Yukon College Elder to visit USask For Information Sharing

Whitehorse – A respected Yukon elder will be visiting the University of Saskatchewan for three weeks later this month as part of a cultural exchange program supported by Yukon College.

Randall Tetlichi, a member of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation and First Nations Support worker at the college’s Ayamdigut Campus in Whitehorse, is going to be USask’s first Elder-in Residence.

During his three-week visit, Tetlichi will be sharing traditional culture and ways of knowing with students, faculty and staff at the University’s School of Environment and Sustainability (SENS).

”I think this is a great opportunity, not only for me but Yukon College,” says Tetlichi. “It will help us have better relations with the University of Saskatchewan. We need to visit and build relations between the College and universities we have partnerships with.”

Tetlichi, a former chief of Old Crow, is a highly respected traditional healer and teacher. He has worked at Yukon College for four years, counseling youth and facilitating workshops and healing courses. He has also worked for years for the protection of the Porcupine Caribou herd, which migrates through traditional Gwitchin territory.

“One exciting part will be teaching how people communicate in the North, the ways of knowing about the environment, climate change, ecosystems, sustainability, and traditional knowledge,” he says.

“I’m also going to talk a lot about the individual, how they can make a difference,” he says. “Like John F. Kennedy said, “One person can make a difference… and every person should try.”

While at SENS, Tetlichi will lead workshops, conduct traditional sweats, and hold informal brown-bag-lunch talks with the public. He’ll also be sitting in on seminars and meetings with University faculty.

“I’m going to be learning as well,” he says. “I’m going to experiencing a bigger institution, people with different mentalities, expectations, and beliefs. It will help me to be more open, and have more faith in what I teach and talk about.”
 

This is a great opportunity for Yukon College, says the acting director of student services, Rob Sutherland.

“Randall has provided excellent service for our First Nations students,” he says. “He has come to be known to other institutions because he has such excellent skills and knowledge to share.

This is a new thing for the College to be attempting, and we are pleased we have become a place to go for this kind of knowledge.”

For now, Tetlichi is preparing his supplies, having never been to Saskatoon before..

“I’m going to pack a few pounds of my own moose meat, caribou, and fish,” he says.

He leaves for Saskatoon on Oct. 21.

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Contact:
John Boivin
Coordinator, College Relations
Yukon College
867 668 8786
jboivin@yukoncollege.yk.ca
www.yukoncollege.yk.ca