ICS-min Aglait

Letters From Ics

his commemorative issue of Tusaayaksat honours the 25th anniversary of Tuktut Nogait National Park (tuktut nurrait is a Sallirmiutun descriptive term for a caribou calf that is between birth and one year of age). When we were looking to feature the community of Paulatuuq in a meaningful way, we found that the community and Parks Canada were gearing up to celebrate TNNP this year, and Tusaayaksat Magazine and Parks Canada established a partnering agreement in order to honour these stories. Quyanainni to Parks Canada for providing us with many in-kind resources to complete this work, and especially to our guest editor Tracey Wolki (Public Outreach Education Ofcer), and Stephanie Yuill (TNNP Site Manager), whose enthusiasm and passion for this project from start to finish made all the diference.

Temed 25 Faces, this issue features profiles and personal accounts from 25 individuals. Te community of Paulatuuq speaks for itself regarding not only the negotiation, establishment, and management of the park—but also each individual’s cultural and personal connection to it.

TNNP has helped to preserve the Bluenose-West caribou herd and their traditional calving grounds and foster the relationships Inuvialuit have to the herd and the land they roam. For this reason alone, its care is a significant undertaking, and one which the community of Paulatuuq is quite proud of.

We hope that this issue of Tusaayaksat can assist the park and its stakeholders in inspiring passion for its ongoing management, preservation, and promotion. We especially would like to see youth continue to get involved in caretaking and learning more about the park. Finally, it was our goal for this issue to also serve as an archive for the community of Paulatuuq and Inuvialuit as a whole.

Quyanainni, eading this special edition of Tusaayaksat page through page, I am so happy for the people of Paulatuuq to tell their stories about one of their greatest achievements—negotiating an agreement with Canada to co-manage a National Park in their own backyard. Reading through these stories is like reading through a history book. I am impressed by the tenacity of the negotiators to remain vigilant in their approach to protect the calving grounds of the Bluenose caribou herd.

Te vision and foresight it took for Elders and negotiators to get this done and the confidence in their voices is a strong measure for all of us to follow.

Tis edition features visionary accounts of the negotiators and stories of Paulatuuq youth marvelling at the beauty and pristine nature of the park—who understand the privilege and responsibility that this park is now theirs to protect. Tank you to the Paulatuuq Elders, negotiating team, and community for making this happen and securing the park’s legacy.

One of the 25 faces featured is Frances Wolki. I grew up with Frances in Grollier Hall. We came from two different communities—Paulatuuq and Aktlarvik—but that didn’t stop us from becoming lifelong friends. Gathering together in Grollier come September at the start of each school year, we would share stories of our communities, our adventures, and our activities on the land or in the bush. She would always share a great story or two— sometimes a scary story or a funny story. Tey were never boring! I’ve attended corporate tours to all communities in the ISR for the last twenty years and I can tell you that I miss her and her strong and unwavering voice. After she passed, I vowed I would live more like Frances in her memory, to do things that I would have never considered doing previously.

I am happy to flip through all the photos, the diferent geographical characteristics within the park, the wildlife within the park, and the beauty of the land. Please enjoy this wonderful edition of Tusaayaksat. Te stories and photos give all of us a glimpse of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region—a place we are privileged to call home.

Tuktut Nogait National Park was originally proposed by the community of Paulatuuq in 1988, and then through the Wildlife Management Advisory Council (NWT) in 1990. On June 5, 1996, the park’s establishment agreement was signed between the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories, the Inuvialuit Game Council, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, the Paulatuuq Community Corporation and the Paulatuuq Hunters and Trappers Committee. Following the completion of the Impact and Beneft Plan for the Expansion of Tuktut National Park of Canada into the Sahtú Settlement Region (2005), the park was expanded and a representative of the Déline Land Corporation—now the Déline Gotine Government—was included on the Board.

The park was established to protect the calving grounds of the Bluenose-West caribou herd and to ensure the herd remains a traditional hunting source for the community.

The Tuktut Nogait Management Board has functioned in a spirit of cooperation and consensus decision-making throughout the park’s history, considering Traditional Knowledge alongside western science. The Board operates under two land claim agreements: the Inuvialuit Final Agreement (1984), and the Sahtú Dene and Métis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement (1993). The people of Paulatuuq and Déline have a direct say in what happens in their backyard.

