| Official Name: | Gwichʼin Tribal Council |
| Settlement Type: | Indigenous organization |
| Image Blank Emblem: | Gwichin_tribal_council_logo.gif |
| Blank Emblem Type: | Symbol |
| Mapsize: | 200 |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Territory |
| Subdivision Name1: | Northwest Territories |
| Subdivision Type3: | Territorial riding |
| Subdivision Name3: | Mackenzie Delta |
| Government Footnotes: | [1] |
| Leader Title: | Grand Chief |
| Leader Name: | Ken Kyikavichik |
| Leader Title1: | Deputy Grand Chief |
| Leader Name1: | Kristine McLeod |
| Leader Title2: | Communities |
| Leader Name2: | Aklavik Fort McPherson Inuvik Tsiigehtchic |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | April 22, 1992 |
| Population Total: | 1860 |
| Population As Of: | 2016 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Website: | Official website |
The Gwichʼin Tribal Council is a First Nations organization representing the Gwichʼin people in the Mackenzie River Delta of the Northwest Territories. It was created in 1992 with the final ratification of the Gwichʼin Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement with the Government of Canada. Negotiations to achieve a Final Agreement, and thus, Gwichʼin self-government, are ongoing.
The Gwichʼin people have been present in Alaska, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories since time immemorial. In 1921, chiefs and headmen representing the Gwichʼin (then known as the Loucheux) population in the Mackenzie-Delta signed Treaty 11, but unresolved differences arose between the interpretation of aboriginal and treaty rights by the Gwichʼin and by Canada, and many obligations were never fulfilled. To provide certainty and clarity of rights to land ownership, and to ensure various rights and benefits to the Gwichʼin people, the Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement was signed as a modern treaty on April 22, 1992.[2]
In September 2023, the Biden administration cancelled oil and gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, for which Bernadette Demientieff, executive director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee, thanked the administration.[3]
The Gwitch'in Tribal Council represents the four Gwitch'in communities in the Gwitch'in Settlement Area of the Northwest Territories, known as Designated Gwich'in Organizations (DGOs):[4]
Gwitch'in communities in Alaska and Yukon are not members of the Gwitch'in Tribal Council.
Although not a full self-government, the Gwichʼin Tribal Council has authority over planning and conservation within its jurisdiction, and exercises full ownership of various lands and organizations. These holdings include subsurface rights to certain parcels in the NWT, as well as the Gwichʼin Development Corporation and Gwichʼin Settlement Corporation. An additional Yukon Transboundary Agreement extends some of these rights into a part of neighbouring Yukon, provided that other First Nations in that jurisdiction are co-operated with.[5]