Andrew Tizya (1919 - 2003)
Andrew Tizya was born at the mouth of the Old Crow River, before Old Crow was a large community. His parents were Moses Tizya and Martha Chitze Tizya. His father’s parents were John and Sarah Tizya and his mother’s parents were William and Anne Chitze.1) Andrew was the grandson of Deacon John Tizya.2) he was a hunter for Old Crow families, a trapper on Dawson Creek and Blackfox Creek, and he had a fish camp on the Porcupine River.3)
Andrew Tizya travelled with Peter Benjamin when he was an RCMP guide with his dog team. They went to Herschel Island and along the coast, and travelled to Fort McPherson most often, breaking the trail by snowshoe. They would be away for several weeks, checking on the trappers along the way.4)
In 1956, RCMP officer Jim Hickling hired Tizya to lead him from Old Crow back to Herschel Island where he was stationed. They returned on the “snow monster” trail. The Alaska Freightways machine had passed through in the fall of 1955 to supply the Blow River camp for the DEW Line construction. In the 1930s, the Gwitchin people travelled along the Firth River, Blow River, and the Black Fox Creek trails. They had not been to Herschel between then and 1953. Tizya took part of his wages in flour, sugar, and tea and had a heavy load on the way back by himself. When Hickling was contacted over the route for a re-enactment of the patrol, he referred the officers to Tizya who had been along several routes both ways.5)
In 2004, Corporal Kim McKellar, who headed up the Old Crow three-man detachment, planned a trip north with five other men to conduct a memorial snowmobile patrol to Herschel Island. This would be the first long distance patrol since the Old Crow RCMP undertook the Last Patrol in 1969. Stephen Frost Sr. would represent the Vuntut Gwitchin elders. His son Dennis Frost Sr. would represent the Hunters and Trappers Committee and the Renewable Resources Council. Twenty-year-old Kibbe Tetlichi would represent Old Crow First Nation's youth. Auxiliary Constable Danny Kassi would be one of the group. Andrew Tizya guided the Mountie sled dog patrols in the 1950s and will escort the group for the first few kilometres out of Old Crow. Old Crow replaced Dawson for the start of the winter patrol in the 1930s.6)