The Yukon and Northwest Territories are in Canada’s north and border above British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Indigenous peoples in the Yukon and Northwest Territory are the Dene, Southern and Northern Tutchone, Tlingit, Tagish, Kaska, Tanana, Han, Gwich’in(1), Inuit and Metis.
A young leader in Indigenous writing is Dene-Dogrib (Tlicho), NWT author Richard Van Camp. Award winning and internationally acclaimed best-selling author and storyteller, Richard also does his part in giving back to the Indigenous community by teaching creative writing at the University of British Columbia as well as an online creative writing/storytelling course through the Emily Carr Institute(2).
Dennis Allen from Whitehorse, Yukon was among six writers from across Canada chosen in 2007 as a participant in the National Screen Institute Storytellers training in partnership with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network – APTN. Dennis and his cohorts chosen for this unique training worked together on a six-part serial development and script writing for a potential production to be broadcast on APTN.
This article is a non-comprehensive and living document that provides an overview of artistic activities in the region. It will be revised as necessary as part of our ongoing process of continuous updates.
1) http://travelyukon.com/aboutyukonterritory/firstnations/
2) http://www.wier.ca/index.php/author-bios/elementary/6-elementary/39-richard-van-camp
3) http://www.nsi-canada.ca/canadian_aboriginal_writers_selected_for_nsi_storytellers.aspx