crow Flats was that "much damage was caused by caterpillar tractors and the creeks were never cleared again, the fish did not return." (DIAND 1984). At the same presentation, Alice Frost stated that "A national park should be established in North Yukon and development should only take place after land claims are settled."

iii) Protected Lands and Park Establishment

In the 1970s, the International Biological Program designated parts of the Old Crow Basin as ecological sites needing protection. In 1982, the wetlands of Old Crow Flats were officially recognized by the Ramsar Convention of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as internationally important waterfowl habitat.

When the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Final Agreement was being worked on in the early 1990s, conservation issues and heritage issues were a top priority. The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Final Agreement was signed on May 29, 1993 (Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Yukon, Canada, 1993). On July 16, 1993 the establishment of Vuntut National Park was announced by the Government of Canada according to the terms of the Final Agreement. Formal establishment was tied to the settlement of the Yukon Indian First Nation land claims. In recognition of the conservation importance of the Old Crow Flats, the provisions of the Vuntut Gwitchin Final Agreement also established a Special Management Area for the entire Old Crow Flats of which Vuntut National Park is one component (Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Yukon, Canada, 1993).