| The
Yukon Language Centre
Long threatened by the radical
cultural changes of 19th and
20th century European influence,
First Nations languages of the
North have been given new life
by the cultural initiatives
of the Yukon Language Centre
of Yukon College in Whitehorse.
Traditional dialects and alphabets
have been studied and adapted,
and teachers have been trained
to instruct students throughout
the Yukon in the traditional
language of their homeland.
Century-old writing systems,
many created by 19th century
missionaries, have been updated
by professional orthographers
to more accurately and consistently
reflect the sounds of individual
languages.
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Keeping Language
Alive In times past, two traditional
languages have echoed along the alpine trails
overlooking the Snake. For hundreds of years,
their rhythm and cadence have surrounded
the campfires of summer fishing camps, murmured
softly in the night along the river’s
edge. Sometimes, the Gwich’in Athapaskan
words of the Peel River people would blend
with the Northern Tutchone of the Stewart
River hunters, as they met to trade along
the Snake, the Wind, or the Bonnet Plume.
Today, remnants of both languages remain
among the First Nations hunters, fishers
and trappers who visit the rivers
of the Peel watershed and the territories
of their Land Claim Agreements. Visitors
to Tetlit Zheh (Fort McPherson), on the
Peel River, below its confluence with the
Snake, may encounter the Atahbaskan-based
dialect of the Tetlit Gwich’in, while
river paddlers departing by air from Mayo
may hear the sound of Northern Tutchone
in the community of the Nacho N’yak
Dun. Listen carefully for the voices of
the children–traditional language instruction
is now a regular part of their school curriculum.
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