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Isaac Seymour Hadwen was born on June 27, 1877 in Lees, England. Annie Hadwen was his mother, and his father, Gaylord Hadwen, was a textile manufacturer. When Dr. Hadwen was a young boy, his family moved to France for a few years where his father established a silk weaving business. The family immigrated to Canada in 1891 when Seymour was 14 years old. Dr. Hadwen attended McGill University between 1899 and 1902 and graduated with a D.V.Sc. in 1902. Upon leaving university, he joined the sixth Canadian Mounted Rifles and served as a Captain in South Africa. In 1904, Dr. Hadwen returned to Canada and became a veterinary inspector at West Kootenay, British Columbia. In 1906, he joined the biological laboratory of the Department of Agriculture at Ottawa. After a short time at the universities of Cambridge and Liverpool, he was appointed head of the Department of Agriculture's research laboratory at Agassiz, British Columbia. In 1917, he was promoted to Dominion Animal Pathologist.

Between 1920 and 1923, Dr. Hadwen studied the reindeer industry in Lapland for the United States Bureau of Biological Survey. Between 1923 and 1929, he was the professor of veterinary research at the University of Saskatchewan. From 1929 until his retirement in 1942, he was employed as the director of pathology at the Ontario Research Foundation. In this capacity, he spent much time researching reindeer and Eskimo dogs in the Northwest Territories. He also spent time in Alaska, Lapland and Finland studying reindeer herding. In 1945, in recognition of his contributions to science, Dr. Hadwen was made an honorary member of the Royal Society of Medicine. He was also a fellow of the Canadian and American Veterinary Medical Association, the Royal Entomological Society, and the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Hadwen died on April 18, 1947.

The Gwich’in Social and Cultural Institute (GSCI) was established by the Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC) as its cultural and heritage arm following the signing of the Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement in 1992 as part of the establishment of a number of organizations to address the responsibilities outlined in the Agreement. The GSCI was also established to address concerns about the decline in Gwich’in language and culture. Beginning operation in September 1993, the GSCI was responsible for matters relating to Gwich’in heritage resources as outlined in the Agreement, specifically Chapter 25, and Chapter 9 of Appendix C which relates to the Yukon Transboundary Agreement. The Institute had a mandate “to document, preserve and promote the practice of Gwich’in culture, language, traditional knowledge and values.”

From 1993-2016, the GSCI operated as a non-profit organization under the GTC and had registered charitable organization status. It was governed by a Board of Directors made up of seven to eight representatives from the GTC and the Gwich’in communities of Aklavik, Fort McPherson, Inuvik and Tsiigehtchic. The GSCI was led by an Executive Director who reported to the GSCI Board of Directors. The GSCI’s first Executive Director was Ingrid Kritsch (1993-1998), followed by Alestine Andre (1998-2000), Grace Blake (2001-2002), Leslie McCartney (2002-2003), Dolly Carmichael (2004-2005) and Sharon Snowshoe (2005-2016). Among GSCI’s long term staff were Ingrid Kritsch (Executive Director 1993-1998, Research Director 1998-2016); Alestine Andre (Cultural Director 1994-1998, Executive Director 1998-2000, Heritage Researcher 2001-2016); Kristi Benson (TK Coordinator 2004-2006, Traditional Knowledge/Heritage/GIS Specialist 2007-2016); and Sharon Snowshoe (Executive Director 2005-2016). The GSCI operated multiple offices: a head office in Tsiigehtchic, a research office in Yellowknife, an Executive Director office and language office in Fort McPherson (the former from 2006-2016), and other outpost offices as needed. In April of 2016, the GSCI became the GTC’s Department of Cultural Heritage which continues the GSCI’s mandate and work within the Gwich’in Settlement Region.

The GSCI’s mandated responsibilities included documenting, preserving and promoting the Gwich’in language, conducting research on Gwich’in social and cultural heritage and developing related programming. In regards to the claim, GSCI’s responsibilities included implementing the heritage resources chapters of the Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement which included the repatriation of Gwich’in heritage materials and knowledge, the recognition, protection and management of Gwich’in historic and cultural sites, and the nomination of Gwich’in place names for official recognition. Developing and implementing GTC policies relating to research including the GTC’s Traditional Knowledge Policy and the GTC Burial Sites Guidelines were also important responsibilities.

