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Old Crow has about 264 inhabitants (Yukon Bureau of Statisitics, Dec. 2004), most of them belonging to the Gwichʼin-speaking Aboriginal Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. It is situated on the Porcupine River in the north of Yukon Territory and is served by the Old Crow Airport, which is rather important because it is the only Yukon community that cannot be reached by car. The people of Old Crow are dependent on the Porcupine caribou herd for food and clothing. The Porcupine caribou herd migrates to the coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to give birth to their young. Most people in Old Crow believe the herd is seriously threatened by oil-drilling in the ANWR and have been lobbying hard to prevent it. A large number of apparently human modified animal bones have been discovered in the Old Crow area that have been dated to 25,000 - 40,000 years ago by carbon dating, several thousand years earlier than generally accepted human habitation of North America.
Climate Old Crow has a dry and cold subarctic climate. Average annual temperature is −9 °C. Old Crow experiences annual temperature average daily highs of 21 °C in July and average daily lows of −36 °C in January. Record high temperature was 33 °C in August 1976 and the lowest was −59 °C in January 1956. Old Crow has little precipitation with an average annual snowfall of 129 cm and 144 mm of rainfall. Snow can fall in any month except July. Nevertheless, despite being above the Arctic Circle, Old Crow is in the subarctic taiga. | ||||||||
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