Get Glammed Up for LDAY
The Learning Disabilities Association of Yukon, also known as LDAY Centre for Learning, is celebrating its 50th year in operation in 2023.
Dawson City
A Yukon Mosaic
Eleanor Millard’s story is a familiar one. She came to the Yukon in 1965 and got captured. She has mostly been here since…
River Meets Wolf
Yukon authors Kay Deborah Linley and Kathryn Couture wrote books about a kayaking tour, as well as a fantasy series about wolves.
Stolen Loot Or Hard-Earned Savings?
As a professional trail builder, Bill McLane spends a lot of time digging earth, moving rocks and finding treasure.
Celebration of Lights
Dawson City’s Celebration of Lights is a wonderful time to celebrate the holiday spirit, decorating and lighting a community holiday tree.
What’s Going on at KIAC This Fall?
It seems things are finally back in full spring, or fall, after a long two years with limited opportunities for arts and culture events.
A Peek At The Yukon During ‘The Quiet Years’
Aside from just being a darn good read, this book covers a period about which very little has been written.
The Yukon by Mountain Bike
Over 700 kilometres of trails, and growing every year. For most residents, it’s a short drive or bike to the mountain biking trails.
Time Travelling in the Yukon
Living in the Yukon, it’s hard not to feel distinctly aware of time, of its passing and of our relationship to it.
Looking Inside the Insider
Christopher Ross writes about his journalism experiences at the Dawson City Insider from 1997-1999 and what happened after.
Celebrating Yukon’s Unique Holiday
Celebrating Discovery Days in the Yukon goes back over 100 years. After the Klondike Gold Rush, the Yukon Order of Pioneers convinced the Yukon Territorial Council to celebrate Discovery Day, as a public holiday, in 1911.
The Bookshelf: When Dawson Made Hockey History
The Dawson Challengers had a dream to contest for the Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup (better known as the Stanley Cup.
Cheese Production in the Center of Old Paris
In Paris, like Klondike Valley Creamery, in the Yukon, most cheese production is not done in the big city.
Dawson’s Fridays Are A Time For Music!
Fridays are live music days in Dawson, this summer, with concerts at Riverside Park Gazebo and at the KIAC (Dënäkär Zho) Ballroom.
Exploring the Yukon’s ‘Paris of the North’
Back in the late 1800s, Dawson City was the most-populated northern town, the “Paris of the North.” The famous Klondike Gold Rush started in 1896, when gold was found at Bonanza Creek. Within a few years, about 100,000 prospectors, miners, prostitutes, wives, children and others travelled the world, passing frozen rivers and mountains, to settle …
Spring Reflections in Dawson City
In a previous edition of the KK, I commented on the amount of snow we received here this winter, how it narrowed and raised the street levels. This column is about the flip side of the equation, when the white stuff becomes wet stuff. Except for Front Street, which is part of the Klondike Highway, …
Dawson City is getting ready to host its annual Thaw di Gras Spring Carnival
Dawson City is getting ready to host its annual Thaw di Gras Spring Carnival. Get Ready for Some Outrageous Winter Fun!
Students Examine Local Artifacts With a Gentle Touch
The students from the local Robert Service School experience the Yukon artifacts associated with Klondike National Historic Sites.
The Percy DeWolfe Memorial Race kicks off March 3, 2022
He defied death. He raced against time. What better way to honour the “Iron Man of the North” than The Percy DeWolf Memorial Race.
A Klondike Korner: Sometimes life imitates art
Sometimes art imitates life. Sometimes life imitates art. There are two really clear illustrations of this idea in Dawson City at the moment.
125 years of gold
2021 marks 125 years since the discovery of gold in the Yukon. This year there is a series of new commemorative activities.
What’s on for Yukon Riverside Arts Festival 2021?
Yukon Riverside Arts Festival will take place this year in Dawson City August 13-15
Timelapse scenery at the ODD Gallery
Dan Starling’s exhibit “Unsettled histories: the transformation of a print” imagines the landscape of a Rembrandt evolving over centuries
Bioblitz is back & going to Dawson City
bringing experts and aspiring citizen scientists to one location for a day of counting and identifying as many species as possible.
Friday is Concert time at the Gazebo
Most Fridays this summer, whether there is rain or shine, it will be concert time at noon at the Front Street Gazebo, in Dawson City.
Jesse Devost’s Superposition
In Superposition, Jesse Devost’s new exhibition at Arts Underground, Devost defines superposition as “the physical paradox of two distinct states, when added together equal a new valid state.
Regulars and Rooms for Rent
Compared to the Klondike-era poems we’re familiar with, it seems that Tara Borin’s poetry breaks ground by presenting a post-gold rush, post-Robert Service perspective of Dawson.
Modern tech meets heritage conservation in Dawson City
Dredge No. 4 was built in 1912 and operated until 1959. It was designated as a national historic site in 1997.
Live music returns to Dënäkär Zho
COVID-19 pretty much shut down live music in Dawson in 2020. This year the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (Dënäkär Zho), in partnership with the Dawson City Music Festival, has been trying hard to bring some of it back over the last few months.
Dress Local
Audrey Levesque is the creator and maker of Made by Auds. She designs, cuts and sews her small garment collection from a room in a Gold rush-era hotel in Dawson City.
The Ice pool Contest is a go for 2021
The Ice Pool Lottery, officially known these days as the Dawson IODE Ice Guessing Contest, has been around in various forms since 1896. The Dawson Chapter of the IODE officially took over running the event in 1940 and has managed to keep it going in spite of pandemics and other natural disasters.
An indigenous fable for all ages
Teiakwanahstahsontéhrha’ (We Extend the Rafters) is the latest exhibition at Dawson City’s ODD Gallery. The machina animation style movie is projected on the east wall at the far end of a metal frame structure which mimics the look of an Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) style longhouse.
It’s a small world – Part 1
While tourists worry about bears in the Yukon, I worry about the excess of mosquitoes we’ve had this summer. I am prone to bad bug bites.
Green talk with the Yukon Conservation Society
Evolving out of the old tradition of a Boxing Day bird hunt, where people competed to see who could shoot the most birds while walking off their Christmas feasts, birds have officially been counted, and the numbers compiled, by the American Audubon Society, since 1900.
A house you can finally afford
Artists Jared Klok and Bennie Allain collaborated on their sculpture “A House You Can Finally Afford.” It was displayed as part of the Riverside Arts Festival.
Silver Linings
Artists and Parks Canada heritage interpreters, Justin Apperley (left) and Miriam Behman, with their field camera Photography played a key role in the history and mythology of the Klondike Gold Rush. The photographer’s lens bore witness to the thrum and commotion of the stampede, along with the turmoil it wrought. The impacts of this era …
The N.U.E. kids in town
Northern Underground Expressions (N.U.E.) is a Whitehorse-based independent record label focused on giving a bigger platform to underground hip-hop artists from the Yukon.
Navigating Dawson’s streets last summer
We are in the third season of a mammoth upgrade project to deal with the deficiencies in the town’s sewer and water infrastructure. That has meant that getting around town has been interesting enough for those of us who live here. For visitors, it’s probably been a mite of a mystery.
Making a mark in the art world
Nicole Favron’s performance-based work is being recognized as the Yukon winner of the 2020 BMO 1st Art! Competition.
Staycation, Yukon-style
It was COVID-19 and the timing of the lifting of the restrictions that brought my daughter Rebecca and I together to go to Dawson.
The Klondike Gold Rush Steamers
In these days of highways and 1000-year level flood dikes, it’s easy to forget that the best way to get to Dawson used to be by sternwheelers. While most of the stampeders made their way here in small boats and rafts in 1898, a sizeable number cruised to the fledgling town from St. Michael’s, Alaska, in riverboats and steamers and, once the White Pass chugged into Whitehorse, still more hopped on boats from there.
A delayed Short Film Festival will happen in October
After a few months of working at home, Dan Sokolowski is finally back in his southeast corner space at the KIAC (or Dënäkär Zho) Building. There, he’s busy downloading videos for this year’s late version of the 2020 Dawson City International Short Film Festival, which will take place over two weekends in October.
Race to the Finish!
Scenes from the August 1, 2020Great Klondike International Outhouse Race in Dawson City ABOVE: Yes You Can On The Can came in 4th place And here’s the poop!
Stephen Gallant
Stephen Gallant is a classically trained, multi-instrumentalist director and performer who has held the role of Musical Director at Diamond Tooth Gerties in Dawson City, Yukon, for 7 consecutive seasons.
Authors on Eighth overcome COVID-19
Each year there is a writing contest called Authors on Eighth connected to an annual walk along the Writers’ Block along Eighth Avenue in Dawson City.
Pandemic Parades Take to the Streets
Summer is generally the time for two major parades in Dawson: Canada Day in July and Discovery Day in August. The latter is the larger of the two events, but neither one takes any longer than 15 or 20 minutes to pass any given vantage point.
Heading out to hit the outdoor head
The Klondike Visitor Association (KVA) is hosting one of its most beloved and ridiculous events, The Great Klondike International Outhouse Race on August 1 in Dawson City.
Dawson in the deep freeze
The most annoying thing about being fully dressed to walk outside at -45 degrees Celsius is that I can’t see my feet.
The Percy DeWolfe committee is ready for its last race, but the event will carry on
In its present form, the Percy DeWolfe Memorial Mail Race is a 210 mile (338 km) run from Dawson to Eagle, Alaska, and back. If you can do that, then you can try your hand at the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod.
Dawson’s Thaw di Gras
Dawson celebrates almost spring, sort of end of winter, with a local event called Thaw di Gras. An obvious play on New Orleans’ Mardi Gras.
Hiking to Siberia
Lawrence Millman has written 16 books, including Hiking to Siberia. The latter is the subject of this column and the source of most of the stories Millman read to an attentive audience at the Alchemy Café when he visited Dawson City.
