Gone Fishing
Many Yukoners live here because they enjoy the active lifestyle, interaction with wilderness, and distance from ties and pencil skirts. A visiting author from the […]
Didee & Didoo – Poem “Cold Rush”
Allan Benjamin is a cartoonist from Old Crow, Yukon.
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Cleaning up in the Klondike
Now that the snow is completely gone, it’s a little bit depressing to see how much garbage it was hiding. We had begun to notice
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Colour Me Mayo
Mayo is often Yukon’s hot spot in the summer, and this Saturday June 18,2011 it’s the hot spot for the arts and the Mayo Arts Festival
Didee & Didoo – Poem “Andy Nieman”
“Andy Nieman” He’s a residential school survivor and the devil was his driver. He knows all about pain ‘cause he was addicted to cocaine. He
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Haines Beerfest 2011!
Have a lovely chat with Paul Wheeler of Haines Brewing Company about the origins of the Haines Beer Fest, and you will quickly understand Alaskans’
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Klondike Korner: Getting Ready For the Ball
They’ve been sprucing up the front façade of the Palace Grand Theatre recently, sanding off the old stain and lathering on the new. The contractor
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Culture Camp”
Allan Benjamin is a cartoonist from Old Crow, Yukon.
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Girls With Guitars
The Town of Faro will soon be taken over by teenage girls on a mission. Musical instruments in hand, they will immerse themselves in music
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The Shadows Know
In the afternoon glare of October elongated shadows stretch north across the town,reaching for winter.
Klondike Korner: Introducing the Klondike Cup
On February 10, about a week after you’ll be reading this, one of the longest rivalries in hockey legend will see another act its 106-year
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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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Flash freeze-up: Speculation and rumours
There is excitement in the air, at least for those of us living on the west side of the Yukon River in Dawson City. Freeze-up
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A Wall of Colour Tells a Tale of Faro
Young laughter rings out in the Faro Kettle coffee shop in the Recreation Centre, as the community celebrates the unveiling of a new mural that
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The Mystery of the Four Coffins Explained
“You’re in one of the slides in this presentation,” they told me. This came as a surprise, since it is generally my lot in life
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Two Old Ladies Part One”
TWO OLD LADIES PART ONE There were stories about a famine when there was no meat an’ salmon. People were in search of the caribou
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The Artful Orchestration of Ferry Extraction
In Dawson we usually get 24-hours notice before the George Black ferry gets pulled for the winter. That’s time enough for one last big haul
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Dear Abby”
Here’s my letter dear Abby ‘cause things are not too shabby. I need you to make me happy ‘cause I don’t like to be crappy.
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Bear Dogs”
They like to bark an’ scream but they’re too small for a dog team. Some are black an’ some are white and some pretend to
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “January”
The month of January is kind of scary. We don’t have to be told ‘cause this month is so cold. The temperature goes to 40
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Glad Temper”
I don’t like to write about myself ‘cause sometimes I feel like an elf. I was born up in Old Crow where the Porcupine River
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “He Missed His Girlfriend”
Allan Benjamin is a cartoonist from Old Crow, Yukon.
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Ski-Doo”
Ski-Doo It doesn’t bark or scream an’ it replaced the dog team. It was a new thing that starts with a string. It can turn
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Sewing”
Sewing My auntie makes extra bucks when she sews mukluks. When she sews beaver mitts Auntie never calls it quits. She makes tea in dippers
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Klondike Korner: How the Dogs Love to Run
The dogs at the Percy DeWolfe starting line must have started getting antsy around 9:15 am on March 24. That’s when our dog, whose mother
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Old Crow Trading Post”
OLD CROW TRADING POST Philip Dicquamare came from France and Old Crow he found by chance. Philip was a French man and a trading post
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Art Enrichment Time
The first Youth Art Enrichment (YAC) week in Dawson City was inspired in the early years of the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC)
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Klondike Korner: Preparing for the Double Bob Bash
I’m writing this column on Robert Service’s birthday, January 16, which is appropriate since the event I wish to describe is the Dawson Community Library’s
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Louise and Chris”
Louise and Chris Uncles’ kids numbered over a dozen And Louise is my first cousin. Just in case you didn’t know We all grew up
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Skagway Craft Brew Festival Debrief
It’s official: Skagwegians know how to have a good time. We just got back from the second annual Skagway Craft Brew Festival, and it was awesome.
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A Dawson Virtual Tour
I discovered Google Earth a few years ago. Our son was spending the winter in Fort Nelson and we figured out that Google Earth would
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Free Meal”
Allan Benjamin is a cartoonist from Old Crow, Yukon.
