Alestine Andre

Alestine Andre

Culture (2007)

When Alestine Andre was a young girl she returned home one summer from residential school and translated everything she learned into Gwich’in for her mother. She wanted to share what she had learned about science, the constellations and the universe. Today as a Heritage Researcher for her area she successfully combines her gifts of Gwich’in traditional knowledge with that of Western Science. She continues to work with language and is a leading voice in the pursuit, preservation and promotion of her Gwich’in language and culture. And while she has been to the four corners of the world experiencing other cultures, she always returns home to work for the community that raised her. She lived off the land with her parents and returns each summer to her family camp to fish. She insists on a close connection to the land. In it she finds the wisdom, peace and resolve to research, document and publish volumes on Gwich’in oral tradition that future generations will forever draw strength from.