Dawson entertains itself at monthly coffee houses
It’s Coffee House/Open Mic time at the KIAC Ballroom once again. This is a monthly event that usually takes place on the first Saturday of every month from September through to May. It is one of those things that the community does for itself, as contrasted with all those special events (partly for visitors) that …
Dawson entertains itself at monthly coffee houses Read More »
Lest we forget
Each year we hope you take the time to remember on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, wherever we are. In the modern world and as we become more disconnected from the memories of what occurred, it becomes more important that we share the necessity of recalling what may occur …
Dawson Invitational Volleyball Tournament begins another 40 years after celebrating the creator’s last winter
The next 40 years of the Dawson Invitational Volleyball Tournament (DIVT) kicks off on Oct. 25 in Dawson City. The DIVT celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2018 with a special mass assembly to honour the years of success and the two teachers who started the whole thing.
Time marches on, but backwards sometimes
Looking west – that hill cuts an hour off an hour of direct sunlight every fall There’s a significant date that is fast approaching. No, I’m not talking about the election on Oct. 21, though that is an important date. A week or so later though, on Nov. 3, we’ll face the annual chore of …
Erin Dixon – Artist documents the vintage, the eclectic and the historical houses of Whitehorse and Dawson
Erin Dixon is interested in how other people live. “I have been interested in other people’s houses, since I was a little kid,” she said. “Trick-or-treating was always my favourite because you got to go to other people’s houses and peek inside. Now, I love it when you drive down a dark street and everyone …
Changes are not always welcome, even if they are historically accurate
Sometime before the beginning of winter, the old CIBC building on Front Street will turn grey and I’m quite certain that some people will be upset. The building has been going through changes since the town bought it for $170,000 back in 2013. I don’t think we had any idea how much potentially toxic material …
Changes are not always welcome, even if they are historically accurate Read More »
A stroll along the Writers’ Block
Dawson City would not be nearly as well-known as it is without the writings of three men who lived here for parts of their lives. This year we will once again be celebrating all of their lives and works with a stroll along the Writers’ Block, that portion of Eighth Avenue where they once lived. …
It’s a Cabin of Curiosities
Vaudeville has made a comeback in Dawson City. Cabin of Curiosities, a play which premiered last year on a limited run at the historic Palace Grand Theatre, has been reprised by The Friends of the Palace Grand Society, a non-profit organization that presents performing arts productions that reflect Dawson’s regional identity. “Our goal of a …
Celebrate Canada your way
This Canada Day, Yukoners will celebrate in communities across the territory with traditional activities. In Mayo, the day’s festivities coincide with the Mayo Arts Festival where local artists, craftspeople and musicians share their talents and creations with others. In Watson Lake, they’ll celebrate Canada Day with festivities at the Lucky Lake Park and water slide, …
Friends of the Palace Grand plan 21 shows this summer
A scene from the 2018 production of the Cabin of Curiosities. Canoers meet The Collector at his cabin – Faith (Joey O’Neil) and Keeton (Sam Connolly) meet The Collector (Robin Sharp) The Friends of the Palace Grand (FotPG) has existed for a number of years. Originally under the umbrella of the Dawson City Arts Society …
Friends of the Palace Grand plan 21 shows this summer Read More »
Want to win gold for your writing?
The winners of the contest are announced annually at the final stop of the Authors on Eighth Walking Tour, which always concludes at Berton House Berton House during the 2018 walking tour. Anakana Schofield, writer-in-residence at the time, read to the assembled group. The Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) and the Writers’ Trust of Canada have …
How real life can inform fiction
In the course of his Massey Lecture series in 2013 (published as Blood: The Stuff of Life, from House of Anansi Press), Lawrence Hill used a fair amount of autobiographical information for anecdotal evidence to enliven his research material. In this way, we learned that he once hankered to become a professional runner and was stopped …
100 people who give a damn
Katrina Diles (Yukon Girls Rock Camp), Andy Cunningham (Co-founder, 100 People Who Give a Damn Dawson), Lana Welchman (Co-founder, 100 People Who Give a Damn Dawson & Founder, Yukon Girls Rock Camp), Kim Martens (Humane Society Dawson) and Tanja Westland (Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program) are part of the new support network in Dawson Andy Cunningham …
Food security in the North
Local food production and sourcing has become an important component of our food supply, like the potatoes harvested here at the Yukon Grain Farm in 2017 What was the last conversation you had with your best friend? If there is one topic that people like to talk about it, it is food. We talk about …
The saga of Dawson’s street clearances
The melting season is upon us with a vengeance, spoiling all the plans I had for a series of columns about street clearances in Dawson.
Watching the River Thaw
Members of the Yukon Order of Pioneers (YOOP) have placed the Ice Pool Tripod on the ice of the Yukon River and the tickets for the IODE Ice Guessing Contest, generally just called the Ice Pool, will be on sale at various places between Whitehorse and Dawson City until April 15. The tripod is anchored …
Dawson City International Short Film Festival celebrates two decades of short films
Dan Sokolowski is about three weeks away from launching the 20th edition of the Dawson City International Short Film Festival (DCISFF) when we sit down in his corner of the building that’s home to the Klondike Institute of Art of Culture. (KIAC.) A lot of work has already gone into this year’s event. The 85 films …
Dawson City International Short Film Festival celebrates two decades of short films Read More »
The Aurora Trail offers a second set of house concerts
The second half of the Aurora Trail lineup of the Home Routes program began in February, with three house concerts planned between Feb. 1 and April 14. Home Routes sends performers out to do about a dozen house concerts, six times a year, in 11 different touring zones from the Maritimes to the Yukon. We …
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Thaw di Gras is Coming Soon
[two_third] It’s perhaps still a bit wintery by March 15, but that is the annual date when Dawson City celebrates what is nearly the end of that season with its Thaw di Gras “Spring” carnival. The event runs over a weekend, from March 15 to 17. If climate change doesn’t make too many changes there …
The fastest lady in the Klondike Gold Rush
She was not only the first female river pilot on the Upper Yukon, she was also the fastest. No, her name wasn’t Klondike Kate, the Oregon Mare, Bombay Peggy or the (immortalized by Robert W. Service) “Lady that’s known as Lou.” She and her husband Albert were in the fabrication and construction business in Seattle. …
Comin’ on down to The Funk is Tight
Dawsonites had a chance to “Get up with the get down and come on down” at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall on Feb. 23. Whitehorse band Major Funk and the Employment were in town, bringing with them not only a high-energy funk-style dance party, but an added bonus round of fun. The band took to …
Yukon See It Here – Jonny Wilkie
Jonny Wilkie submitted a collection of different photos, including these with early 20th century relics. Classic Yukon cabin walls familiar to those with cabin fever [box] We invite you to share your photos of Yukon life. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected][/box]
The anarchy element
At the age of nine, Tomáš Kubínek gave his first performance before a group of experienced magicians. Four years later, he had an agent. He would soon make his circus debut with a duo of Brazilian clowns.
Nurturing a new generation of Yukon artists
Every year, the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC) in Dawson City welcomes high school students from across the territory for a four day hands-on art-making intensive – the Youth Art Enrichment (YAE) program.
Ready for Christmas Eve
The cast including shepherds, angels, wise persons and citizens. PHOTO: Dan Davidson What would Christmas Eve be without carols and a pageant. All are invited—shepherds, angels, wise persons, citizens, family and friends—to St. Paul’s Anglican Church A traditional Christmas Eve in Dawson City begins with an ecumenical carol and pageant service at St. Paul’s …
He builds them (and they are coming)
Tyler Nichol, originally from Dawson City, has been building parks since he was a kid on the Dawson Dome and has gone from gold miner to a nationally renowned park creator in Canada.
Nature’s little automatic defroster
One of the most annoying things about the fall and spring seasons is the need to scrape the frost off your vehicle’s windows before you can drive anywhere. In the summer, you only have to worry about a little bit of fog; and in the winter, there’s often too little moisture in the air for …
Autumn sunlight and shadows
We’re past the halfway mark in October as I write this. The sun rose today at 9:16 and will set at 18:49 (6:49 for most of us civilians), so we’re down to less than half a day of actual sunlight. That’s in spite of the fact we can count on extended, refracted light on either …
Rope wreaths and Yukon steamers
Ruth Treskatis, volunteer and Janna Swales, executive director, proudly display their creations in front of the popsicle stick model of the SS Klondike at the Yukon Transportation Museum on Oct 15/18 What a history-packed day November 3, 2018, will be at our local Yukon Transportation Museum (YTM). The special activities start at 3 p.m. with …
‘Bigs’ and ‘Littles’ – spending time together
Forty years ago this December, Big Brothers started in the Yukon as a volunteer-run organization to help boys, who were needing a male role model in their lives, to be matched with a caring, safe and responsible adult. The organization was funded by local service clubs and became a registered charity in 1985. In 1991, …
Home Routes provides a cozy evening of music
The 2018–19 season of Home Routes Concerts kicked off in September with a tour by country singer Tim Hus, accompanied by his sideman of 15 years, Spider Bishop. Hus, on vocals and guitar, is reminiscent of a younger incarnation of Stompin’ Tom Connors, with whom he did tour at one time. In a live performance, …
Hip hip hooray! for local filmmaker Lulu Keating …
When the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) in Dawson City put out a call for a members’ exhibit with the theme of “The Age of Selfies,” local filmmaker Lulu Keating decided to submit a work about her recent hip replacement. “Anger was part of my recovery from hip replacement,” said the former Nova …
Hip hip hooray! for local filmmaker Lulu Keating … Read More »
The Northern Seduction
Sebastian Fricke and Rose Seguin share their journey, their “inner compasses” with us as they travel and write on their way through Alaska and the Yukon Having completed our undergraduate degrees, Rose and I were very eager to break free of the bureaucracy and daily grind of city life. We followed our inner compasses north, …
Where the Trump family fortune got started
“I’m a fifty-pager,” says Whitehorse writer Pat Ellis, commenting on her preference for producing short history booklets. Her latest, Financial Sourdough Starter Stories—“The Trump Family, from Whitehorse to White House,” the “Klondike Gold Rush” and “Harry Truman and the A-Bomb”—tops out at 64 pages, but the concept remains the same. “I’ve done a squatter book …
Busting up in the communities
Open Pit Theatre is excited to be taking their play, Busted Up: A Yukon Story, on the road. They’ll be coming to Dawson City on September 29, Carcross on October 2 and will be back in Whitehorse for a show on October 3. The play already premiered in 2017, as part of Canada 150, playing …
SOVA grad wins regional prize in national competition
Chris Dufour’s decision to enrol in the Yukon School of Visual Arts (SOVA) in 2017 turned out to be a good one. Based on an art piece he created in one of the classes offered by SOVA, he was chosen as regional winner representing the Yukon in the 16th BMO 1st Art! competition, an annual …
SOVA grad wins regional prize in national competition Read More »
North meets South
Evolution and expansion are the words to describe the next steps in Halin de Repentigny’s 40-plus-years journey as a northern artist. His upcoming gallery showcase, “Homestay” – Keep the Fire Burning, in September, will continue his depictions of northern lifestyles. It’s a collection of all new work that he painted last winter in Dawson City. …
Moosehide – shining a light across the North
The 2018 Moosehide Gathering in Dawson City was, once again, a smashing success. The local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in relocated to Moosehide, two miles north of Dawson City on the Yukon River, during the gold rush of 1898, to escape the insanity of thirty-thousand lousy, drunken gold-hungry stampeders. It is a refuge for Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, and the …
48 hours of music and film
From Friday, August 24 until Sunday, August 26, musicians and filmmakers are invited and encouraged to take part in the creation of a music video that will be completed in only two days.
