Gindèhchik–Rampart House
Character Defining Elements
Character Defining Elements
• The large collection of extant buildings and structures in their original locations including the Cadzow house, warehouse, and store; the Anglican church and rectory; the RNWMP barracks; several small log Gwitchin cabins; and accessory structures including a fox farm, outhouses, and caches.
• The spatial organization of the buildings, their orientation and location on level, elevated ground providing prominence and visibility of each structure, as well as their relationship to each other, the river and creek.
• The visual composition of built features, their landscape setting and the natural environment that surrounds them, including views up and down the Porcupine River, the view to Willow Island, and unobstructed open views of the buildings and building remnants within the site.
• The construction methods and materials evident in the buildings and structures, particularly the modified pièce sur pièce details, the use of both locally sourced and introduced materials, and the common vernacular construction of the collection of Gwich’in residences employing horizontal log construction with saddle notched corners.
• Varied constructions techniques of some Gwich’in buildings, such as the Old Archie Linklater House, which incorporates modified Piece sur Piece with traditional log construction.
• The original boundary marker on the International Boundary, and other survey-related features including the astronomical triangulation station.
• The archaeological record including former building locations, and the collection of moveable artefacts located around the site.
• The cultural landscape setting of the built heritage including the paths between buildings, the general clearing around the buildings defined by the edge of the forest, the topography of the site, the combination of the river and the high rock “ramparts” that define its edge, the access route from the river’s edge, and the creek that descends through the site.
• Evidence of traditional use found in the archaeological record and confirmed in the archival records, oral histories and stories of the Gwich’in living and working on the site.
• Continued use and access by Gwich’in hunting and fishing along the Porcupine River, and the use as a place for gathering, cultural knowledge transmission, and as a place for education and enjoyment.
