‘A legend in his own time’: Charlie Snowshoe of Fort McPherson dies at 88 | 24CA News

One of Charlie Snowshoe’s final needs got here true — to die at house, surrounded by household. 

The Gwich’in elder died Wednesday in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., shortly after celebrating Christmas together with his household. He was 88 years outdated. 

“He lived a very long life,” mentioned his daughter, Shirley Peterson, “and always wanted to have a voice for the people.” 

Snowshoe spent a lot of his life as a hunter and trapper, harvesting fish, moose, beaver and muskrats. As an elder, he turned recognized for his combat to guard the Peel River watershed from mining and different growth. 

At numerous instances, Snowshoe labored on practically each Gwich’in environmental administration board in addition to different boards within the N.W.T. He served because the mayor of Fort McPherson, and on the band council. He was a vice-president of the Indian Brotherhood and the Dene Nation, and was a land claims negotiator as well. 

He toured the U.S. to discuss defending the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and labored to handle the Porcupine caribou herd. 

“He was a strong advocate for practicing traditional harvesting in particular,” Peterson mentioned. 

Snowshoe obtained quite a few awards for his work, together with a commemorative medal for the one hundred and twenty fifth Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada in 1992, and in 2008, the Gwich’in Achievement Award for Land and Environment. In 2014, he obtained an Indspire Award in Environment and Natural Resources. 

On high of that, mentioned Peterson, he was an amazing dancer. 

“He could really do the Red River jig when he wanted to, and he was the square dance caller.”

A person who reached out

Peterson mentioned the quantity of calls and messages she’s receiving about her dad is “quite amazing.”

But not stunning, given his previous as a counsellor, who labored with folks dealing with addictions in addition to grief and loss. 

Peterson mentioned she’s heard from many leaders who bear in mind Snowshoe reaching out to them, generally at a important second. 

“He had his own little book of phone numbers and every now and then he’ll say, ‘I need to call this person,'” Peterson mentioned. “And most times it’s just to encourage them and just to share a good story with them.”

She mentioned Snowshoe did the identical factor together with his household, together with his many great-grandchildren, a few of whom have been house from college for the vacations simply earlier than he handed away. 

“He always made sure he let them know that he’s very proud of them in going out and getting an education too.”

‘A pressure to be reckoned with’

Crystal Fraser is a Gwichyà Gwich’in raised in Inuvik and an assistant professor of historical past and native research on the University of Alberta in Edmonton. 

She remembers Snowshoe as “a force to be reckoned with,” a sincerely type man, and a mentor.

As she was doing her PhD on the historical past of residential faculties, Fraser mentioned, “it was actually Charlie who kept me on my toes and asked me some of the harder questions about history.

“Every interplay I had with Charlie Snowshoe, I walked away from that dialog considering … how is it that I can do higher?”

Fraser said Snowshoe, a residential school survivor himself, had deep knowledge of the Gwich’in land, people and stories, as well as a desire to keep that knowledge alive. 

“He was a powerful man proper up till the tip,” said Peterson, his daughter.

“He was a legend in his personal time. He’s positively accomplished his work right here and I’m simply glad that he will relaxation peacefully now.”

A funeral service will happen Monday in Fort McPherson.