The Yukon’s greatest love story
Yukon icons Otto and Kate Partridge lived in the beautiful southern lakes region of the territory.
Yukon’s Best Friend: Bear Explores The Gold Rush
I spent the summer in Dawson City working on the Palace Grand Theatre and Bear was thrilled to come to work with me everyday.
The Palace Grand Theatre is back in business
When “Arizona” Charlie Meadows built his Palace Grand Theatre, in 1899, it probably never occurred to him that some version of the place would still exist in 2018.
Authors on Eighth celebrates Klondike literature
Each summer the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA), honours the memory of four writers who have meant a great deal to Dawson City and the Klondike: Jack London, Robert W. Service, Pierre Berton and Dick North.
Pride in Dawson City!
Pride is back in Dawson City! Pride Week is happening from July 9–15 and, as part of the celebrations, a parade will be taking place on July 14 at 5 p.m.
‘Make me a vessel and I will paint a raven on it’
For the past year or so, I have been collaborating with the makers of vessels to co-create unique raven-adorned cups and bowls.
Dawson is gearing up to celebrate Canada Day with both new and old traditions. Here’s the scoop!
The biggest change in the Canada Day Parade in Dawson City, this year, is where it will end.
“I’m gonna live forever”
I don’t recall how long ago or what time, exactly, that I met Cor Guimond, but the moment I met him I knew he was going to be a lifelong friend.
The Tintina Trench
There was a not-so-urban myth out there that you could see the Tintina Trench from the moon. That is not true, unless the person on the moon had a good telescope.
National Aboriginal Day
It’s the longest day of the year, and what better way to appreciate this new Canadian statutory holiday than to visit local First Nations and to be part of this national celebration and enjoy live music, artist demonstrations, traditional food, ceremonies and more.
Stream of Dreams
A team of facilitators from the Stream of Dreams program was in Dawson this week to promote environmental stewardship and facilitate a community art project.
Going from Whitehorse to Dawson on the Yukon River? You better believe that’s a paddlin’
The world’s longest annual paddling race is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with the largest slate of international teams and racers ever.
The ODD Gallery showcases Tamika Knutson’s Skin
Tamika Knutson is a Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in citizen who began her art training at the Yukon School of Visual Arts, in Dawson City.
Yukon’s summer music festival review
The good, the bad and the absolute crazy : here is an overview of the top summer music festivals in the Yukon.
A Whitehorse hub for visual and performing arts
For 22 years and going strong, LePage Park has become a hub for arts and culture during the summer months. The new season of Arts in the Park launches on May 22 with a free barbecue.
Top 10 tips for your first summer in Whitehorse
Here are some tips and tricks to starting out in Whitehorse as a Cheechako (which is the name for being new to the north of 60th parallel).
Can wisdom save the world?
The post-apocalyptic, not-so-distant-future world of The Unplugging, an award-winning play by Canadian playwright Yvette Nolan, is the latest production on offer from the Yukon-based Gwaandak Theatre.
It’s ice pool time
The ice pool tripod is in the river, anchored by a cable to the boxed clock on the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, ready for when the ice moves during breakup some time in late April or early May. The tripod is on the ice between the river bank and the unofficial ice road. It may …
Dawson City International Short Film Festival is downloaded for its 18th Year
Screenings for the Dawson City International Short Film Festival began in October, with five or six people meeting twice a week to view what would eventually add up to between 400 and 500 submissions for the Easter weekend festival.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the Percy deWolfe race
The Percy deWolfe race is a 210 mile (338 km) run from Dawson to Eagle, Alaska, and back, and is a qualifying race for those hoping to run the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod.
A weekend of laughs
The Yukon stand-up comedy scene can be fickle. Some years comics will perform to packed houses that turn people away at the door. Other years, not so much. Whether it’s a lack of comics, audience, or both, northern life can bring a number of challenges that make live comedy difficult to maintain. Richard Eden, George …
Try this!
The annual Youth Art Enrichment program, now entering its 17th year, is an annual four-day intensive art program for Yukon youth, hosted by the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture in Dawson City. It has changed its dates this year and will be held from March 19 to 22 instead of its traditional November schedule. KIAC’s …
Keeping the weekend weird
Thaw-di-Gras, Dawson’s spring-or-late-winter carnival, is adding a day this year, with events beginning on Friday, March 16 and running through Sunday, March 18.
Thaw di Gras is going to the dogs…
Dawson City is gearing up for it’s annual Thaw di Gras spring carnival. One of the most popular events for families is the annual dog show, held at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s.
Trek Over the Top Turns 25 this Year
The 25th annual Trek Over the Top snowmobile race will arrive in Dawson City on March 8 and return to its starting point in Tok, Alaska, on March 11. The event has been organized on the Dawson end by the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) for the last seven years, and this is the second year …
We are what we used to eat
February 19 to 22 will see the latest edition of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Heritage Department’s bi-annual Myth and Medium week.
Strange things won from the midnight sun
In keeping with this column’s focus on Yukon related material, I’m returning this week to a successful thriller that is set in a version of Dawson City. It’s not quite my town in both geography and details, but Elle Wild didn’t try to pretend it was when I talked with her about it, and even …
Alternate universe
There is a new exhibition showing at The ODD Gallery in Dawson City, a gallery that showcases contemporary art year round. Pathie is a new, video-based installation by Montreal artist Andrée-Anne Roussel. The exhibit opened Wednesday, January 17th, with an artist’s talk at the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) ballroom, followed by …
Freezing for the sake of art…
Ask most people what they do during the cold month of January, and they would say, “Stay inside and keep warm.” The (s)hiver Arts Society, however, wants to change that.
Big, driving quarter notes
Jen Hodge had just spent five hectic days in Asheville, North Carolina, rehearsing every day and performing late into every night as part of the massive celebration of swing music known as Lindy Focus XVI. Despite the grinding schedule, the Vancouver jazz bassist and singer considered the Christmas-week event “a really incredible experience” that allowed her …
Human migrations changed hunting
The discovery of Gold in the Klondike region in 1896, brought huge numbers of people to the Yukon. All these people had to be fed.
A tale of Arctic exploration
Yukon author Eva Holland has taken advantage of Amazon’s Kindle Singles format to produce what might have been a 45-page volume about the early history of Arctic exploration.
The Yukon’s Magnificent 11- Part 2 of 6
The Klondike Highway wasn’t done for tourism reasons. The Silver Trail Highway, on the other hand, is a highway geared towards tourists.
Getting Ready for Christmas Eve
After all the bazaars and seasonal open houses are done, and folks are just about ready to settle down at home waiting for Christmas Morning to arrive, there is one more thing that happens for quite a few folks in Dawson. The various churches will have their own late evening services on December 24, but …
Drifting Home covers 3 generations of Bertons
In the summer of 1972 Pierre Berton decided to recreate a trip he had taken with his mother, father and sister back in the 1930s and take his family rafting from Bennett Lake to Dawson City.
Advent season is Bazaar season in Dawson
The approaching Advent Season means that it will soon be what I sometimes refer to as Bazaar Season in Dawson City.
Lest we forget
Remembrance Day is now as much an opportunity to recognize all those men and women who have served and returned home. We owe them thanks. That’s why we wear our poppies and hold our ceremonies, to support and remember.
