Amos Njootli (1872 – 1923)
Amos Njootli was living on the Peel River around 1901. Reverend John Ttssiettla, the first First Nation ordained minister inside the Arctic Circle, asked Amos to accompany him across the mountains to Dawson. The trip was hard and Ttssiettla, who was old, died along the trail. His last wish was that Amos Njootli carry on his clerical work.1) Amos was probably encouraged by his family. His wife, Eunice, was Reverend Ttssietla’s adopted daughter.2) His older brother, Reverend William Njootli, worked for many years with Archdeacon McDonald at Fort McPherson.3)
In 1906, Joseph Kunizzi and Amos Njootli were acting as catechists for the Peel River people who were devout followers of the Church of England.4) In 1908, Joseph and Amos were preparing for deacon's orders.5) Rev. Amos Njootli was ordained in March 1911 and assigned to Rampart House.6) Soon after his ordination, Njootli started on a trip from the head of the Peel and Porcupine rivers to Rampart House at the Alaska border. He was a splendid speaker in his native Gwich’in and an adequate speaker in English. He was very popular with his people and a good hunter and very liberal in distributing what he possessed to the poor and needy.7)
Rev. Njootli arrived at Rampart House during the smallpox outbreak in 1911 and was sent into quarantine.8) Some of his family members were infected with smallpox in August that year.9) After a few years, Amos was spending five months a year at camps at the mouth of the Crow River, the head of the Crow River, Old Rampart in Alaska, and at Rapid Mountain. In 1916, Bishop Bompas sent residential school trained Jacob Njootli to establish a day school at Rampart House and teach in English. Before this, Amos taught the people to read and write in their own language.10)
When Rev. Totty visited in 1918, he reported that Njootli had lost several of his children. Totty relieved him of his duties in 1919 but Njootli continued to preach. Bishop Stringer arrived at Rampart House in the summer of 1920 and brought G.H. Moody to take over. Njootli continued to give services until his death in 1923. He contracted an extended case of hiccups and died of starvation.11)