Gwich'in Name

  • Teetł’it Gwich’in Name:

    Dinjii shin ch’yah
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  • Gwichya Gwich’in Name:

    Dinjii aadzhii gwadàl’
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  • Vuntut Gwitchin Name:

    Dinjii shin aadzhii gwich’aa
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“It is a very interesting outfit … I’m just so impressed with that outfit … It makes me wonder — the person who made that outfit did not have lighting as we do, or even needles — and the stitching you see there … you have to take a magnifying glass to see the stitching, that’s how good it is.” — Agnes Mitchell, Gwichya Gwich’in, December 2000

Catalogue Data

Materials: caribou hide, sinew, porcupine quills, silverberry seeds
Dimensions: tunic, L. 115 cm; moccasin-trousers, L. 121 cm; hood, L. 30 cm; mittens, L. 26 cm; knife sheath, L. 30 cm
Date: ca. 1890
Catalogue Number: CMCC VI-I-73

Manufacture and Use

  • About the Artifact

    “In the traditional culture, clothing like this would have served the Gwich’in very well for summer wear. It...

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  • Oral History

    “[This legend is] about a newlywed couple. The temperature was very low in the middle of winter. People were...

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Gwadàl’ Zheii: Belongings from the Land has been developed in collaboration with the Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute (www.gwichin.ca), Northwest Territories, and the Heritage Branch of the Vuntut Gwitchin Government (www.vgfn.ca), Yukon. Explore the rich cultural heritage of the Gwich’in through artifacts, historic and contemporary photographs, and oral histories and stories told by Elders.