A spooky pre-Halloween evening
Dawson City’s Old Court House on Front Street will be the site for this year’s Haunted House event, a yearly offering to the community sponsored by Parks Canada. For many years the RCMP took the lead in providing this Halloween celebration, but four years ago they needed to step down. Janice Cliff, with Klondike National …
Symposium to discuss activating history
Every two years the Yukon Historical & Museums Association holds a meeting for the entire Yukon heritage community. It moves around the territory, but executive director Lianne Maitland says that one of the places they like to come back to is Dawson City. The 2017 Heritage Symposium, called Activating Our Communities, will take place on …
Weaving Willow, Weaving Voices
On a hot day in Dawson City this August, I had the opportunity to speak with the four artists of Weaving Voices: Bo Yeung, Chris Clarke, Jackie Olson and Sue Parsons. We sat in the shade of their intricately woven willow structure located outside of the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, facing toward the Yukon River. …
The Alchemists of Dawson City
Wandering down the dirt roads of Dawson City, you may find yourself charmed by the quirky café nestled right beside a worn-and-torn building straight out of the gold rush. The Alchemy Café was constructed over a period of four years with the architectural brains of Florian Boulais, his wife Sofia Ashenhurst-Boulais, and the muscle power, …
Big City Girl in the Land of the Midnight Sun
Chapter 1: The Midnight Sun June 7, 2017 I am writing this at 10:30 p.m. with no lamp. This is my third night here in Dawson. I think it’s crazy that the days and nights blend into each other. Dark is not dark. Dusk is not dusk. Dawn is not dawn. It’s the land of …
It’s over: Dawson Winter
It’s September, and as the leaves start to turn and the streets become empty of tourists, transient workers who have lived in Dawson City for the summer are hitting the road out of town. Being a seasonal community, Dawson has seen its fair share of young people coming up for summer work. Some are old …
A Tale of the Klondike Tailings
Despite the romantic image of the grizzled miner panning by the creek side in search of gold, that phase of the Klondike’s mineral saga was relatively short. Entrepreneurial minds knew of more efficient and less-labour intensive ways of getting gold from the ground, and it wasn’t long before the arrival of the dredges in the …
An Unkindness of Ravens
It is easy to laugh at the antics of ravens. They are quirky, curious and yes, funny. A well-known title they carry among First Nations people is that of Trickster, known for their pranks and intelligence. They also carry darker histories, in literature and folklore: wise, feared, revered, portents of death. wreathed in mystery. I …
SOVA at 10
When talking about the location of the Yukon School of Visual Arts (Yukon SOVA) in Dawson City, two issues are often raised: What does the location do for students? What does it do for the town? Kyla McArthur, who works at SOVA as the administrative officer and is also a town councillor, spoke of the …
Congratulations SOVA!
Any discussion of the Yukon School of Visual Arts begins with a couple of questions: What is it? Why is it in Dawson? The first question is easily answered: the Yukon SOVA is a post-secondary art school with excellent facilities and dedicated staff, offering a foundation year (first year) of a Bachelor of Fine Arts …
BonTon Butcherie & Charcuterie
When Shelby Jordan was looking to change her career, she came across an idea that piqued her interest. “I’ve always wanted to learn a trade. I like working with my hands and with food, and I like being creative,” says the long-time Dawson resident. “At one point, I read a book that had an old …
TIAY Picks Dawson to Showcase Sustainable Tourism
Every few years the Tourism Industry Association of the Yukon brings either its spring or fall conference to Dawson City. TIA Yukon Executive Director Blake Rogers says that it makes even more sense than usual this year. “This year is a special year, the Year of International Sustainable Tourism for Development, as declared by the …
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Big City Girl Goes to the Midnight Sun
Diary of a Big City Girl’s experiences in the land of the midnight sun. Adventures from summer of 2017 in the Yukon.
Red Mammoth Comes to Dawson
It’s been a long time since mammoths have been in the Yukon valley, but a new one just appeared August 9, albeit in the form of a café. The Red Mammoth Bistro is Dawson City’s newest coffee and eating establishment, and they’ve hit the ground running. Owned by Emilie Aubin and Paul Wettstein, the bistro …
Northern Food Fusion
lover of adventure & fine tastes – forager of the wild world. The life I live is close with nature, so is my diet. Spruce Tip Salmon Roe Caviar
Celebrating the Klondike as a Special Place
The editor set us the challenge of making a pitch for our community that says it is more special than any other in the territory, with a wink and a nod in the direction of Whitehorse. The assignment is hardly fair to the capital city. Those who don’t live in the capital city of any …
Vimy Ridge to Tuk
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was a great victory for Canada, To our knowledge, Herbert Lawless was the only known Yukoner to fall in this battle.
Yukon Women in Mining
Yukon Women in Mining wants to raise the profile of mining as a vibrant career option, especially for Yukon women and youth. To do that in May they launched the Experiential Extravaganza in three Yukon communities. Over 30 representatives from 20 companies built a travelling exploration camp in Pelly Crossing, Faro and Dawson City to …
Gertie’s Begins with a Losing Streak
If anyone ever tries to tell you the first legal casino in Canadian history – Dawson City’s fabled Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall – was a raging success from the moment the doors first opened in June, 1972, perhaps you should clip and save this article to correct that historical distortion of the truth. In …
Discovery Days: Yukon’s Moveable Holiday
The Yukon’s Discovery Day Holiday is kind of hard to pin down. Likely the Monday closest to the day gold was discovered on Bonanza Creek.
Celebrating the Klondike’s Literary Legends
During the week that leads to the Discovery Days weekend, the Klondike Visitors Association, Parks Canada and the Writers’ Trust of Canada celebrate the writers who have made Dawson City world famous. Part of this event, called Authors on Eighth, is a writing contest that began in June and ended in July, in time for …
The 17th Annual Riverside Arts Festival
The Yukon Riverside Arts Festival takes place in the most idyllic of settings – right alongside the Yukon River in Dawson City.
Race ’til You’re Pooped!
“We’re dedicated to keeping the Yukon weird,” Robitaille likens the Great Klondike International Outhouse Race to Jim Robb’s Colourful 5%
Yukon’s Fictional Geography
Dan Carruthers’ more recent thriller, Anya Unbound (2017), introduces us to Sean Carson, a recovering widower, who stumbles across a 17-year-old Polish girl on the way to his bush cabin. He discovers she is part of a baker’s dozen of girls who have been lured to North America and are bound for the sex trade …
Finding Orchids in an Unusual Setting
Finding the entrance to Orchid Acres can be a little confusing for newcomers to West Dawson and Sunnydale. Someone will tell you it’s on the road to the Dawson City Golf Course, and that’s true, but the signs indicating that road are a little confusing. There’s a large sign with a blue arrow, indicating that …
Dawson City Music Festival Amps up for its 39th Year
It may be the 39th year of Dawson City’s beloved annual music festival, but this tried-and-true summer favourite is always sure..
An Inspiring Book, Found in a Unique Bookstore
MacLeod’s Books in Vancouver is a book lover’s dream. Books are piled up from floor to ceiling. Fortunately, the friendly staff helps you to navigate through the wide selection of books – some of them quite old and rare. When my partner and I visited this unique store last year, I found a book in …
Gertie’s First Season
Once upon a time, long ago, a young truck driver in Whitehorse found himself with five days off work to celebrate the May long weekend and decided to finally visit Dawson City for the first time. It was either 1971 or ’72, and he had been listening to his coworkers talk about it all winter. …
Healing through Massage
A keen interest in psychology, bodywork and holistic health and wellness: Discovering the profound benefits of massage therapy.
Tout en musique pour la Fête de la Saint-Jean
La Saint-Jean, qu’est-ce que ? À l’origine, une fête païenne célébrée, le 24 juin, depuis quelques siècles, qui a, par la suite, été christianisée. On y faisait des feux de joie, on chantait et on dansait, le tout pour célébrer l’arrivée de l’été et le jour le plus long de l’année! Depuis une cinquantaine d’années, …
What Do You Have to Do to Eat Local?
The benefits of eating local are well known and documented; it’s better for the environment, it’s better for your health, and it’s better for the local economy. But when you live north of 60 it seems daunting – even in the height of the summer produce harvest. Fresh local ingredients are more expensive or more …
There’s Gold in Those Buckets of Dirt
Canada Day will be exceptionally busy in Dawson this year. Combining our nation’s birthday with a roster of events that normally occur on the first Saturday after that celebration will make for a packed schedule. The Klondike Visitors Association decided a few years ago that having the Yukon Gold Panning Championships in the afternoon, following …
Double-barreled day of action in Dawson City
June 10 will be a double-barreled day of action in Dawson City, as it always is during what could be called Commissioner’s Day. The two events on this day – the Commissioner’s Tea and the Ball – are always held on the Saturday closest to June 13, which was the date in 1898 when the …
Gold Show: The Rush is On
Early in May, with the deadlines for the 2017 edition of the Dawson City International Gold Show approaching, Coralee Rudachyk was busy, but calm. As the General Manager of the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce, she has the primary responsibility of making sure everything works out according to plan. The plan is a pretty solid …
The Cancan Arrives at the Klondike Gold Rush
On November 28, 1891, the New York Sun dedicated a full page to the cancan. Titled “Eccentric Paris Dance,” the article highlights Paris cancan stars of the day who describe intricate cancan dance moves. After the two decades of being attacked in the press by misogynist newspaper editors and pious moral reformers, the Sun article …
A Stitch in Time
Anna Taylor spent this winter stitching the stories of Dawson City women. In March, the Halifax-based textile artist completed a month-long residency at the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture. There, her embroidery practice focused on Dawson’s relationship with prostitution during the gold rush, and on the lives of the individual women who traveled north …
Célébration de la francophonie yukonnaise
… et des célébrations Pour la 11ème édition, l’AFY et ses organismes partenaires, bien rôdés dans l’organisation de l’événement, ont voulu apporter de la nouveauté. Finis les longs discours de remerciements, ces derniers, raccourcis au maximum, laissent dorénavant place aux festivités : vendredi 12 mai, dès 16h15, une réelle chasse aux trésors, destinée aux familles, …
Less is Definitely More
Dawson City did not have burlesque in its repertoire until long-time local resident Rachel Wiegers decided to take up (or off, as the case may be) the mantle and bring it to town. Wiegers says her journey towards burlesque started when she was young and discovered her father’s girlie magazine stash. “I was too young …
Celebrate the Art of Filmmaking this Weekend
The cupboard behind Dan Sokolowski’s head is still covered with the multi-coloured Post-it notes he’s been using to assign the 86 short films in this year’s Dawson City International Short Film Festival to various categories for Friday, Saturday and Sunday screenings that will fill up this Easter Weekend. The films were selected by a group …
Can You Do the Cancan, Kate?
