Chronicling the Peace
From her cabin on her parents’ farm near Fort St. John, B.C., Jody Peck can see the broad, meandering Peace River, not far from where […]
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A Family Tradition
When the hooligan are running, the rivers and harbour In Haines, Alaska host a fiesta of wildlife that congregate to feed on this little fish
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A Canada Day Celebration Worth Driving To
Mayo Arts Festival offers a unique way to celebrate Canada’s birthday with artists, workshops and musicians from the Stewart River Valley
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Tlingit Treasure
On Saturday May 14th, under sunny skies, hundreds of spectators celebrated the Grand Opening of the Jilkaat Kwaan Cultural Heritage Centre and Bald Eagle Preserve
Deep Ecology within Architecture and Design
The Living Building Challenge is an international sustainable building certificate program to foster the conscious development and design of eco-friendly architecture. It was launched
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A welcoming sewing circle
Have you got a beading project you’ve been trying to finish? Do you want to learn more about First Nations traditional sewing? Florence Moses hosts
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Myth and Medium Focuses on Stories and Performance
This week shaped up to be a culturally ambitious one in Dawson City. The centerpiece of the week has been the Myth and Medium conference
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Hone Your Craft
This year marks the 14th anniversary of the Available Light Film Festival. Each year, the festival seems to grow and attract greater talent from a
Hostel Hostility, Part 2
Before coming to Nicaragua’s beach mecca of San Juan del Sur, I had undergone a hostel scare in Granada – a polite-seeming colonial city with
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Didee & Didoo: THOSE MY AUNTIE
I CALL THOSE MY AUNTIE HE AN’ HE CALL THOSE UNCLE SHE. THOSE AUNTIE HE’S NOT THAT NEW AND SNUFF HE ALWAYS CHEW. I THINK
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Brightening Up Even the Darkest Nights
I’m happy to record that, except for the arrival of the Sears Wish Book at North 60 Petro Express, everything else related to Christmas here
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A natural way to look good (and feel good)
Standing in the hallway of the Horwood’s Mall, looking into Climate Clothing, you don’t immediately see the First Nation influence in the neat rows of
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Global response to climate change
The systems of the Earth are inextricably interwoven – be they environmental, social, or economic. Naomi Klein, bestselling author of This Changes Everything, The Shock
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Harvesting Porcupine Caribou Near Old Crow
In the past two years the herd of Porcupine Caribou in Old Crow herd has gradually changed its natural migration route.
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Didee & Didoo: DIDOO AN’ POOR DIDEE
THEIR BACKS ARE BENT AN’ THEY STAY IN A TENT. THEY DON’T READ OR WRITE AN’ THEY USE CANDLE AT NIGHT. DIDOO WEAR LONG SKIRT
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Telling stories
Sharon Shorty and I first met back in 2005 when I worked at the Yukon College Library with her awesome husband, Derek Yap. Sharon was
Water under Moss
My favourite childhood memories are when Mom would take us to Fish Lake, just a few miles out of Whitehorse. We spent our summers there
Sharing the Past
Out on the old Alaska Highway, halfway to Haines Junction and only a few kilometres from Champagne, an observant traveller may spot Kwaday Dan Kenji,
Drumming Festival will ‘wake up the land’
“You feel it to your core; it is a heartbeat; so uplifting; it just goes right through me.” Steve Smith, the chief of the Champagne
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First Nations share through fashion
Producer of Adäka Fashion Show’s goal is to see the Yukon’s traditional fashions, dance regalia, & bush garments fully represented.
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Ancestral Ways
Juanita has captured Best In Class honours at Santa Fe. She made her first visit to the Yukon, as part of the annual Adäka Cultural Festival
Dawson’s Community Dance
Tiss Clark, a local artist and music teacher, is the organizer of the Community Jigging Square Dance Project in Dawson City. She decided to start
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World Heritage Planning Gets a Big Boost
The Yukon Government (YG) finally decided to sign on in a substantive way to the push for UNESCO World Heritage Status for the site designated
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Caring Souls
Krista Reid has worked since last June to ensure the memorial exhibition known as Walking With Our Sisters would be “a space to create a
Formerly Tools, Now Artifacts on Display
The Kwanlin Dün First Nation recorded elders’ stories in 1993. This turned into about seven boxes of transcripts, which sat in an office. Elders gathered
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Leela Gilday: Heart of the People
Leela Gilday recognizes how First Nations performers can inspire aboriginal youngsters, who seldom see “indigenous heroes”
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Gunalchéesh for your Love and Support
Marilyn Jensen was inspired to start a dance group after finishing her master’s degree at the University of Victoria. She studied Indigenous governance, and said
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Up Ghost River Without a Paddle
When Edmund Metatawabin’s (Ed) residential school memoir, Up Ghost River, jumped off the new-books shelf of the Yukon Public Library and landed in my book
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Remembering Alex Van Bibber
Some people should live forever; I felt immense loss as I heard about Alex Van Bibber’s passing on November 26, 2014, at the age of
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Running’s His Medicine
Caribou Legs has a home now, in Whitehorse. He’s lived here for about three months. He runs everyday, and he works with youth. He’s currently
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Mountain elephants and buffalo eyes
It was the Christmas season in 2005 in Whitehorse and my two great-grandsons, Dakota and his younger brother Garrison, were visiting us during their Vancouver
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A Successful Spring
As an Elder, I learned from my past Elders; as a Gwitchin, I live along with the season. Porcupine Caribou is our main source of
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Feels Like a Celebration
Journey with Our Hearts and Hands at Adäka Cultural Festival is 13 master carvers from New Zealand, BC, Alaska, the NWT & The Yukon.
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Growing Up Gwich’in
Editor’s Note: When Jason Westover visited Elizabeth Kaye recently, he suggested he would love to know more about her life besides her passion for moccasin-making.
