November, 1972. California-born musician Mike Stockstill and two friends packed their instruments into the car and headed for Alaska. The car was a 1942 Dodge truck that had six months earlier been a chicken coop. Mike, a mechanic, and his friends turned it back into a truck. “It broke down every 300 miles so we …
With the world’s longest undefended border it’s not difficult to become an accidental illegal alien, especially between the Yukon and Alaska. After all, the last time there was a serious passport control on the Chilkoot Trail was during the gold rush. And not so long ago, a person could float down the Yukon River from …
Ploytida Samanachangphunk had one sister living in Whitehorse before she immigrated to Canada. Now she has three sisters and an extended family here. Ploytida’s sister would return for family visits to their hometown of Nan, in northern Thailand, and tell her about life in the Yukon. Ploytida became intrigued. “I love my country. Thailand is …
The status of one’s permanent residency quickly becomes the crux of conversation among the Yukon’s new Canadians. And it’s the crux of this column. No two people have the same story to tell. Not only are there various ways to immigrate, each person’s reason to immigrate is different. Some are poignant, others humorous, like this …