During the 1890s, the United States was a melting pot of entertainment – and vaudeville became the perfect vehicle to showcase this wealth of diversity. From New York to Victoria, B.C., vaudeville reigned supreme as the most popular entertainment in every city and many small towns. The key to vaudeville’s success was that it allowed …
The Tripod Stands to Mark the River’s Breakup
Given the odd behavior of the Yukon River this year, it’s not at all certain just how and when spring breakup will occur, but however it happens, the ladies of the IODE have it covered. What were some very wide open leads in the river prevented the formation of the usual ice bridge across at …
Where Tradition and Youth Converge
The fiddling tradition is alive and well in the Yukon thanks to the Fiddleheads, a group of young fiddlers ranging in age from 7 to 14,
Racing to Honour an Honourable Man
At 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 23, the spirit of Percy DeWolfe, Dawson’s Iron Man Mail Carrier, will head off from the starting line between the Old Post Office and the Palace Grand Theatre. Two minutes later the first of the corporeal contestants in the Memorial Mail Race named after him will let the dogs, …
Finding a New Way Home
From Tomaso Albinoni to Django Reinhardt, by way of Led Zeppelin? It’s all part of guitarist Marc Atkinson’s musical journey. The 48-year-old Atkinson grew up on B.C.’s relatively remote Quadra Island, without YouTube, or even television, but with access to the major music source of the day, vinyl records. “I didn’t know that humble peasants …
Looking Back on 40 Years of Team Spirit
In the fall of 1975 when Joe Jack was around 24 years old he and a group of friends thought it would be a good idea to start a First Nations hockey team that would include people from all the communities in the Yukon. He and his friends were avid hockey players. “We called ourselves …
Living With Wildlife: Jackie Clancy
Hello Everybody, We invite you to share your photos of Yukon wildlife. Email your high-resolution images with a description of what’s going on and what camera equipment you used to [email protected] These pictures are taken with a Lumix Panasonic DMC-TZ5 at the Dredge Pond Sub. near Dawson City, YT. in my yard…..resident wildlife. The momma …
The Evolution of a Home
By 2001, however, that big detached deck on the front of the house was deteriorating and we decided that a verandah running across the entire front of the house would cut down on the seasonal evening sun glare and provide what amounted to a sheltered outdoor living room in the summer. This addition we were …
Thaw di Gras appeals to Locals and Visitors
Dawson’s impishly named Thaw di Gras carnival is still thought of as a spring carnival, even though a good March weekend will still be in the minus teens and a bad one may be in the minus 20s with wind chill. Whatever the weather may bring, much of this March 17th to 19th weekend will …
The Trekkers Will Soon be Here
The Trekkers are coming again, and this year’s Trek Over the Top from Tok Alaska to Dawson City, will have a substantial increase in numbers over the last two years. Paul Robitaille, marketing and events manager with the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA), reports that the Tok Chamber of Commerce has taken over the promotion and …
Making Music and Money for Good Causes
Regardless of what else may be happening, on 1st Saturday of the month during a school year, these open mic events are a regular occurrence.
Flowing Water and the Daily Light Show
It’s been a truly odd winter here in the Klondike. On the one hand it’s been colder, and colder for longer stretches than it has been for several years. Mostly, it hasn’t been really cold, which begins below, say, minus 35, and carries on down into the minus 50s, but we’ve had a lot of …
Shedding a Little Light on a SAD Season
They consulted with Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon’s Chief Medical Health Officer, and he thought it was a worthwhile experiment. The next question was where to put the devices so that they could be used by the most people and at times when people might need them the most. Libraries seemed like a good idea, …
Riding Motorcycles for a Good Cause
Along with Cause Canada’s founder Paul Carrick and a local guide, the men will visit the projects and activities they are helping to fund. In the meantime, they will also be breaking in the bikes that they will later donate to the local men and women who work for Cause Canada and visit the communities …
McQuesten’s Diary a Historic Treasures in a Box
I have been told the “winner writes history.” Taking this idea a bit further and you might think history is all about battles, economic or ecological, or just about power. But history is much more than that. I recently had an opportunity to touch history. To look at and study a wonderful collection given to …
Gathering Memories of Clinton Creek Proves Difficult
The original purpose of the Clinton Creek Oral History Project was to gather information about how the area around the former asbestos mine and company town had been used by locals prior to the establishment of the mine in the mid-1960s. The mine was about a decade getting off the ground from the time that …
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International Bonspiel Comes to Dawson City
Dawson City’s International curling bonspiel is the Yukon’s oldest continuously running event. With teams from the Yukon, Northern BC & NWT.
Yukon Stories
Arctic Secrets Directed by Allan Code, a Whitehorse based filmmaker, Arctic Secrets is a symphony of immensely strong and surprisingly fragile elements that comprise the wilderness of the Yukon Territory. Stunning imagery abounds in this visual adventure through its waters, mountains, and forests. Focusing mainly on the more arctic regions of the territory, Code and …
(S)hiver Me Timbers
“The dark and the cold are conducive to creativity,” says Carly Woolner, one of the co-founders of Dawson’s (S)Hiver Arts Festival. Blair Douglas, the other half of the team, chimes in with a smile: “They are also conducive to everyone staying home.” Together these sum up the motivations behind the festival, which has a mandate …
What’s fake is real
“I found it ironic that in Toronto, I could play hockey year round” said Dowhal, but in Dawson “hockey season runs from December to March,”
14 Months of Fun and Joy
Yukoners are adventurers of all sorts. A Dawson City non-profit organization has captured 14 babies on their exciting start into this adventure called life. Dawson City’s Healthy Families, Healthy Babies initiative has created an adorable 2017 wall calendar as a fundraiser project, called Babies of Dawson. The goal of the initiative is to support young …
Christmas Eve Preparations in October
Organizers for the Christmas Eve Pageant Photo Shoot were on edge as October 2 dawned. Would there be a lot of snow on the Bonanza Road sites where the pictures were to be taken? Would it be too cold that day? Would there be enough sunlight to get good shots? It was, after all, a …
Yukon 48 hour Film Challenge Back Again this Year
If you’ve always wanted the challenge of making a film in a short amount of time, here’s your chance. The Yukon 48 Hour Film Challenge, hosted by the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) and the Yukon Film Society, will once again be offering filmmakers of all ages a chance to test their mettle …
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Slip-Sliding Away
Benkert is quick to underline this aspect of the project. “The Yukon Geological Survey has been really critical (to the project) all the way through,” she says, and goes on to cite the important roles played by the Universities of Ottawa and Montreal as well as each of the seven communities that participated in the …
The Klondike Continues to Prepare for World Heritage Status
The nomination package has been prepared under the watchful eye of a local advisory committee, including representation from Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, the City of Dawson, the Yukon Government, the Klondike Placer Miners Association and citizen reps from both Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and the Dawson community. There is also a project management team, and much of the actual …
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Yukon Magic
I only had one night in Dawson City and I was hoping for a clear, cold night. I’d been dreaming for years of what it must feel like to bask in the glow of a sky filled with northern lights. This was my chance. I’d been in Whitehorse for a couple days and the cold …
Dawson in a Fictional Sense
About the same time as I was reading Elle Wild’s very entertaining mystery novel, Strange Things Done, I happened to watch a discussion between best selling novelists Stephen King and Lee Child. Part of the discussion was about settings, and Child noted that he had set one of his novels in New York, a city …
Mighty Neighbourly
After living in Vancouver for three years I’d become accustomed to people giving me strange looks if I smiled at them in the elevator or while waiting in line for a coffee. When I returned home to the Yukon it was a pleasure to rediscover its camaraderie and community. People band together to help one …
As the River Slowly Freezes
Living across the Yukon River from Dawson City in the communities of West Dawson or Sunnydale has its perks. You’re near town, but not in town. A 35-minute walk or 10-minute ferry ride is all it takes to partake of the amenities of town living, while still experiencing an off-the-grid lifestyle. But twice a year …
Harvey Burian: Growing up Multicultural on the Stewart River
Life on the river was isolated, especially in winter when the steamboats were not running. Sometimes visitors did stop in to catch up on the news. Harvey remembers: “We had radios…and we got mostly Alaskan stations…KFRB in Fairbanks…[and] in the last few years…we had a Ham radio…and the RCMP office in Mayo had one and …
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Dawson Quilts
But the hottest gift for Dawson City babies is a handmade quilt. It’s been the most popular gift since 1980.
Remembering Japanese Canadian Soldiers of WWI
Remembrance Day has taken more meaning for me lately. Recently Yukon Archives shared some information about some Japanese from Dawson City who served in the First World War. This was a complete surprise to me. I wondered, Why would they serve? The Dawson Daily News of June 21, 1918 reported that there were five Japanese …
Yukon See It Here: Klondike Visitors Association
Employees at Klondike Visitors Association were surprised to find that a Jim Robb original hung on the wall for the centre. Early in summer, a call from Doug Thomas (also known as Gold Nougie Dougie), revealed to them that a painting of the Palace Grand Theatre (the only one Jim Robb has done), which staff …
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Travelling with Thomas
If you go by way of Laos and the U.S. East Coast, the journey from France to Yukon is anything but a straight line. But a brief reunion of two lifelong friends in Paris two summers ago proves you can get from there to here. “We had a great time together, and I told him …
The Sourtoe celebrated as a “Hidden Wonder” of the World
Just a week or so ago the newly published Atlas Obscura, subtitled, “An Explorer’s Guide to the World’s Hidden Wonders,” arrived on my desk sporting an enthusiastic recommendation from fantasy and comic book writer, Neil Gaiman. That’s not true any more, there have been at least half a dozen substitute toes since that time. One was …
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Starting Conversations through Art with A Dawson City Scrapbook
When you think of comics, you may think of superheroes or lovable scruffy dogs. But Rebecca Roher says comics are not only pulpy and light. Roher is a cartoonist, illustrator and educator. Comics, she says, can be used to start conversations about serious topics. “People are maybe more open to a comic, while other forms …
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Haiti after Hurricane Matthew
The eye of Hurricane Matthew hit the Tiburon Peninsula, the southwest tip of Haiti, on October 4th. With winds that blew 230 kilometres an hour and up to 500 millimetres of rain in two days, it was the strongest storm to hit the country in 50 years, according to the NASA website. The storm stripped …
What is the Aurora Trail?