The GSCI worked with researchers, Gwich’in communities and organizations, other First Nations, government departments and agencies including museums and archives, independent filmmakers, and media outlets such as the CBC to develop, organize and conduct approximately 120 research projects, many of which were conducted on the land. Types of research projects the GSCI conducted or was involved with included oral history, place names and traditional knowledge projects, ethnoarchaeological projects, material culture revitalization and repatriation projects, genealogy projects, ethnobotany projects, ethnoastronomy projects, and Elder’s biography projects. The GSCI also conducted climate change projects related to impact on heritage resources, traditional knowledge research associated with major proposed development such as the Mackenzie Gas Project, and a variety of Species at Risk research projects. Science, culture and language immersion camps involving community members, youth, professionals and graduate students were also important educational initiatives carried out by GSCI. Language documentation and recording were integral to these projects and camps and they often involved audio or video recording of interviews, workshops and other events, as well as extensive photography. In addition, the GSCI contributed to the development of the Gwich’in Language Plan and worked with the Gwich’in Language Centre and was involved in its administration. This work generated many publications, including books, dictionaries and language materials, curriculum materials, a cybercartographic place names and story atlas and database, place name maps, posters, videos, museum exhibits, and online exhibits and resources.

The Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement outlined provisions and responsibilities for the GTC in regard to land use, archaeological and heritage resource permits, and a Traditional Knowledge Policy was created by the GTC and the GSCI to guide research in the Gwich’in Settlement Region. The GSCI was responsible for implementing the Traditional Knowledge Policy, among other polices, and for reviewing and regulating Gwich’in traditional knowledge research, developing research guidelines and consent forms, incorporating Gwich’in traditional knowledge into programming and policy and communicating the policy and the rights of Elders and participants with research participation. To these ends, the GSCI was involved in the development of a traditional knowledge policy that related to Gwich’in traditional lands in the Northwest Territories and Yukon, provided input into land use planning and management with other organizations, reviewed land use and research licence and permit applications, entered into research and data sharing agreements with researchers, assisted researchers, and received project and produced materials from researchers. Consequently, the GSCI became the major repository of all Gwich’in traditional knowledge research materials in the Gwich’in Settlement Region.

Under the Gwich’in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, the Gwich’in Tribal Council and the Teetł’it Gwich’in (under the Yukon Transboundary Agreement) are to be consulted by government concerning cultural and heritage resources and matters. The GSCI was responsible for this consultation and engagement with government and engaged with departments, agencies, boards and commissions of the Government of Canada, the Government of the Northwest Territories and the Government of Yukon, plus Yukon First Nations in the transboundary areas. This consultation related to legislation, research, heritage, language, education and curriculum, funding and environmental protection.

Repatriation projects undertaken by the GSCI included the identification of Northern Athapaskan and Metis materials in national and international repositories, the repatriation of Gwich’in knowledge from the Dene Nation Mapping Project conducted in the 1970s and 1980s, and the repatriation of traditional skills and the creation of replicas of traditional 19th C. Gwich’in caribou skin clothing.

The GSCI’s work for the recognition, protection and management of Gwich’in historic and cultural sites included work with other Gwich’in organizations and governments in developing a vision and management plan of the Gwich’in Territorial Park and conducting oral history, place name, archaeology, and ethnobotany projects in the park. The GSCI also undertook burial site mapping and recognition projects and undertook nomination projects to have Gwich’in heritage sites and rivers designated as national and territorial historic sites and Canadian Heritage Rivers. These nominations came out of GSCI place name and oral history research projects, with the GSCI playing significant roles in the planning and management of these sites. The GSCI successfully nominated eight Territorial Historic Sites and one new National Historic Site and advocated successfully for the revision of the plaque text for the Fort McPherson Historic Site, already designated as a National Historic Site for its role in the fur trade, to include its importance to the Gwich’in. The cultural and heritage research the GSCI carried out also generated a comprehensive heritage inventory of culturally significant heritage sites and places in the Gwich’in Settlement Region that GSCI helped to recognize, protect, and manage in a manner consistent with Gwich’in values. This is being carried out through protective measures in the Gwich’in Land Use Plan and the designation of Territorial and National Historic Sites.

In 1983, a project known as the Gwich'in Language and Cultural Project was undertaken in Fort McPherson to research the language and culture of the Gwich'in people. The intent was to gather information, materials relating to Fort McPherson, and the Gwich'in people, past, and present, and eventually establish a library of resource materials for the community. Sarah Jerome was the Project Coordinator. Information and materials were collected from a wide variety of sources including archives, libraries, Fort McPherson residents, and organizations such as Committee for Original Peoples' Entitlement (COPE). The Northwest Territories Archives provided copies of relevant archival materials as well as duplication services for photographs loaned to the project.

