Arctic Red River (Oct 23/06) - A cliff in Tsiigehtchic, which overlooks the Arctic Red River, has been crumbling recently, and residents fear a landslide.

In the past week, large cracks have appeared in the ground near the cliffside, with one fissure cutting into the town cemetery. Several sections of the cliffside -- including an outcropping, which previously held a commemorative plaque, installed in 1994 - have also dropped several feet.

On Oct. 18, Community Coordinator James Cardinal took News/North on a tour of the damage. When he arrived at the Roman Catholic church, he was surprised to see that sections of the hillside had collapsed during the night. "It's a good thing I brought you out here," he exclaimed. "This side must have dropped last night. We're going to be putting a sign here, so people don't walk. It's too dangerous."

Cardinal added that Tsiigehtchic's commemorative plaque had been removed, since its location was no longer considered safe.

He said he feared the whole cliffside might soon crumble, and was worried that Tsiigehtchic's cemetery might be affected, since some graves are getting closer to the edge. "We might have to dig them up and rebury them somewhere else," he said.

Cardinal said the cliffside has been eroding steadily for the past few weeks.

His best guess is that excess water has been running in underwater streams, eroding the ground from beneath.

He said people digging in the community have found streams in the past, and that there has been some flooding due to recent high temperatures. "It's the permafrost, it's melting," he said, adding cracks have also appeared under the band office and his own house.

As a result of this erosion some residents living close to the cliff have been asked to move.

This might mean finding a new place to live, or relocating their homes away from the cliff, Cardinal said. "It's hard because insurance doesn't cover landslides," he added.

On Oct. 18, as he toured the hamlet in his mini-van, he pointed at backyards, which he said had been cut in half.

"Here, look at this house. These people lost 20 feet, there's almost nothing left," he said in one case.

Russel Andre, another long time resident of Tsiigehtchic, agreed the situation was serious. "When you go out there, you can see the cracks, and it is falling," he said. "I don't

know what's going to happen, but I'm not going to step out there."

For now, Cardinal said residents can only wait and be careful. He said he's afraid people will step too near to the edge and fall, because the cracks might mean the ground is precarious.

"It's been warm all summer and warm all winter," he said, repeating his claim that underground streams from Hidden Lake were responsible. "People think global warming's not having an effect on the land. Well, here it is," he said. Tsiigehtchic's chief, Peter Ross, was in Fort Smith for a political assembly and could not be reached for comment.