The folk/roots duo Twin Peaks, comprised of Naomi Shore and Lindsay Pratt, opened Dawson’s Home Routes season on Sept. 26. The show in Dawson City was their second-last stop on a tour that had seen them perform in Dease Lake, Atlin, Teslin, Crag Lake, Whitehorse, Haines Junction, Faro and Mayo, with one more concert planned …
Need Some Good Advice?
Basia Bulat is returning to the Yukon. Bulat is a multi-instrumentalist – she plays guitar, autoharp, banjo, ukulele, charango, hammered dulcimer, saxophone and flute – and has a powerful voice. She comes by her musical interests naturally, having a mother who was a music teacher who taught both piano and guitar. She has said the …
Calling All Arty Teens
From November 2 to 5, youth from all over the Yukon will be converging on Dawson City to hone their art skills in the 16th annual Youth Art Enrichment Program. Hosted by the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC), the four-day program is for Yukon students in Grades 9 to 12 who are …
Pop-Up Drive-In
Movie lovers have a chance this weekend to experience a rare venue for viewing in the north – a pop-up drive-in movie night is set for October 1 at The Cut Off Restaurant and Pub parking lot. The latest creative entry in the fine Yukon tradition of making our own fun, the event is the …
CFYT Talent Night
Have you always wanted to get on stage and strut your stuff? If so, then CFYT Talent Night is for you. Taking place on September 30 at Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall in Dawson City, Talent Night welcomes all types of performers on stage. In partnership with the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA), this event is …
Rooted in the Yukon
Toronto-based poet Claire Caldwell’s role as writer-in-residence at the Berton House in Dawson City ends this month. Caldwell is no stranger to the Yukon. She lived in Whitehorse from ages three to nine. These years had a deep impact on Caldwell. That’s where she found her fascination for nature and the outdoors, she says. “Certain …
Perpetual Curiosities: A 30-Year Retrospective Art Exhibit
On Thursday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m., the ODD Gallery in Dawson City will be holding a reception for the opening of Perpetual Curiosities: A 30-Year Retrospective. The exhibition is by long-time Dawsonite Shelley Hakonson, whose last show at the gallery was a shared exhibition. This time she’s going solo. “It’s nerve wracking, but also …
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The Trail of 98 Shows Another Side of Robert W. Service
Though best known for his 15 collections of verse (a term he preferred to poetry in reference to his own work) Robert Service also wrote novels. Between 1909 and 1927, he produced some genre material: adventure, mystery, science fiction and horror. The first of these was The Trail of 98: a Northland Romance, written in his …
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Strange things make a great story
Inspired by the Yukon winter and the road closures that lead to a feeling of isolation, Elle Wild wrote her first crime novel and set it in Dawson City. The novel, called Strange Things Done, won the Arthur Ellis Award 2015 for Best Unpublished First Crime Novel from the Crime Writers of Canada. Based in …
Comics are the People’s Medium
Anyone can make comics, and they are mass produced and traded for cheap. That’s the message Jonathan Rotsztain brought to Dawson City during his art residency with KIAC. Rotsztain describes himself as a “graphic designer who makes comics. “I’m a writer before a drawer, but I never found writing on its own that compelling as …
On Gertie’s Closing Night, Expect the unexpected
On Saturday, Sept. 24, patrons of Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall in Dawson City are in for a treat as Gertie and her gals put on the final show of the season. Throughout the summer, the casino offers three different stage shows each evening at 8:30 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight. Each show is different …
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Dawson Tinder Report
Hello, dear readers. The Annual Territorial September Scramble is on in full force. Up the Klondike Highway where the winters are darker and colder than in Whitehorse, the stakes of the dating game are stacked even higher. I went to Dawson for five days, and swiped and liked and Tindered away. In the efforts of …
A Feast For All
Harvest time. At the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (TH) Teaching and Working Farm, there will be a feast to celebrate a summer’s worth of hard work.
My Dad, the Outlaw
Gabriola Islander Bob Bossin brings his one-man musical Davy the Punk to The Old Fire Hall next Thursday, Sept. 22 and to Dawson City the following week. The show is based on Bossin’s 2014 book of the same title. They tell the story of his father’s life in Canada’s gambling underworld of the 1930s. Both …
The Tale of the Tinder-Q
Say you’re a single person throwing a barbecue. No stranger to the rigours of quality event coordination, you line up a food and drink theme, secure a donated fire pit, invite all your friends and lots of peeps you know but never really hang out with. Cute flyers are made. Fancy sausages ordered from the …
Four Years on the Road and Still Going Strong
We Found Roads is their latest album – and also the personal story of Cie and Karisa Hoover. They are a two-person indie rock band called You Knew Me When, currently singing, playing and camping their way through Alaska and the Yukon. Their road trip is one of growth for their music, their relationship and …
Can We Beat Alaska This Year?
“Play ball!” These words will be ringing out in Dawson City this Labour Day weekend. From Sept. 2 to 5, teams from the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Alaska will converge on two ball diamonds to compete in the Labour Day Slo-Pitch Classic Tournament. This annual, mixed tournament has been a 30-year tradition in Dawson, says …
Seeds of Change Lead to Reconciliation
Seeds of Change invites locals and visitors to consider the implications of the concept of reconciliation. It’s the summer exhibit in the Gathering Room in the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre in Dawson City. It displays information about the history that has led to a need for this reflection, and it shows some of the steps …
The Great Klondike Outhouse Race
People run from using an outhouse. The KVA in Dawson City put that running to good use in the Great Klondike Outhouse Race.
A Colouring Book for Adults
When Kyley Henderson was in elementary school her mother, Elaine, encouraged her to draw, and one year a drawing of hers was used in the Robert Service School yearbook. Elaine, who is herself a landscape painter and sculptor, says that she always encouraged Kyley to develop her art as a kid. Kyley remembers her mother telling …
Cello Lessons in the Communities
“They just don’t stop!” That’s the coordinator of the Yukon Cello Project, Nico Stephenson, describing the energy and enthusiasm his students bring to music class each day. “Whether that’s playing cellos, or playing outside, they just don’t stop.” While it means that some youngsters struggle to sit still, it also means there is a collective …
Be Amazed at What We Can Grow Up Here
Whether you have a green thumb or not, you’re invited to the Horticultural Exhibition in Dawson City on Aug. 13. Tarie Castellarin and Helen Dewell have been involved in organizing the exhibition since 2013. The event itself dates back to the early 1900s. “In the past, the exhibition was huge and used to be four …
Priska Wettstein: A Love Affair with Photography
Priska Wettstein’s love affair with photography began in 2008 when husband Paul presented her with a camera.
Promoting the Klondike Experience
Not quite a year ago, Jesse Cooke was in Ottawa to receive the Parks Canada Youth Tourism Entrepreneur Award. He was being recognized for his business, Husky Bus, which he launched in the summer of 2012. Even then, as he announced at a subsequent meeting of the Dawson City Chamber of Commerce, he was already …
Power and Money
The ladies rule Dawson City this weekend. First up, the Dawson City League of Lady Wrestlers presents the North End Knockout on Saturday, August 6. On Sunday, August 7, the best female pokers players in the Yukon gather to play it out for prize money. Why are there these all-women events in what are thought …
The History of Jews During the Gold Rush
Once upon a time there were quite a few Jews in the Klondike. They arrived with the other gold rush stampeders. There were enough of them that they established their own graveyard. But the Jewish presence in Dawson City nearly vanished after the end of World War I. Dr. Brent Slobodin researched and wrote the …
No rest for the Wickets
Don your best Victorian era dress for the Yukon Historical & Museums Association’s (YHMA) third annual Charity Croquet Tournament.