Lorne Gushue was raised and educated in Nova Scotia and came north from Acadia University (B.Sc. 1989, B.Ed. 1991) for two months in 1991. He worked as a French immersion middle school teacher and then in the territorial public service in several capacities.

He has been involved in a diverse range of causes, serving as one of the first Commission Members and former vice-chair of the Northwest Territories Human Rights Commission, where he assisted in producing public service announcements on the topics of youth and homophobia. As a co-founder, board member and spokesperson for OutNorth and a former board member of AIDS Yellowknife, he has advocated for equality and has helped to raise awareness about the spread and prevention of HIV/AIDS. He has been active on several local and national pride committees within the organized labour movement. He is also a long-time member of the Yellowknife Choral Society and has been involved in several community theatre companies. He has volunteered with the Yellowknife unit of the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary, providing marine search and rescue on Great Slave Lake.

In 2001 Lorne received the NWT Outstanding Volunteer award, and in December 2007 he was awarded the Governor General's Caring Canadian Award (currently known as the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers). He was selected as a delegate of the 2008 Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference.

Information not available.

The Gruben family of Tuktoyaktuk have lived, hunted and trapped in that area for generations. Frequent trips to Mary Sachs, near Sachs Harbour on Banks Island, were made by the family, usually aboard the North Star. The family hunted polar bear, fox and other animals on Banks Island, then returned to the Mackenzie Delta to trade. John William Rubin[sic] and Mary (Mercy) Talegomik wed May 1, 1914. Mary was the daughter of Nalrakbaaluk, born in 1865, and Ananaq. John and Mary Gruben's children are Emma, Helen, Charlie, Willie and Eddie. Emma's son is Charles Gruben (Angun). Helen's daughter was Nellie Gruben. Charlie Gruben married Persis and had two daughters, Sarah and Agnes. Eddie Gruben married Alice Cockney, daughter of Nuligak, who had a daughter, Millie. Many other family members continue to reside in Tuktoyaktuk.

Grollier Hall was established in Inuvik in 1959 as a student residence for children between the ages of 5-19 from communities within the Sahtu, Beaufort Delta and Kitikmeot Regions. It was operated by the Roman Catholic Church. Stringer Hall was an Anglican Church residence built in Inuvik at the same time. The students from both residences attended the Inuvik Federal School (renamed the Sir Alexander Mackenzie School) that had both Catholic and Anglican wings, ensuring the separation of the children and the faiths. Grollier Hall was a huge facility for its time; it accommodated approximately 200 students. It contained separate dormitories and gyms for girls and boys, a cafeteria, a chapel, an infirmary and three major outdoor facilities: a covered hockey rink, an enclosed swimming pool (summer use only) and a ski shack. Sport and recreational activities were offered, such as inter-mural hockey, basketball and volleyball. There were also exchange visits between the girls and boys and the occasional social dance. The children were supervised by clergy or staff hired by the Roman Catholic Church. Grollier Hall was taken over by the Territorial Government in the 1970's and operated until 1996.

On October 23, 1979, a group of individuals concerned with northern content in the Northwest Territories education system met and established themselves as the Great River Cultural Resources Committee. Committee members felt that the Department of Education was not living up to its responsibilities to have materials on the history and culture of the Dene included in curriculum. This ad hoc body defined its purpose as being "to aid in providing assistance, organization and policy development for community cultural groups." The intent of the group was to encourage groups in the communities to produce information packets on local history which might be utilized by their schools in creating a greater sense of cultural awareness. The last meeting of the Committee appears to have been in 1980.

The Great Bear Lake Oral History Project was sponsored by the Fort Franklin Radio Society and was conducted in 1992. The purpose of the project was to collect information from Fort Franklin elders on settlement patterns around Great Bear Lake before Fort Franklin was established, record traditional place names in the Great Bear Lake area and to record the movement to and settlement of Fort Franklin. Hunting, trapping and fishing areas would also be recorded. The project coordinator was Jane Vandermeer and interviews were conducted by Dennis Kenny and Rose Mary Yukon.

The Great Bear Lake Co-operative Association was the first co-operative in the Northwest Territories. Co-operatives now operate in many communities in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. The Great Bear Lake Co-operative Association's Secretary-Treasurer and/or Manager from 1963-1966, Rene Fumoleau (OMI-retired), is a well-known author, photographer and voice of support for aboriginal issues.