I pulled out the flat, round, ceramic piece, which looked like a patterned cookie, and held it in my hand. Under glorious sun, I surveyed the stony shoreline and calm waters of Stewart River. This spot, off the Klondike Highway and linked to the Yukon River, was the perfect confluence of history, adventure, and wilderness …
On a cool Monday evening at the Old Crow Community Hall, up-and-coming country musicians Carli and Julie Kennedy played the last show of their first Yukon tour. The twin sisters were here courtesy of Home Routes, a Winnipeg-based company that arranges tours for folk-based musicians to venues and homes around Canada. Having spent nearly two …
As Halloween draws near, let’s honour the many victims of Halloween. First, there are the 139 victims of Michael Myers, the villain of 10 Halloween movies, including sequels and remakes. Rest in peace, screen people, and especially you Jamie Lee Curtis, aka Laurie Strode; you were there from the beginning. There are also the long-suffering …
This year wood was cut in March. Joseph does janitorial work at Chief Zzheh Gittlit School; this year he had two weeks off. As a family we quickly prepared our gear and headed up the Porcupine River to Blue Bluff. Blue Bluff is about 45 to 50 miles away, and takes about two to three …
Priest is diagnosed with ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and is not able to speak, but her eyes said it all: she was blown away by the Yukoners who appeared for the book launch. As her husband, Ben Parfitt, started reading a chapter of the book, listeners were transported to life in the mining town of …
The rain was turning to slush against the windows of the plane as we scooted down the tarmac a few weeks ago, on its way to becoming the first snow of the season in Whitehorse. I was headed south and in good company —it seems that seasonality is a trait shared by many Yukoners, feathered …
There is an exciting new project underway near Dawson City. On September 19, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (TH) and Yukon College to create a framework for the development of a teaching-and-working farm located in TH traditional territory. The project’s impetus is to secure a source of fresh produce in …
Our little apartment in Old Crow is in full Halloween mode; my mom mailed up decorations, and our crib is sporting the spooky colours, orange and black. It’s the first year that our daughter Emily is kind of grasping the concept of taking candy from strangers. The last two years, I basically made her my …
Control over heart rate and breath is an integral part of biathlon. It sucks learning technical aspects of shooting in the freezing cold.
I am, by nature, a sentimental son of a gun. I wear old shirts until they are threadbare because they remind me of certain times, places, and people; I listen to old songs just to feel wistful; I cloak the past in a golden sheen. I sometimes even catch myself feeling tender towards the most …
