Yukon who is who

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Gertie Tom, Et'ats'inkalme (b. 1927)
	
Gertie Tom, a member of the Crow clan, was born and raised in the Big Salmon River region.((“Gertie Tom.” //Our Elders,// Yukon Native Language Centre website: ]http://www.ynlc.ca/elders.shtml)) She was brought up in the bush in a family of nine children. The family trapped and depended on hunting and fishing for their lifestyle. They travelled to Carmacks or Whitehorse in the spring to sell the furs and get supplies.((Yukon Government News Release, 17 October 2007: http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/2007/07-223.html)) 
	
Tom’s family moved to Whitehorse in 1948.((“Gertie Tom.” //Our Elders,// Yukon Native Language Centre website: http://www.ynlc.ca/elders.shtml)) The sternwheeler traffic on the upper Yukon River was diminishing and Big Salmon Village was abandoned in the early 1950s when the boats stopped running.((James Ruppert and John W. Bernet, editors, //Our Voices: Native Stories of Alaska and the Yukon.// Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 2001: 130.))
	
From 1961 to 1965, Tom was a part-time translator and broadcaster at CBC Radio. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, she was a Community Health Worker for the Northern Health Service and used her language skills to assist doctors and nurses helping elders. In 1977, she began working as a Native Language Specialist with the Yukon Native Language Centre. She assisted in developing a practical alphabet for the Northern Tutchone language. She has engaged in the writing of booklets, a student noun dictionary, and an extensive collection of traditional stories. She has recorded a set of language lessons published by the Yukon Native Language Centre.((“Gertie Tom.” //Our Elders,// Yukon Native Language Centre, website: http://www.ynlc.ca/elders.shtml); Dùts'um Edhó Ts'ètsi Yu Dän K'í = How to Tan Hides in the Native Way (1981); Èkeyi: Gyò Cho Chú = My Country: Big Salmon River (1987) ))
	
Gertie Tom’s mother described traditional garments and functional objects used by aunts, uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers and she saw these articles in use. Many of them were no longer being made because it was more convenient to ready-made articles in the stores. Not wanting the skills to be lost, Gertie began to preserve the skills through her books as well as making the traditional items. The Yukon Permanent Art Collection is home to Gertie's work including "Firebag" and "Dog Packs."((Oct 17 Yukon Government News, Release, 17 October 2007: http://www.gov.yk.ca/news/2007/07-223.html))
	
Gertie Tom was inducted into the Order of the Yukon in 2021 for her demonstrated excellence and achievement and her outstanding contributions to the social and cultural well-being of Yukon and its residents.((“Congratulations.” //Deslin Neek,// Issue 60, December 2020: 20.))