A Celebration of Tradition and Culture
From July 28 to 31 the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation will welcome everyone to their traditional territory. The First Nation is hosting the 13th biennial Moosehide Gathering, taking place at Moosehide Village, which is located 3 km downriver from Dawson City by boat, or 4.5 km by forest trail. Entry and camping is free. During …
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 her family first settled in 1924. On a recent Friday afternoon, Peck was about to start assembling the merchandise she and her band, Miss Quincy and the Showdown, hope to …
Bringing Crowds to Dodge: 38th annual Dawson City Music Festival
The Dawson City Music Festival (DCMF) is a major draw. “One of the bands getting a lot of attention is called the Wet Secrets,”
Underground at the Core
By the time Danny Fernandez was 10, he had visited over two dozen countries during six years spent aboard a floating hospital that provided free surgeries and medical care to some of the world’s poorest people. “I don’t think I realized how cool it was at the time. Looking back, I definitely feel being immersed …
Journeys That Open the Heart
Whitehorse musician and adventurer Thorin Loeks is off on another journey. On June 4th, Loeks started to hitchhike from his home just outside of Whitehorse up to Dawson City where began a cycling trip. His initial plan was to bicycle south to Montana. There, he was going to switch his bike for a paddle, and …
For the Love of Northern Art
Every year for 10 days, northern artists and art lovers gather in Inuvik, a small town of 3,400 in the NWT, to celebrate culture and creativity. Entering its 28th year, the Great Northern Arts Festival features almost 60 artists from the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Running from July 15 to 24, the activities …
Saturday is Market Time in the Klondike
Saturday in Dawson’s Waterfront Park means it’s time for a couple of markets to open for business. The Farmers’ Market has been running for many years. While it began with growers selling produce, vegetables, garden plants and bushes, it has expanded in offerings to the point where the name might be better rendered as a …
A Cultural Affair
One of the fun things about fermented foods is passing on bits to others, knowing they will grow and spread like a great idea. It required a bit of a mental leap to go from creating my first ferments to seeing this possibility, kind of like going from growing your own lettuce each year to …
The Strange Story of Mary Hanulik Garden
Dawson City blooms in the summer. It’s a process that begins in some local commercial greenhouses and explodes after the horticultural booths at the Gold Show during Victoria Day Weekend in May. It then continues unabated as part of the Farmers’ Market during the summer, and employs several landscaping and gardening firms during the same …
Stereoscopic Views
Looking through Sid’s antiquities I spot a familiar sight: stereoscopes. I had a pair of bright orange View Masters (a trademarked format of stereoscope) when I was a child in the 1990s with photos of Bugs Bunny. Sid’s stereoscopes are truly antique and rare. “These ones are from the late 1800s up to the 1910s,” …
Gold Fever is Alive and Well
Panning for gold the old-fashioned way is an art and a science, though you don’t have to be an expert in either to take part in the annual Yukon Gold Panning Championships, held on Saturday, July 1 in Dawson City. “We’re trying to attract gold panning enthusiasts, competitive types, visitors, and first time gold panners,” …
The Joys of Reading Aloud
Jack London’s The Call of the Wild is not a particularly long book. A mere 70 pages, perhaps a few more in a version with illustrations, it is often published between the same covers as its thematic opposite, White Fang, often along with some of the better known short stories to round out the page …
Camaraderie in a Canoe
Nine ladies in a voyageur canoe whose ages range from 23 to 62; 715 kilometres; paddling for Yukon Cancer Care Fund. Stix Together is a team of Whitehorse women participating in the 18th Annual Yukon River Quest. The race begins with a mass start at noon on Wednesday, June 29. Participants gather at the gazebo …
Community Theatre at its Finest
Friends of the Palace Grand Theatre presenting A Klondike Cabin Companion, a live radio performance, bring community theatre to Dawson City.
Know Thy Microclimate
I’ve put a lot of miles under me this spring between Victoria, B.C. and the Klondike Valley, and had thought I would be riding the green wave north. It is true that there were more leaves out on the Gulf Islands than there were when I arrived at home in Mount Lorne, but in between, …
Summer Fun has Begun
Look around. The birds are singing, canoes and kayaks are back on Subaru roof racks and my neighbour seems to have an urge for gardening at 11:30 p.m. These are signs of summer. It’s a change from spending much of our time inside, sipping hot tea and feeding the woodstove to living the wild and …
Out of the Rec Room
Scott Wilson doesn’t credit either ’50s TV host Arthur Godfrey or campy falsetto Tiny Tim with the current popularity of the humble ukulele. Instead, the Whitehorse musician thinks it likely stems from a few years back, when Hawaiian singer Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s hauntingly beautiful medley of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” and “What a Wonderful World” became …
Easy Riders
Next Thursday up to 300 motorcyclists will descend on Dawson City for the 29th gathering of Dust 2 Dawson Motorcycle Ride. Dick Van Nostrand, a long time Dawsonite, helps organize the gathering. He’s been involved since almost the beginning. “We had just bought the Downtown Hotel in Dawson City in 1995, when I met some …
A Passion for Yoga
There are numerous ways to get into yoga – just ask any of the instructors at the newly-opened Soulstice Yoga Studio in Dawson City. One grew up doing sun salutations with her yoga-enthusiast mother; another took interest in hot yoga to improve her fitness levels while at university; another made it part of a …
A Little or a Lot, Get Ready to Run
Dawson City runners have been pleased to participate in the Mayo Marathon. This year there is a Dempster to Dawson (or D2DC) Solstice Race.
Fresh Words and Deep Roots
Writing poetry since she was a child, Nova Scotia based author Shauntay Grant says she has always loved creative writing. “The oldest poem I’ve kept is from fourth grade,” she says. The vocalist, poet and author began a residency at the Berton House Writers’ Retreat in Dawson City in April. She is working on Proof, …
On Top of the World at the Top of the World
Ever wanted to toss a log or throw a 20-pound rock? Top of the World Highland Games and Celtic Festival in Dawson City is for you.
Yoga Through the Summer
Dawson City – get ready for yoga with Sabu Chaitanya. He’s on his way to instruct a full one-month intensive in the Klondike. The course begins June 6 and concludes on July 1 and it’s called an “intensive” for a reason. It’s a comprehensive, rigorous course requiring participation five days a week, in sessions held …
Celebrating Jack London’s Legacy
One of the stops along Dawson’s 8th Avenue Writers’ Block is Jack London Square, home of a part of Jack London’s Klondike cabin and the Jack London Museum, in a setting modeled after a painting by Jim Robb. This year marks the 100th anniversary of London’s passing and the Klondike Visitors Association is marking the …
Putting the WOW in Tombstone Park
Looking for a memorable northern road trip? The 17th annual Tombstone Weekend on the Wing (WOW) offers three days of fabulous hiking, a birding festival and interpretive events for all ages. The weekend of free events takes place June 3 to 5 and will start from the Tombstone Territorial Park campground, at kilometre 71 of …
The role of the KVA in the Klondike
When a group of Dawsonites dressed up in Gold Rush garb to meet a Canadian Pacific Airlines riverboat in 1962, they had no idea that this simple one-off publicity stunt would put down roots and that the fledgling Klondike Tourist Bureau would evolve into the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) about 10 years later. Today, the …
Taking it to the Streets
The streets of Dawson vary in size, height, width and smoothness with the seasons. In spite of snowfall and the need to plough them, they are really at their best in the winter, when the hard-packed snow fills in all the possible places where potholes might form. In the summer, potholes are the bane of …
Joe Boyle: The Klondike King Who Became a War Hero
Joe Boyle came to the Klondike with the first wave of gold-seekers in the early summer of 1897, but soon left with a dream of becoming rich. He was successful in obtaining a large mining concession in the Klondike Valley from the federal government in 1909, and within a decade had gained control of one …
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Dawson and the Harrison Effect
I’ve been enjoying a couple of relatively new books about the work of the latecTed Harrison. They are Ted Harrison Collected (Douglas & McIntyre) and A Brush full of Colour (Pajama Press). The first one is a trade paperback collection of the 91 serigraph posters he created and sold. The second is a hardcover children’s …
Flat Feet and Brave Hearts: The Yukon at War
Canada was part of the British Empire, so when war was declared by Great Britain on August 4, 1914, Canada, too, joined the the conflict. There was a tremendous upswing of patriotic fervour. The vast American influx during of the Klondike gold rush had been largely replaced by a more settled British population, eager to …
Technology Meets Art
A new exhibition has opened at the ODD Gallery in Dawson City. Ommatida Muralis, which runs until April 16, is a new interactive installation by Winnipeg artists Chantal Dupas and Andrew John Milne. “It’s a rich experience to have a display of two, first-time collaborating artists,” says Interim Gallery Director Meg Walker. “It’s two perspectives …
Germans love Jack London
Why is Robert Service so much better known here than Jack London? This question comes from Wolfgang Robert Greiner, one of five German journalists I was invited to meet for breakfast at the Aurora Inn in late February. Their primary literary interest is in Jack London, whose Yukon themed short stories were standard fare in …
Crossing Borders
Alex Goodman doesn’t really cross borders so much as straddle them. Although the Toronto-raised guitarist and composer has made his home in New York City for the past three-and-a-half years, he seems to keep one foot planted in the musical soil of his homeland. “I think of Toronto as a very vibrant music scene. The …
It’s 40 years of mushing on the Percy DeWolfe Trail
Anna Claxton and the rest of the Percy DeWolfe Race Committee were hugely relieved to be able to announce that the “really hard working, amazing, dedicated trail crew” had managed to push a trail through a total of about five miles of jumble ice, and find ways around the various open leads in the river. …
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Year 17 sees an abundance of Yukon Films at the Festival
On Easter weekend the ballroom of the Oddfellows Hall will be filled with hundreds of short film fans celebrating the 17th edition of the Dawson City International Short Film Festival (DCISFF) and cramming in as much as they can of the 500 hours of screen time that will fill up the days. This is the …
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Announcing Yukon’s Unofficial Other March Long Weekend
With late February temperatures maxing out at +4 in Dawson, it’s hard to say just what this year’s Thaw di Gras, Spring Carnival will be looking at for weather, but the Klondike Visitors Association (KVA) has once again encouraged a wide variety of groups to get involved in outdoor and indoor events for the weekend …
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Have Some Francais Fun
Often mistaken for the French version of the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Festival, Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie (RVF), from March 3rd to 23rd, is a national initiative lead by the Canadian Foundation for Cross-Cultural Dialogue. The RVF is an event surrounding the Journée Internationale de la Francophonie (March 20), which is organized every year around …
Yukon Hidden History: Extraordinary Endurance
Lucile Hunter was an intrepid Yukon pioneer. Just 35 years after slavery was abolished in 1863 in the United States, she and her husband, Charles, joined the stampede to the Klondike from the US in 1897. As black Americans, they hoped to trade the cruelties of their homeland for a frontier that promised equality and …
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 organized by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in’s Heritage Department and focusing on the performing arts. It’s not too late to take in some of the culture. The week’s performance workshops continue on …
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Life of a Musician
Canadian singer-songwriter Louise Burns just completed a month’s residency in Dawson City as the songwriter in residence.
