File contains an individual presentation by Carl Charlie focusing on education and the high dropout rate of Aboriginal students in the Yukon. He also discusses hunting and trapping and the urgent need for housing in Old Crow. A question-and-answer session with the Commissioners follows the presentation.
File contains an individual presentation by Danny Kasi focusing on self-government and and the ways that First Nations may achieve it - through First Ministers conferences, the Supreme Court of Canada and "the world court." Kasi also briefly discusses education and the lack of housing in his community. A question-and-answer session with the Commissioners follows the presentation.
File contains an individual presentation by Rae Stephensen relating to education, health and housing problems in Old Crow, Yukon. He focuses on education and the need for more high schools and post-secondary institutions in northern Yukon. A lengthy question-and-answer session with the Commissioners follows the presentation.
File contains an individual presentation by Vickey Josie relating to alcohol and drug abuse in Old Crow, Yukon. She states that the youth of her community are unable to view adults as role models when a significant portion of the adult population has substance abuse problems. Josie believes the community ban on alcohol is not working and calls on the Commission for help to battle these social problems. A question-and-answer session with the Commissioners follows the presentation.
File contains opening remarks for the sitting of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples at the Westmark Hotel, Whitehorse, Yukon, on Wednesday, November 18, 1992 by Commissioner Georges Erasmus. Erasmus welcomes the participants and explains the Commissions mandate, composition, and goals. He also introduces the Commissioners, including Commissioner for the day Johnny Smith.
File contains a presentation by the Alcohol Related Birth Defects Committee by Betsy Jackson and Lorraine Stick. Jackson and Stick discuss FAS/FAE related issues as they pertain to Aboriginal communities in Yukon. They discuss the composition of their committee and its mandate, as well as their activities and contacts with other organizations across Canada and in Alaska. Following their presentation the assembled Commissioners discuss some of these issues with them.
File contains a presentation by Alicia Vance, Jody Sydney, Kathy Alfred of the First Nations Management Program, Yukon College. Vance discusses improving leadership and unity in Aboriginal communities. Sydney discusses traditional culture and how the clan system is being used in Teslin, Yukon. Alfred discusses how education and programs can help solve social problems in Aboriginal communities. The assembled Commissioners discuss the ideas raised with the presenters.
File contains a presentation by Barbara Russell, and Cheryl Mullens from Skookum Jim Campus. Russell discusses how and why she thinks the school system needs to be changed in the Yukon. Amongst the concerns she lists are racism and discrimination, the need for Aboriginal faculty, and the need for listening on the part of teachers to Aboriginal students. Mullens discusses the need to make the schools equal in terms of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal curriculum in fields such as history, the need for learning at ones own pace, and the need for more programs for pregnant teenagers.
File contains a presentation by Calvin Linstrom. Linstrom discusses Tagish/Tlingit concerns, and ideas for economic development, education and culture. Linstrom also discusses his peoples relations with the Yukon government. Following his presentation the assembled Commissioners discuss some of the issues raised with Linstrom. A question-and-answer session with the Commissioners follows the presentation.
File contains a presentation by Clara Schinkel and Peter Sidney, Tagish Governance Society. Schinkel describes the history of the Tagish people and their community (including the seizure of their reserve lands by the government), and makes specific requests to the Commission in terms of assistance, self-governance, education, and land claims. Sidney and Schinkel discuss some of the issues raised with the assembled Commissioners.
File contains a presentation by Dr. Chris Durocher and Dr. David Skinner, representatives, Yukon Medical Association, that focuses on numerous issues relating to health care in the North, including under-representation of First Nations people at the administrative and health workers levels, the relationship between poverty and ill health, and little to non-existent treatment for First Nations persons with mental health problems.
File contains a presentation by Joannie McKinnon, President of the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Association. McKinnon discusses her groups desire to take part in land claims talks and work co-operatively with First Nations on wildlife management issues. Following her presentation Erasmus asks her a question which she answers.
File contains a presentation by Louise Bouvier, Yukon Indian Women's Association. Bouvier, the organization's President, discusses their program the Dene Nets'edet'an which is a community healing project intended to treat "family violence, alcohol and drug abuse, sexual abuse, mission school syndrome, et cetera." Dene Nes'edet'an differs from past approaches in emphasizing After-care: an emphasis on long term recovery treatment for dealing with traumas. Following Bouvier's presentation the assembled Commissioners discuss the program with her.
File contains a presentation by Margaret McCullough of the Yukon Human Rights Commission. McCullough discusses the Commissions activities and her witnessing of racism and discrimination in Yukon society. She also discusses some of the steps the Commission has taken to educate about racism. Following her presentation McCullough discusses racism and related issues with the assembled Commissioners.
File contains a presentation by Mark Wedge of the Yukon Indian Development Corporation. Wedge discusses his views on education and how different cultures have different basic definitions of the concept. Wedge discusses some traditional Tlingit and Hopi views, as well as educational legislation and constitutional issues. Following his presentation the assembled Commissioners engage Wedge in a discussion on the issues raised.
File contains a presentation by Norma Shorty, Kwanlin Dun First Nation. Shorty describes the history of the Kwanlin Dun First Nation, and its reserves in the Whitehorse area. Shorty suggests that since the government contributed to the destruction of traditional systems of Kwanlin Dun learning, it should contribute to rebuilding them. Following Shorty's presentation the assembled Commissioners discuss language, education, and rights issues with Shorty.
File contains a presentation by Winnifred Felker, Skookum Jim Friendship Centre. Felker discusses the activities and programming of the Friendship Centre, and protests that the National Association of Friendship Centres was only granted 17% of a funding request, when these Centres do work dealing with 15 of the Commission's 16 points of mandate. Following Felker's presentation the assembled Commissioners discuss some of the issues raised with him.
File contains a presentation by Yvonne Kisoun. Kisoun welcomes the Royal Commission to Whitehorse, and proceeds to deliver a brief history of the area and its development. Following Kisoun's presentation Commissioners Sillet and Erasmus make comments.
File contains a presentation by Shirley Adamson, Council for Yukon Indians. Adamson, chairperson for the Vuntut Gwich'in Council, discusses the self-governance negotiations which her organization has embarked upon with the Government of Canada. The respective First Nations parties involved in such negotiations included the Vuntut Gwi'chin Tribal Council, the Na-cho Ny'a'k Dun First Nation, the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, and the Teslin/Tlingit First Nation.