Songs
Traditionally, music plays an important cultural role for speakers of Gwich’in. Typically, most formal meetings are opened with a song. Here are a few examples of songs that we sing.
There is a rich tradition of Athabascan Gwichin fiddle playing as well and many resources can be found online.
Storytelling
Storytelling is also an important part of our culture. The following links are just a sample of this rich Gwich’in tradition.
Paul Williams Jr. is working on a book to preserve some of the stories in Gwich’in. Read more about this project here: Traditional storytelling meets modern technology to preserve Alaska Native tales (Fairbanks Daily News Miner article)
Neerihiinjìk – a bilingual collection of folktales, songs, and tribal history by Johnny Frank, Sarah Frank, and Craig Mishler
Video – Listen to a story in Gwich’in