Examining the Quest to Understand the Aurora Borealis
The most recent exhibition at Dawson’s ODD Gallery is nothing if not seasonal for its subject is the northern lights, also called aurora borealis, the light display named jointly after the Roman god of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas. Nicole Liao’s installation is called Against the Day, which …
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Of Heater Plugs and Roof Clearances
It’s not that there haven’t been warm winter spells at various times in Dawson, but this winter seems to be one for the books.
Never Too Young To Be An Old Timer
You don’t have to be a real old timer to play Oldtimers Hockey in Dawson City. Anyone from 35 years and up can play on one of the three teams in the league. “In professional hockey, 35 is pretty old,” says Brent MacDonald, president of the Oldtimers Association. “That’s where the name came from.” MacDonald, …
The (Book) Case for Real Books
There are six bookcases in my study, and two of those are arranged so that I can shelve paperbacks on both sides of them. On those shelves I still have books that I bought and first read 50 years ago and, as new books enter the house, I periodically have to decide which ones I …
Dawson Entrepreneur Finds her own Klondike Gold
Not just gold glitters in the Klondike. For Dawson City single-mother & entrepreneur, the pasties she makes sparkle too.
Where will the ravens warm their toes?
Dawson is switching to LED (Light Emitting Diode) streetlights, swapping out the older HPS (high pressure sodium) for the newer, more eco-friendly, longer lasting lights. It’s a move that makes sense in a lot of ways. Yukon Energy and the City of Dawson figure that changing the 170 residential streetlights will save the town about …
Winter Solstice
Winter solstice is the shortest day and, officially, the start of winter. But it also triggers the sun’s journey back, bringing us spring. This year, for us in the northern hemisphere, winter solstice occurred on Dec. 21. That was when the sun was directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, a line of latitude that encircles Earth …
Art Crawl Dawson Style
Blair Douglas and Carly Woolner are hoping you’ll join them outside to have some fun this weekend. They are organizing the second annual edition of The (s)hiver Winter Arts Festival, taking place in Dawson City on Jan. 30 and 31. “We want to get people out to celebrate when everything is shut down and quiet,” …
So much for the death of the printed book
I was very pleased to read recently that the L.A. Times reported 571 million print books were sold in 2015, 17 million more than in 2014. So much for the death of paper and print books. You might think that someone who’s been writing a book review column for nearly 40 years and lives in …
Winning Awards with Husky Bus
Last month Jesse Cooke was the recipient of the Parks Canada Youth Tourism Entrepreneur Award, at a ceremony held in Ottawa on Dec. 2. Cooke arrived in the Yukon for the first time 10 years ago, studying glaciology at Kluane Lake as part of his University of Ottawa degree program. He says it was the …
Books for Armchair Mushers
Mushing season has begun. While waiting for the Yukon Quest or the Iditarod, here are some suggestions for armchair mushers. Racing Toward Recovery by Mike Williams and Lew Freedman This book is a set of four true stories from the North. The main story, “Dog Team to Dawson,” is about the author’s sled dog trip …
Christmas in Dawson
Christmas is a time of gatherings with family and friends. But what if you find yourself alone at that time of year? Well, if you’re in Dawson City, you have nothing to worry about. The community will make sure that everyone has somewhere to go. Dan Dowhal has first-hand experience with the Christmas spirit of …
Dawson Lights up for Christmas
We have reached that point in the season where we don’t get a lot of direct sunlight in Dawson City’s historic townsite. Those who live the Dome subdivisions – which I refer to as Literary Heights because all the streets are named for authors – do continue to get a short view of Ol’ Sol …
Reflections on Harsh Times
Last Friday I returned from a run to find The Frenchman shovelling snow. The end result is like an iced cake: smooth, precise and clean. It’s peculiar how one can go from being wrapped in one’s tiny world to having a sudden connection with things beyond comprehension. Upon reaching the cabin we found texts from …
Feeding the Hungry is a Vital Community Service
The Dawson Food Bank and the Dawson Women’s Shelter are busy organizing their annual Holiday Hamper Program and Food Drive. It’s designed to assist individuals and families in the community who might need a little boost to get them through the Christmas season. Donations of non-perishable food items can be dropped off at either the …
20 years of going to the dogs …
Humane Society Dawson is celebrating a milestone birthday this year. The “small shelter with a big heart” turns 20 years old, and shows no signs of slowing down. The Humane Society’s mandate is to provide shelter and care for abandoned and surrendered animals, educate and raise awareness for responsible pet ownership and to work …
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 in Dawson City seems to have been content to wait until after Remembrance Day to get started. ‘Tis the season for community gatherings, and the first one to occur was …
West Dawson Time
I’m not sure where the second week of freeze up has gone. After the protracted nature of my preparations, the flurry of activity upon arrival, and the pleasantly systematic organization of the cabin once here, time itself has taken on a different feel. Maybe it was the sudden transition from fall to winter that came …
Good Music for Good Causes
November 7 turned out to be an incredibly busy evening for anyone involved in community events in Dawson. There was the closing banquet for the Youth Art Enrichment program, which I mentioned here a few weeks ago. There was an outdoor art installation on the dyke and waterfront called The Deep Dark, involving contrasts of …
Making A Choice to Think Positive Thoughts
As the days become shorter and colder, the desire to hibernate like a bear becomes stronger. Those dealing with stress, anxiety or depression may be more likely to succumb to this feeling. The Mental Health Association of Yukon is offering a course to teach people a different way of thinking. In the course, called Living …
‘Tis the season: Christmas 2015
Jessica Vellenga will offer antique lace pendants and cowls created from old sweaters. A graduate of McMaster University with study abroad experience at University of Leeds, England, Vellenga brings a wonderful fine arts sensibility to her work. There will be at least 10 vendors with incredible products participating in re:design. A personal favourite is the …
Jewels on the Water
The ice is coming down in a rush this year. While there was not a sign of the stuff in the river on the day they pulled the George Black Ferry out of the Yukon on October 29, it took just a few nights of minus teens temperatures to bring small pans of the greyish …
Freeze Up: A First Timer’s Experience on the Other Side of the River
I jumped at the prospect of adventure and isolation in the little off-grid community while it waits for the Yukon River to freeze
Winter: We Shutter to Feel it Coming
At a recent municipal candidates’ forum it was suggested that one of the solutions to Dawson’s perennial winter housing problem would be to arrange to rent out rooms in some of the establishments that only operate in the summer. It’s true that a good many places close up shop once the summer visitors slow to …
Chance of a Ghost
Claude Turcotte was the father of my two younger kids, Josh and Sophie Turcotte, also Dad to then-toddlers Geordie MacInnis and Lee Robitaille. He was my partner, lover and frenemy from 1979 to 1988, when his shenanigans became too much for me. Claude came to Yukon in 1973 to work in Clinton Creek, and stayed …
What to Do in Dawson in the Winter
Those who think that the Klondike is just a sleepy little place in winter between the tourists and the Yukon Quest would be mistaken.
Freestyle Beading in Dawson
Dawson City resident Debbie Winston has a love of making art with beads – including antique glass and china chickens. A child of the sixties, Debbie first arrived in Whitehorse on July 1, 1967. She was traveling with her boyfriend. His father had paid her way – traveling in style on CP Air, Debbie remembers …
Bringing Variety to the Rural School Experience
Students in rural schools can miss out on a number of things in terms of course offerings and opportunities. There are specialty programs in the city that attract a number of rural students to spend time in Whitehorse. Our daughter, for instance, spent half of her Grade 11 year attending the Music Arts and Drama …
Trying to keep the Sun Shining
I promised to tell a little bit of the story of the Klondike Sun’s near death experience if the editors here said it was okay. They did, so here goes. It’s hard to keep small newspapers afloat these days. The Sun is in its 26th year now, and during the last year it’s begun to …
Thanks Dr. Jim
It’s been a month and a half since the Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner Jim Zheng passed away. Those who he helped will remember him fondly, and those who depended on him to help manage ailments will be wondering how to manage the void he has left in their lives. “Dr. Jim,” as he was known, …
Fun fiction from the Klondike
As the crew who came here to film an episode of the Canadian television series Murdoch Mysteries a few years ago told me, Dawson is a place that’s just a perfect backdrop for storytelling. The particular episode was a lot of fun to watch them film and then see it on TV later on. It …
Bringing New Life into Old Buildings
I have written a number of columns about Dawson’s habit of recycling building for other purposes. The Old Territorial Courthouse, which has to be passed by everyone entering the town on Front Street, is a prime example of this practice. Right after the Gold Rush, the federal government was anxious to prove to the world …
Revisiting the Klondike Big Inch
Each year during the Riverside Arts Festival, the ODD Gallery sponsors a paired set of exhibitions called The Natural and the Manufactured, each dealing with some way in which people and their plans have had an impact on the environment around them. This year one of those exhibits, the one indoors at the gallery itself, …
Book of Truths
A few years back, Craig Cardiff noticed he was only going through the motions at his shows. The folk musician from Waterloo, Ontario says he was on autopilot. He thought to himself, ‘This isn’t how it should be going.’ He says no one should be on autopilot, and a musician performing live, especially, should be …
A new park says Thanks to Klondike volunteers
Dawson City has a new park. Located between the Dawson Plaza (where the CIBC is) and the Husky Bus HQ (the former Hair We Are salon) it’s not a large space, but it’s a pleasant spot along Dawson’s second busiest commercial street, Second Avenue. It’s the latest project of the Klondike Centennials Society, which did …
Wild Cards
The 4th Dawson Daily News Print & Publishing Symposium, part of the annual Yukon Riverside Arts Festival, is taking a walk on the wild side.