Parks Canada is honoured to have worked with the communities of Paulatuuq and Déline over the last 25 years. Tuktut Nogait now has established monitoring programs in the park for Bluenose-West caribou, lemmings, raptors, water quality, and permafrost. Over 360 archaeological sites have been discovered in the park, indicating 1,000 years of human habitation. Traditional harvesting by Inuvialuit continues on the land as it has for generations.

Tuktut Nogait’s cooperative management framework has built strong relationships with its board members and the communities over the last 25 years. It has protected the land for use by future generations of Inuvialuit and Sahtúogt’ine. Parks Canada looks forward to strengthening these relationships into the future and continuing to learn from the people who know the land best.

LUCY KUPTANA

IKAYUQTUAQ MAKPIRAAMUN AGLAANGA LETTER FROM THE GUEST EDITOR

My name is Tracey Wolki. I’m from and live in Paulatuuq with my fancé Jonathan and daughter Chase. My parents are Hank and Marlene Wolki and my ataatak (my mom’s dad) was one of the original negotiators for Tuktut Nogait National Park, which is pretty cool. I also have two sisters and four brothers, and about over a hundred plus cousins!

My mother Marlene Wolki is one of the people who inspired me growing up. She has worked with Parks Canada for over ten years. I would always come see her almost every day afer school at the ofce. It was so bright and inviting; to see some photos and sites of the park and the art was so beautiful.

For me, the work she was doing was really interesting: taking students on the land, programs with Angik School, hiking, and so on. I told myself that one day I would follow her footsteps and work there.

So, when I heard the position was open around 2014, I jumped on the opportunity. There was a number of us who got called in for interviews, and I was one of them. Despite being the quiet, shy person I am, I answered all of the questions like it was natural because I grew up with all of it. I didn’t hear from them for a long time until Maya March was hired as Site Manager in 2014. When I got the job, I felt so lucky and happy that I started crying even! Maya asked me when I could start, and I said, “Today, if you want me to!” The frst people who I told were my parents. They were really happy for me. It was so cool that I was going to fnally work where my mom worked!

When I frst started working at Parks in March 2015, it was a little bit overwhelming, to be honest. My frst couple of months working was non-stop training—wilderness frst responder, frearms training, and bear awareness. All of that was done in Inuuvik. Right afer training, we went straight into the Hornaday River trip, which was two weeks. Then, afer that was the Board Meeting out at the park. Being new to all of that, I liked it—but it was like ‘go-go-go’ until maybe August or September. Our summers are always like that, and this one in 2021 was no exception!

“ Me on my frst year of working at Parks, posing at La Roncière Falls afer a canoe trip at a Management Board Meeting, 2015. Photo submitted by Tracey Wolki/Parks Canada.

Here I am on my sixth year with Parks Canada—and I couldn’t be happier! I’ve had the good fortune to paddle the Hornaday River, hike to Many Caches, visit La Roncière falls, organize and attend a Tuktut Nogait Management Board meeting in the park, fy on a muskox survey, and put on various events for our park and community.

This year we celebrated the 25th year of the Tuktut Nogait Establishment Agreement being signed. We had a lot of Outreach Programs to celebrate the anniversary—a 25-day scavenger hunt, radio bingo, signatory dinner, and a time capsule on Inuvialuit Day (just to name a few).

My experience as Tusaayaksat Guest Editor was exciting and stressful at the same time. It was challenging both trying to gather the 25 Faces of TNNP and making sure I put a lot of time into with our busiest season (summer) at work. Some days I had to push back one or the other. Either way, I’m really happy for the opportunity to be the Guest Editor for this special issue and I would do it all over again!

My hope is that the readers get to see and read about how important and special this place is. My most memorable time in the park was when Lanita Thrasher and I got to go on the Hornaday River Monitoring Trip. No matter how hard it was (from the weather or trying to paddle) we would always fnd a way to giggle and be happy when we settled for the night.

I would like to thank my managers and all of the staf of Parks Canada’s Western Arctic Field Unit (WAFU), because everything we did wouldn’t have gone on without the help of our team. I would also like to thank Tusaayaksat for this opportunity to be Guest Editor.

Linda Binder was the frst Inuvialuk superintendent of WAFU. I hope that one day in the future I will be the frst Inuvialuk Site Manager of Tuktut Nogait National Park!

Tracey Wolki Guest Editor, Tusaayaksat Spring/Summer 2021

OFFICER