Birch Creek Tribe

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Birch Creek Village is located along Birch Creek, approximately 26 miles southwest of Fort Yukon. It is home to Dendu Gwich’in Athabascans .

Official Tribal Name: Birch Creek Tribe

Address: P. O. Box 71372, Fort Yukon, AK 99701
Phone: 907-221-2211
Fax:
Email: angela@arcticrg.com
Official Website:

Recognition Status: Federally Recognized

US Culture Region: Subarctic

Alaskan Ethnic Group: Indians

Alaskan Native Culture: Athabascan Indians

Alaska Geographical Region:

Alaska Borough / Census Area:

Alaska Native Regional Corporation: Doyon, Limited

Alaska Village Corporation: Tihteet’aii, Incorporated

Alaska Native Association: Denduu Gwich’in Tribal Council (aka Birch Creek Tribal Council)

Agency:

Tribal Affiliation: Dendu Gwich’in Athabascans

Related Tribes:

Language:

Traditional Name / Traditional Meaning: Dendu Gwich’in, meaning “foothill mountain people”

Alternate Names / Spellings: Dendu Gwich’in Tribe

Location:

Birch Creek Village is located along Birch Creek, approximately 26 miles southwest of Fort Yukon.

Village History:

The Dendu Gwich’in traditionally occupied much of the Yukon Flats south of the Yukon River, including portions of the Crazy and White Mountains. Semi-permanent camps existed near the present village.

The first written reference to a settlement in the Birch Creek area was in 1862 by a Fort Yukon clergyman who visited a camp established to provide fish for the Hudson’s Bay Company in Ft. Yukon.

Some anthropologists believe that this band was annihilated by scarlet fever in the 1880s, though there are ethnographic accounts of the use of this area from 1867 onwards.

Birch Creek Jimmy was the founder of Birch Creek and was a great chief among the chiefs in his day. He built a cabin in 1898 at the site of the Hudson Bay fish camp. Several years later, he was joined by other extended family members.

Around 1916, the group moved three miles upstream to the site of the present village. It was used as a seasonal base for harvest activities until the early 1950s, when the establishment of a school encouraged village residents to adopt a less nomadic way of life.  The school was later closed in 1999 due to insufficient students.

The People:

In 2012 the village population was 31.

Government:

Climate and Topography:

Birch Creek has a continental subarctic climate, characterized by seasonal extremes of temperature. Winters are long and harsh, and summers are warm and short.

The average high temperature during July ranges from 65 to 72 °F. The average low temperature during January is well below zero. Extended periods of -50 to -60 °F are common. Extreme temperatures have been measured, ranging from a low of -71 to a high of 97 °F.

Annual precipitation averages 6.5 inches, and snowfall averages 43.4 inches per year. Birch Creek is ice-free from mid-June to mid-October.

Transportation Services and Facilities:

The first airstrip was constructed in 1973.

Local Governmental Services:

Other Services and Utilities:

Schools: See Above.

Employment / Economy:

Subsistance activities are still an important part of the local economy.  Salmon, whitefish, moose, black bear, waterfowl and berries provide most of the food sources for the Dendu Gwich’in.

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