One time I worked in a mine
Where there’s now sunshine
It was like a giant grave
So I had to be brave
It was very dark and cold
I didn’t like mining for gold
When I was underneath
I even thought of a wreath
I was even nervous
Thinkin’ of a funeral service
When I was workin’ in the mine
I thought of a box made of pine
I thought of the undertaker
So I prayed to my maker
It’s better to be above ground
Because I like to be around
I know my date of birth
But I hate going back in the earth
I don’t think of my expiry date
Because it’s a long wait
But I always wonder
When I’ll go back under
It’s up to my higher power
“Cause he knows the day an’ hour
When I was a kid this Elder gave me a Gwich’in name”CHIH AHAA”
Translated it means”walking ahead”
Allan Benjamin
CHIH AHAA
Allan Benjamin is a poet, a cartoonist, a fiddle player and a snowshoe racer from Old Crow, Yukon. Allan is a Vuntut Gwich’in artist who provides cartoons and poems to What’s Up Yukon. He introduces us to two sets of characters who represent Allan’s family and traditional Gwich’in life growing up in Old Crow.