Tsiigehtchic

Tsiigehtchic (/ˈtsiːɡɛtʃɪk/ TSEE-getch-ik; "mouth of the iron river"), officially the Charter Community of Tsiigehtchic,[2] is a Gwich'in community located at the confluence of the Mackenzie and the Arctic Red Rivers, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community was formerly known as Arctic Red River, until 1 April 1994. The Gwichya Gwich'in First Nation is located in Tsiigehtchic.

Tsiigehtchic Tsiigehtshik
Charter Community
Charter Community of Tsiigehtchic
The Church in Tsiigehtchic with the Arctic Red River and Mackenzie River in the background
Tsiigehtchic Show map of Northwest Territories Tsiigehtchic Show map of Canada
Coordinates: 67°26′26″N 133°44′43″W
Country	Canada
Territory	Northwest Territories
Region	Inuvik Region
Constituency	Mackenzie Delta
Census division	Region 1
Mission	1868
Charter Community	21 June 1993
Government
• Chief	Phillip Blake
• Senior Administrative Officer	Larry Dally
• MLA	Frederick Blake Jr.
Area [1]
• Land	48.98 km^2 (18.91 sq mi)
Elevation	6 m (20 ft)
Population  (2011)[1]
• Total	172
• Density	3.5/km^2 (9/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−07:00 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−06:00 (MDT)
Canadian Postal code	X0E 0B0
Area code(s)	867
Telephone exchange	953
- Living cost	167.5^A
- Food price index	170.3^B
Sources:Department of Municipal and Community Affairs,[2] Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[3] Canada Flight Supplement[4] ^A 2013 figure based on Edmonton = 100[5] ^B 2015 figure based on Yellowknife = 100[5]

Demographics

Population is 172 according to the 2016 Census, a decrease of 20.3% over the 2011 Census with 130 people identified as First Nations and 10 as Inuit. However, only 5 people said that an Indigenous language (Gwich’in) was their mother tongue.[1]

In 2017 the Government of the Northwest Territories reported that the population was 179 with an average yearly growth rate of 0.1% from 2007.[5]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1996 168 —     1997 169 +0.6% 1998 165 −2.4% 1999 188 +13.9% 2000 192 +2.1% 2001 195 +1.6% 2002 213 +9.2% 2003 209 −1.9% 2004 202 −3.3% 2005 190 −5.9% 2006 181 −4.7%	Year Pop. ±% 2007 177 −2.2% 2008 159 −10.2% 2009 154 −3.1% 2010 154 +0.0% 2011 152 −1.3% 2012 150 −1.3% 2013 162 +8.0% 2014 167 +3.1% 2015 167 +0.0% 2016 170 +1.8% 2017 179 +5.3%
Sources: NWT Bureau of Statistics (2001 - 2017)[6]

Transportation

The Dempster Highway, NWT Highway 8, crosses the Mackenzie River at Tsiigehtchic.[7] During winter, vehicle traffic is over the ice, during the rest of the year, traffic is carried by the ferry MV Louis Cardinal.

The ferry stops at Tsiigehtchic, on the eastern bank of the Arctic Red River, and on the southwestern and northeastern banks of the Mackenzie River, connecting the two legs of the Dempster Highway. The community is one of the few in the NWT not to be served by a permanent airport.

Tsiigehtchic from the Dempster Highway, looking towards Inuvik

Steppe bison carcass

In early September 2007, near Tsiigehtchic, local resident Shane Van Loon discovered a carcass of a steppe bison, which was radiocarbon dated to c. 13,650 cal BP.[8] This carcass appears to represent the first Pleistocene mummified soft tissue remains from the glaciated regions of northern Canada (Zazula et al. 2009).[8]

See also

• Arctic Red River Water Aerodrome
• List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories

References

1. Census Profile, 2016 Census Tsiigehtchic, Chartered community (Census subdivision), Northwest Territories and Northwest Territories (Territory)
2. "NWT Communities - Tsiigehtchic". Government of the Northwest Territories: Department of Municipal and Community Affairs. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
3. "Northwest Territories Official Community Names and Pronunciation Guide". Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. Yellowknife: Education, Culture and Employment, Government of the Northwest Territories. Archived from the original on 2016-01-13. Retrieved 2016-01-13.
4. Canada Flight Supplement. Effective 0901Z 16 July 2020 to 0901Z 10 September 2020.
5. Tsiigehtchic - Statistical Profile at the GNWT
6. Population Estimates By Community from the GNWT
7. "Canadian Ferry Operators Association 2006 Annual Report". Canadian Ferry Operators Association. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-11-22.
8. Zazula, Grant D.; MacKay, Glen; Andrews, Thomas D.; et al. (December 2009). "A late Pleistocene steppe bison (Bison priscus) partial carcass from Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories, Canada". Quaternary Science Reviews. 28 (25–26). pp. 2734–2742. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.06.012.

Further reading

• Heine, Michael K. Gwichya Gwich'in Googwandak: The History and Stories of the Gwichya Gwich'i ; As Told by the Elders of Tsiigehtchic. Tsiigehtchic, N.W.T.: Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute, 2001. ISBN 1-896337-05-8

External links

• Tsiigehtchic at the Gwich'in Social and Cultural Institute