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One Foot in a Moccasin, and One in a Sneaker
Marissa Mills, Kluane First Nation, example of what First Nations youth can achieve if they stay true to who they are as Indigenous people.
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A Testament to the Disappearances of Aboriginal Women
International Women’s Day is Saturday, March 8, it’s a day to pause and consider women’s health, dreams, and safety — worldwide, and in Canada. It’s
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Northern Pride
Learn about Durn Henry and the impact of art for healing during the Northern Cultural Expressions Society Days of Our Knives exhibit.
Myth and Medium are Coming Again
The bi-annual Myth and Medium symposium runs from February 24 to 28 this year, the week after the territorial Heritage Day holiday. Heritage Day originally
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Celebrating Local Books
Writing tends to be a pretty solitary activity, but with their books completed and published, nine Yukon authors are ready to celebrate. Mac’s Fireweed Books
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What is the Tr’ondëk-Klondike Project?
In two previous columns I have given some background behind Dawson City’s interest in UNESCO’s World Heritage Status designation. The Klondike region was placed on
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Exploring Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Culture
The striking Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre was controversial when it was first being built in Dawson City — it’s not exactly a gold rush themed
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Part of the Land, Part of the Water
During early land claim negotiations, respected Teslin elder Virginia Smarch once said of her Tlingit community, “that is who we are: part of the land,
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Artrepreneur: Sundog Carvers Sink Teeth into Snow
Young artists from the Sundog carving program have turned from wood to snow. Until Feb. 23, you can see them carving six eight-foot square blocks
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Keeping the Stories Alive
Tammy Lee Josie first performed her family’s Vuntut Gwitchin stories at the Yukon International Storytelling Festival
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The art of guilt
Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood in the House of Commons on June 11, 2008 and apologized. His address was in regards to Indian Residential Schools
Dolores Anderson
Dolores Anderson (nee Scheffen) is among the Yukon artists involved with Sewing Our Traditions: Dolls of Canada’s North the exhibition that is heading to Northern
New Film Gives a Child’s Eye Perspective on Residential Schools
Generations of First Nations Peoples across Canada are still trying to come to terms with experiences they and their families had in residential schools. A
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Discovering a Rich Cultural Heritage
Colleen Potter has an infectious smile that can put even the most-guarded person at ease. It’s a smile that doesn’t fade when she begins to
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Keeping His Culture Strong
Daniel Tlen sang our national anthem at the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. The event was viewed by one of the
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Finding a Gem
It can take approximately six days to hand-make a traditional pair of beaded moosehide moccasins. That’s why they cost about $250.But when you splurge on
Our Olympic contribution
The Yukon’s cultural contribution to the Vancouver Winter Olympics is all coming together. On Tuesday, Feb. 16, at the Yukon Arts Centre, audiences will see
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The Trickster as Bingo Master
Can one Holy Grail of a Bingo Game in Toronto be the answer to the dreams of seven women living on a reserve? Tomson Highway’s
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Aboriginal plays featured in Gwaandak’s Summer Reading Series
Gwaandak Theatre is putting on a reading series this summer featuring three plays written by First Nations playwrights, borrowing the skills of some local First
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From the Arts: Beautiful New Additions to Your Gallery
In the lobby of the Yukon Government Administration Building, just behind the library, you can see this year’s eight new additions to the Yukon Permanent
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Blackstone Buzz and Fish Magnets
While APTN is ushering in the New Year with a number of great new shows, perhaps the biggest buzz will come from the premiere of
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Speaking Frankly about Choices
Jessica Yee doesn’t mince her words. “As young people, our rights to our own bodies and spaces are fundamental to our own existence. They are
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Seeing With Both Eyes
My first introduction to the CHAOS program involved driving up Grey Mountain to meet a group of grade 9 students and educators as they completed
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If you can’t stand the heat …
In like a lion, March marks the launch of exciting premieres on APTN, featuring competition that is sure to be fierce. Cooking With the Wolfman
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Aboriginal Day Live
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) is set to stage its annual celebration of National Aboriginal Day in Canada. This year’s fifth anniversary event will be
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Remembering Tent City
As we get closer to the time when Dawson sees an influx of summer workers, I thought I would take this week to reflect on
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Finding Wonder in Wood
The subtle aromas of cedar, basswood and paint scent the air in the Arts Underground gallery as you view the representations of frog, raven, eagle,
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Wisecracks and Popcorn
APTN broadcasts a wide variety of Hollywood films, with features four nights per week and additional matinees on weekends. A lot of viewers wonder how
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Dawson’s Got Culture
Things generally slow down at the Dänojà Zho (Hän for Long Ago House) Cultural Centre once the summer season is over and the tourists are
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A Tale in Two Tellings
Ten years after Louis Riel was convicted of high treason and hanged, a young Cree warrior shot a cow near Duck Lake, Saskatchewan, where the
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Michael Mason’s Single Line
It’s a slow Sunday afternoon and Michael Mason is a little discouraged at the low turnout for his one-man art show at the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in
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Promoting Canada’s National Sport
Terry Mosdale wants to see the sport of lacrosse take root and grow in the Yukon. The learning facilitator and officiating clinician with the Canadian
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A Little Off the Top: Stereotypes and Beyond
On June 11, 2008, Prime Minister Stephen Harper rose in the House of Commons to issue a formal apology for Canada’s century-long Indian residential school
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Southern Tutchone Lives In Song
The Southern Tutchone language CD, entitled Dakwanjenaats u al, has a purpose: The English translation is “Let’s Pick Up Our Language Again”.
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Old Colours Shepherded Into A New World
Born in a time of transition, Jack Fred Jackson was strongly influenced by time spent with his grandfather, both on the land and in the home.
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