Bill: Ok today is April 4, 2002, I'm Bill Schneider, Sidney Stephens is here too. We are in our home here in Fairbanks and we have the opportunity to talk today with Ken Frank, and over the years I've had the pleasure of being with Ken on a number of occasions which he shared his knowledge of Gwich'in culture.

And in particular today I'm eager to focus in on questions about your observations and the observations of elders about environmental and climate change that they've seen over the years. So thanks for making this opportunity Ken. I think we'll pick up just by my asking you to share with us some of the observations that you've seen, and feel free to use Gwich'in words when they can best explain concepts or things that people have observed.

Kenneth: Well, some of the stuff that elders are telling me is like even the growth of the tree, the tree are growing where the tree, where there used to be no trees like up on the Brook Range, some area. Like a story, one story is about, there is a story about the last lake up on the Brooks Range, in the early days they fought war around that lake, and that one that, a person went up and just very recently, walk around there. When he came back he said he was telling his mother that and that lake, that last lake that was there. She asked him what it's like over there, he was telling her there was spruce tree there around that lake. Her mother said what do you mean, there's no tree around those area, but now it seem like the tree line are going up, up into the Brook Range. So the climate warmness is warming up. Even the moose are moving up over the Brook Range now. They used to they don't have moose up in those area. But the moose are kinda, like they're moving up as a warming, the vegetation and all that I believe. Even the coast people on the other side are saying that they start seeing quite a few moose on this side of the Brook Range. In the early days you know they don't have moose over that way.

So the moose are kinda like spreading over the Brook Range. It could be because of the climate warm. Even that Venetie area, the tree, it could be right after the ice age. In the early days Venetie area used to be a whole big glacier, up that way, up towards on the west side of Venetie, up through those hills. There's a story about, there's a mountain up there right above Venetie called (the name I was given for this mountain-Vivee nihjireegha'- is not right) is the name of that mountain, it's a sharp mountain lookout, it's a mountain for a lookout hill. It's all out there by itself, it's kind of sharp like.

They could see on the west side, on the east side and south side, and the whole thing will be glacier. So anything that come from the east they could see, anything coming up on the river they'll see it, or anybody coming from the west side they will see that too. So it's a really good place for a lookout for animal or people that are moving.

So that mean it got to be the whole thing is just like a grass area, like tundra, but today you cannot see the whole area anymore because of the tree that grows. If somebody coming from the east you can't see them because the trees are too high.

Sidney: Is it spruce trees that are growing in there or.....?

Ken: Just spruce and all willow and stuff like that, the willow are high you cannot see. Like birch, cottonwoods, all those, whole variety of tree. Another, that's one of the story, there's a story behind it, but I could say that, but now you can't do that because of the tree that grow.

Also like down in Ft Yukon area, from that Christian Villages spot, about 40 mile from Ft. Yukon until you hit the mountain, in the early days like during around 1900 from the Christian Village, Christian Village is a foothill of that mountain right there on the south side of Arctic Village. Up on those mountain from there they could look south down toward Ft. Yukon and they see the Yukon River and in fall time they could see caribou on the other side of the Yukon River. The caribou are moving up on the Yukon River, they could see caribou from Christian Village down to on the Yukon. They could see the white stuff so that mean around 1900 so the trees are little smaller so compared to today. Today if you look down all you see is just big trees, I don't think you'll see caribou. The caribou in fall time their fur get white, their neck you know, and their neck are really white. That's when they get fat, that's when they do that. And so you could see in around 1900 they see caribou that far from Christian Village. That's why I know that in the early days that they don't have lotta big trees.