Up North

These photographs are from a solo expedition to a region in the northern Yukon Territory within the Arctic Circle.  For several months in 1991 I lived and traveled with the Gwich’in First Nations people of Canada.  I documented their daily lives in both pictures and writing to help create a record of their rapidly changing way of life.  My base camp was in the small town of Old Crow, which sits on the Porcupine River.  The river served as a highway to their hunting grounds for caribou and moose, and as a rich source of fish. As there are no roads leading from the “outside”, transportation in and out is by small aircraft. If there is a need to bring in heavy equipment, once the river freezes solid, it can be used for transportation.

This project was backed by the generous support of various organizations including Moss Tents (a maker of hand sewn mountaineering tents out of Maine that is no longer in business), Patagonia, The North Face, Helix Camera, Central Camera, and Ross Ehlert and my family. Lastly, the Gwich’in people for inviting me to enter their community, and ultimately making me their part of their family.