Old Crow, Yukon - Definition and Overview

Old Crow has about 300 inhabitants, most of them belonging to the Gwitchin-speaking aboriginal Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. It is situated on the Porcupine River in the north of Yukon Territory and has an airport, which is rather important, because it is the only Yukon community that cannot be reached by car.

The people of Old Crow are dependent on the Porcupine caribou herd for food an clothing. The Porcupine caribou herd migrates to the coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to give birth to their young. Most people in Old Crow believe the herd is seriously threatened by oil-drilling in the ANWR and have been lobbying hard to prevent it.

A large number of apparently human modified animal bones have been discovered in the Old Crow area that have been dated to 25,000 - 40,000 years ago by carbon dating, several thousand years earlier than generally accepted human habitation of North America.

External links

• Old Crow's official website (http://www.oldcrow.ca/)
• Old Crow: Land of the Vuntut Gwitch'in (http://collections.ic.gc.ca/old_crow/)