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “I’m Just an Old Dog”
I’m just an old dog My name is Grover an’ I’m just a leftover. At one time I was in my prime. Now I’m an
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Don Burnstick”
“Don Burnstick” He comes from down south an’ he knows how to use his mouth. If you’re feelin’ crappy he’ ll soon make you happy.
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Watching Ice
This is the time of year when you find people looking at the river and wondering – when? There are different “whens”, of course. I
An Art of Their Own
On December 15, the Yukon School of Visual Art Dawson City campus will open its doors to the public for its annual Christmas open house
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Heritage New & Old
When Natasha Peter walks into the coffee shop, she’s grinning with excitement. “We were just down the street looking at rifles,” she says of her
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Dawson and the Ted Harrison Effect
While doing what I call my Berton House exit interview with Sara Tilley, the latest writer-in-residence, she remarked that one of the things that made
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Sourtoe Cocktail”
There are strange things done in the land of the midnight sun. Captain Dick ended up with a toe when someone froze it off at 40 below.
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Double Minds, Double Exposures
Something was different upstairs at the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture that afternoon. The wood floors and high ceilings make the second-floor ballroom usable
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Klondike Korner: Look Out Below!
Discover the quirks of winter in Dawson City, including snow loads that can surprise car owners every season.
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Bush Pilots”
When they fly bush planes they always use their brains. Sometimes it’s a tight squeeze when they land on wheels or skis. Or they land
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Skagway Craft Brew Festival
If you’re 21 years of age and like to kick back in the company of more than 200 beer enthusiasts while tasting a wide variety
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Cabin Door Sign”
Cabin Door Sign I’m not always at home ‘Cause I’m always on the roam. You don’t need to knock My door doesn’t have a lock.
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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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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Uncle & Bob”
UNCLE AND BOB Uncle doesn’t like a fly And Bob likes to fly. Uncle knows the land An’ Bob knows how to land. Uncle like
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Musical Months in Dawson
Dawson City is famous for the Dawson City Music Festival, which covers a long weekend in July. However, if that’s all we had happening here,
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Klondike’s Lost Recreation Gold
Think big. That’s what Dawson City residents were invited to do this fall as they participated in yet another round of consultations for a new
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Buttons”
Buttons We used to play this game and buttons is the name. With buttons we pay an’ that’s why we play. We dig a hole
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Ribbons and Scissors
As the summer winds down here in Dawson, and with no special occasion on the horizon, this week seemed a good time to sum up
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Klondike’s Wandering School House
On August 29 the Klondike School House, called Tr’odek Hatr’unohtan Zho in the Han language, finally got a home. I’m talking about the Dawson campus
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Best Singer”
“Best Singer” The songs that I wrote will put a lump in my throat. But the best song I ever heard came from my little
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Painting the Public Face of Dawson
Our mayor, Peter Jenkins, likes to say that moving the capital city to Whitehorse did Dawson a favour. We lost the politicians but got to
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Remembering the Lost Patrol
One of the last big weekends of this Dawson City summer will be built around an RCMP Regimental Ball, to be held here on August
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “She Saved My Life”
She Saved My Life She’s my uncle’s wife and she saved my life. Her name is Nancy an’ she’s really fancy. And I’ll tell you
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Memories of Life in Dawson
Publishing timelines sometimes just don’t mesh with reality. Ten days ago I could have written three of these advance-notice style columns about the crowded schedule
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Through the Eyes of an Elder”
Through the eyes of an elder I see through the eyes of an elder Not through the helmet of a welder. If you see through
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A Close Look at the Klondike’s Frozen Gold
While we are on the cusp of a new gold rush in the Klondike, an era of exploration that is seeing a gradual shift from
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Visitors Countdown
Sawdust, grass and gravel are flying, there is painting to be done, tidying and dusting—the rural museums around the territory are gearing for the tourist
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A Look at Dawson’s Dike
It will have been obvious from my last column that I was truly expecting breakup to have occurred before I got around to writing the
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Skyward Bound
t can happen to anyone. You forget to set the alarm, you sleep in, you miss an important flight. But when you’re a migratory bird,
Didee & Didoo – Poem “Grandma Suzie”
GRANDMA SUZIE If she hits you with her cane she’ll give you a little pain. But it won’t hurt ‘cause she likes to flirt. We
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Feeding Bodies, Hearts and Minds
Just had a call from the folks at the Community Gospel Hall to tell us that there were 90 people at this week’s edition of
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Caribou and Cassava
Earlier this spring, I was invited to the Robert Service School (RSS) to observe a unique exchange program between Grade 5 and 6 students in
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Making Music in the Ballroom
The last of the monthly winter coffee house and open mic nights at the Odd Fellows Hall ballroom occurred on May 5. They are a
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Relaying the Relay
The Kluane Chilkat International Bike Relay turns 20 this year. For all of those years, Ron McFadyen has worked dedicatedly in the background, radio in
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Roofalanches
You might not expect to have to worry too much about falling snow in the Klondike in April. After all, this is not Alberta, where
Didee & Didoo – Poem “Merle Haggard”
“Merle Haggard” He was always on the roam when he sang “Sing Me Back Home”. The strangers were his back up band when Merle sang
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Dawson’s Writers’ Block
There’s an area of town in Dawson that I like to refer to as the Writers’ Block. I do this because of an inherent weakness
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Be It Ever So Wintry, There’s No Place Like Home
“Gee, but it’s great to be back home” – Paul Simon Waiting for my wife’s plane to land at the airport this afternoon I was
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Music Fills the Klondike this Fall
Get myself ready for the October edition of the monthly Coffee House/Open Mic evening in the Oddfellows Hall ballroom.
