thumb|Allan Hayton reciting the story (Boy in the Moon) in Gwichʼin

thumb|A sign in the [[Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories|Fort McPherson identifies the city by its original Gwichʼin name, .]]

Gwichʼin () is an Athabaskan language spoken by the Gwichʼin First Nation (in Canada) and Alaska Native People (in the United States). It is also known in older or dialect-specific publications as Kutchin, Takudh, Tukudh, or Loucheux. Gwichʼin is spoken primarily in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Fort McPherson (aka Teetłʼit Zheh), and Tsiigehtchic (formerly Arctic Red River), all in the Northwest Territories and Old Crow in Yukon of Canada. In Alaska of the United States, Gwichʼin is spoken in Fort Yukon, Chalkyitsik, Birch Creek, Venetie and Arctic Village.

Current status

According to the UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger, Gwichʼin is at present severely endangered. There are about 260 Gwichʼin speakers in Canada out of a total Gwichʼin population of 1,900. About 300 out of a total Alaska Gwichʼin population of 1,100 speak the language. There are several dialects within these subgroupings, including Fort Yukon Gwichʼin, Arctic Village Gwichʼin, Western Canada Gwichʼin (Takudh, Tukudh, Loucheux), and Arctic Red River. Each village has unique pronunciation features, vocabulary, and expressions.

Inhabitants of Old Crow in the northern Yukon speak a similar dialect to those bands living in Venetie and Arctic Village, Alaska. Kâachik and Tâachik dialects are spoken in Johnson Creek village.

Language preservation and documentation

In 1988, the NWT Official Languages Act named Gwichʼin an official language of the Northwest Territories, and the Official Languages of Alaska Law as amended declared Gwichʼin a recognized language in 2014.

Residential schools and language decline

Assimilation efforts through residential schools played a factor in creating a cultural disruption and a language shift. One of the goals of residential schools was to wipe out indigenous culture and replace it with the European culture, seen as more conducive to “civilized” society. In the process, indigenous children were taken away from their families and placed in a dedicated school (“Indian Schools” in the US).

Indigenous children were often punished for speaking First-Nation languages, leading children to abandon their heritage languages. Residential schools caused major cultural disruption also among the Gwich’in.

Phonology

Consonants

The consonants of Gwichʼin are shown in IPA notation below, with orthographic symbols in brackets:

Unlike English verbs, which come with comparatively very little derivation and inflection (i.e. number of affixes), a Gwichʼin verb is so rich in affixes that a single inflected and conjugated verb can correspond to whole sentences in English, as in (1).

In the PBS Kids television show Molly of Denali, the main character Molly comes from a family of Gwichʼin background, and therefore uses words in the Gwichʼin language such as throughout the show. Molly shares her Gwichʼin background with the show's creative producer, Princess Daazhraii Johnson.

References

Further reading

  • Firth, William G., et al. Gwìndòo Nànhʼ Kak Geenjit Gwichʼin Ginjik = More Gwichʼin Words About the Land. Inuvik, N.W.T.: Gwichʼin Renewable Resource Board, 2001.
  • Gwichʼin Renewable Resource Board. Nànhʼ Kak Geenjit Gwichʼin Ginjik = Gwichʼin Words About the Land. Inuvik, N.W.T., Canada: Gwichʼin Renewable Resource Board, 1997.
  • McDonald. A Grammar of the Tukudh Language. Yellowknife, N.W.T.: Curriculum Division, Dept. of Education, Government of the Northwest Territories, 1972.
  • Mishler, Craig, ed. Neerihiinjìk: We Traveled From Place to Place: The Gwich’in Stories of Johnny and Sarah Frank. 2nd ed. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center, 2001.
  • Mishler, Craig and Kenneth Frank, eds. Dinjii Vadzaih Dhidlit: The Man Who Became a Caribou. 2nd ed. Hanover, N.H.: IPI Press, 2020.
  • Montgomery, Jane. Gwichʼin Language Lessons Old Crow Dialect. Whitehorse: Yukon Native Language Centre, 1994.
  • Northwest Territories. Gwichʼin Legal Terminology. [Yellowknife, N.W.T.]: Dept. of Justice, Govt. of the Northwest Territories, 1993.
  • Norwegian-Sawyer, Terry. Gwichʼin Language Lessons Gwichyàh Gwichʼin Dialect (Tsiigèhchik–Arctic Red River). Whitehorse: Yukon Native Language Centre, 1994.
  • Peter, Katherine, and Mary L. Pope. Dinjii Zhuu Gwandak = Gwichʼin Stories. [Anchorage]: Alaska State-Operated Schools, Bilingual Programs, 1974.
  • Peter, Katherine. A Book of Gwichʼin Athabaskan Poems. College, Alaska: Alaska Native Language Center, Center for Northern Educational Research, University of Alaska, 1974.
  • Scollon, Ronald. A Sketch of Kutchin Phonology. University of Hawaii, 1975.
  • Yukon Native Language Centre. Gwichʼin Listening Exercises Teetlʼit Gwichʼin dialect. Whitehorse: Yukon Native Language Centre, Yukon College, 2003.
  • Gwich’in Archived: Yukon Native Language Centre: Gwichʼin
  • Alaska Native Language Center: Gwichʼin
  • Ettunetle Tutthug Enjit Gichinchik Portions of the Anglican Book of Common Prayer in Gwichʼin
  • Gwich'in Language Dictionary, 2003, 4th Edition, prepared by the Gwich'in Social & Cultural Institute and the Gwich'in Language Centre, Tsiigehtchic and Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories (Canada); covers two dialects: Teetl'it Gwich'in (Fort McPherson) and Gwichyah Gwich'in (Tsiigehtchic)
  • Gwich'in Junior Dictionary/Dinjii zhuh ginjik nagwan tr'iłtsąįį, 1979, compiled by Katherine Peter, Alaska Native Language Center