Mother in Old Crow, Yukon, starts petition to clean up and improve recreational spaces

Chris MacIntyre · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 11, 2025 7:36 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 11

Living successful a tiny and remote northern assemblage similar Old Crow, Yukon, tin mean constricted entree to recreational activities — especially erstwhile galore of the spaces meant for activities similar baseball or shot are being alternatively utilized to store concern instrumentality and supplies.

Jeneen Frei Njootli, a Vuntut Gwitchin national and parent of 2 young children successful Old Crow, has started a petition to effort to alteration that. Njootli says the assemblage needs options disposable for outdoor play.

"Every azygous 1 of our fields has [construction] equipment successful it," Njootli said. "There's obscurity harmless for our children to play shot oregon play baseball, due to the fact that they're being utilized arsenic concern storage."

Njootli said determination are shipping containers, rolls of chain-link fencing, gathering materials specified arsenic escaped gravel, and integrated worldly connected those recreational fields, making them unsafe and unusable for kids.

According to Njootli, that leaves fewer options for families and kids: the playground astatine the school, a playground located successful the "downtown" area, oregon successful 1 of the community's subdivisions.

Njootli said the assemblage of astir 250 radical utilized to person an arena where children and younker could skate and play, but it was precocious demolished after the information of the gathering became excessively unstable for nationalist use. 

Njootli said a authorities services store is acceptable to beryllium built successful the vacant space. Njootli said the store is needed, but that it's frustrating there's been nary treatment about creating a recreational abstraction to regenerate the arena.

"Our younker request to cognize they matter. Show them that they substance by prioritizing spaces that are conscionable for them," Njootli said.

The online petition, signed by 85 people from Old Crow and elsewhere arsenic of Wednesday afternoon, urges the Vuntut Gwitchin main and assembly "to prioritize, protect, and put successful recreational spaces that service each of our assemblage members," by relocating the authorities services store to different site, by cleaning up the shot diamond and shot field, and by processing a caller multi-use recreation abstraction astatine a tract connected the riverfront.

Njootli said the issue is 1 for the full assemblage to address.

"This has been years and years and years successful the making," Njootli said. "Over a decennary of slow, corroding of assemblage spaces successful favour of development. Yes we request the development, but it can't travel astatine the outgo of our recreation spaces."

CBC News contacted the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation astir the issue but the First Nation declined to comment.

CBC News besides reached retired to Vuntut Gwitchin MLA Annie Blake, but she wasn't instantly disposable for an interview.

Jeneen Frei Njootli's brother, Stan Njootli Jr., said recreation creates steadfast children, and steadfast families. He said he  feels that there's a batch of effort to "build up" Old Crow, but not capable being enactment toward supporting sustainable recreation.

"That's wherever the healing truly begins for First Nations people," Stan Njootli Jr. said. "It's connected the land, and being active.

"I'd similar to spot our authorities absorption connected recreation wrong the community. An progressive assemblage is simply a wellness community."