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Tinkering”
“TINKER” I think he’s a good thinker ‘cause he always likes to tinker. He likes to take stuff apart then he tries to make it
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Getting Down with the Trash
Find out how Dawson City recycling initiatives are supported by passionate residents committed to environmental health.
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A Smokin’ New System
What’s that sound? It’s everywhere, it’s everywhere. What you hear may be the new surround-sound system at St. Elias Convention Centre in Haines Junction. With
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Body Heat”
Body Heat When it’s a cold autumn you’ll freeze your bottom. You can either migrate or better yet hibernate. You can’t do no harm when
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A Klondike Korner: Honouring Tr’ochëk
The former Hän fish camp, known today as Tr’ochëk, was designated as a National Historic Site on July 19, 2002, joining the long list of
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Driving Depends on Icy Conditions
It’s hard to think of an icy road as being anything but dangerous, but that’s not always the case. In Dawson City it can go
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Don Cherry”
Don Cherry His name is Don Cherry an’ he’s named after a berry. His nickname is Grapes he has suits of all colours an’ shapes.
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Racing Colours
When the Percy de Wolfe Memorial Mail Race comes to Dawson City on March 22, it is a sign of spring. Already the light is
Lots of Snow in the Klondike
welcome to a new year of news and musing from the Klondike, where the most descriptive word for the several weeks seems to be “snow”.
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Coronation Street
Strange things are done in the midnight sun, and when you’ve lived in the North for a few years, you don’t really question these things.
What is Thaw di Gras, Anyway?
Thaw di Gras (sometimes misspelled Thaw di Graw, especially in Manitoba) is the peculiar name Dawson City gives its spring carnival. The event will be
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The Trek Celebrates Year 19
It’s the 19th year for Trek Over the Top, and the second year the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) has the Yukon side of the operation
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Mass Confusion at the Percy Junior Race
There are two types of starting line for the annual Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race events. The first one is a timed individual start on
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100 Steps Further In
Faro-based artist Jackie Irvine set herself a challenge. What if she painted one painting a day for 100 days? Starting October 1, 2011 she did
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Being Caribou”
Allan Benjamin is a cartoonist from Old Crow, Yukon.
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Transparency Theory
The Yukon School of Visual Arts (SOVA) in Dawson City is going on the road. Students and faculty will arrive in Whitehorse next week to
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Short Sightings, Wide Views
On the day before the 13th Annual Dawson City International Short Film Festival (DCISFF) schedule was released, I joined festival producer, Dan Sokolowski, in his
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The Origins of Berton House: Part 1
“Like all famous sons, Pierre Berton sometimes gets a mixed reception in his home town, but you’d never have known it to hear the spontaneous
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Myth and Medium Returns to Dawson
The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (TH) Heritage department is reviving its Myth and Medium program during the week of February 21 to 23. The program ran for
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Keeping Their Music Playing
When beloved members of a community pass away, thoughts about how to commemorate their lives begin to be tossed around. Sometimes a bench is adorned
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Sunshine and Shadow in the Winter
Our dog, Shadow, is outside this afternoon and has been for about half an hour. The sun has reached the point where it actually shines
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Finding the Fountain Trail
Karen MacKay is a different kind of grandmother. MacKay has a house back in Ottawa, where she was born, seven grandchildren and two sons. But
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A Fortnight in the Freezer
Today was one of those overcast days when the sun didn’t break through and all we got was indirect lighting. When this happens I can’t
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Film Time
As we close in on Easter Weekend, otherwise known locally as the Dawson City International Short Film Festival (DCISFF), I have to wonder if Dawson’s
Didee & Didoo – Poem “Check Up”
Allan Benjamin is a cartoonist from Old Crow, Yukon.
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Didee & Didoo – Poem “Store”
Store I don’t like to buy pop but I like to shop. I can use my credit card when I need to buy lard. Or
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