Yukon Imagination Library columnist Leighann Chalykoff is a Yukon writer who believes in building community through good causes.
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Leighann Chalykoff
Issue: 2019-12-23, PHOTO: courtesy of Tony Gonda / Government of Yukon
Teri McNaughton and the Watson Lake Historical Society are ensuring the history of the town is recognized–one site at a time
In the 1970s the Watson Lake Hotel was the place to be. “Everybody would go there–it was like our living room,” said Teri McNaughton, who moved to Watson from Dawson City for a job at the hotel’s restaurant. Read more
Issue: 2019-11-27, PHOTO: Robin Smarch
Sharing Northern Tutchone stories, culture and heritage—one bar at a time
Sometimes when Joella Hogan returns home after a long day, she’ll find a bag of fresh rose petals on her doorstep. And once in a while, neighbourhood kids will knock on her door with fists full of wild flowers and plants. Read more
Evan Rensch
As Elsa moves towards an uncertain future, a former resident reflects on its past
Elsa’s prospects rose and fell with the price of minerals. Its population swelled to 700 in the 1940s, drawing people from allover the world to work on the site. Read more
Issue: 2019-10-02, PHOTO: Doug Davidge
For more than 30 years Doug Davidge has helped solve Yukon’s historic mysteries, both hidden and exposed
Doug Davidge finds lost things. Over the course of more than three decades in the Yukon, Davidge has been known to find things that people know are missing–such as the A.J. Goddard, a steamboat that vanished in Lake Laberge in 1901–and things that... Read more
Issue: 2019-09-25, PHOTO: Leighann Chalykoff
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... Read more
Issue: 2019-08-14, PHOTO: courtesy of the McDougalls
Kim and Mike McDougall
Mike and Kim McDougall have been mining gold in the Sixtymile region of the Klondike for nearly 40 years. Throughout the decades, they’ve made their own history in the area. Read more
Issue: 2019-07-17, PHOTO: courtesy of the Government of Yukon
Protecting more than a park
When Richard Gordon was a young man he worked on an oil rig in the Beaufort Sea, but often found himself looking across the water to a special place he had visited as a child. Read more
Issue: 2019-06-26, PHOTO: Tony Gonda
Murray Lundberg - Yukon historian builds online community for sharing stories and building a collective memory
When it reached 500 people, Murray Lundberg was satisfied. Then, out of the blue, it jumped to 2,500, then 5,000. Now the “Yukon History and Abandoned Places” Facebook group has more than 11,000 users. And it steadily gains 50 new users each week. Read more
Issue: 2018-06-27, PHOTO: courtesy of Yukon College
Sun, water and wind
Burning one litre of diesel fuel produces about 2.7 kilograms of carbon dioxide. So, for example, Grise Fiord (Ausuittuq), a community of 150 located on the southern shore of Ellesmere Island, in Nunavut, is dependent on burning diesel to provide... Read more
Issue: 2018-05-30, PHOTO: Scott Gilbert
Finding the keys to safer camping
On the Canada Day long weekend in 2012, the Congdon Creek Campground, located on the shore of Kluane Lake near Burwash Landing, played host to a furry teenaged visitor. A medium-sized grizzly found its way into the campground and proceeded to... Read more
Issue: 2018-05-16, PHOTO: courtesy of the Yukon College
Molasses, methanol, and mine-water remediation
Yukon College mine-life-cycle researcher Dr. Guillaume Nielsen likes to find innovative solutions to problems. Sometimes those solutions even involve ingredients one might also spread on toast or use in holiday baking. Take Nielsen’s PhD project... Read more
Issue: 2018-05-02, PHOTO: Rick Massie
Can wisdom save the world?
In an instant, everything changes. Electricity fizzles out, networks crumble and the collected knowledge of humanity – stored in digital archives like Wikipedia – vanishes. The world is left in the middle of a cold, dark winter... Read more
Issue: 2018-04-18, PHOTO: courtesy of the Yukon College
Moving Mountains
The white-capped Mackenzie Mountains, which spill over the border between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, are surprisingly active… for a pile of rock. Each year, the mountains are growing a few millimetres taller. It may not sound like much... Read more
Issue: 2018-04-04, PHOTO: Cass Collins
Fete for the Feline
When Coralie Ullyett first saw him at the bar a few years ago, she thought he was cute. Ullyett and some friends were visiting Atlin, B.C., for a girls’ weekend, and before settling into their rental cabin, they stopped at the recreation centre... Read more
Issue: 2018-03-28, PHOTO: courtesy of Yukon College
Powering up the North
Diesel power generators are like cars: the more efficient they are, the less fuel they need. And that increased efficiency translates into less cost, both for drivers at the pump and for the communities that rely on diesel fuel for heat and... Read more
Issue: 2018-03-14, PHOTO: courtesy of Yukon College
From the field to the lab
Yukon College archaeologist Norm Easton has been unearthing the secrets of the area around the Yukon-Alaska border for more than 25 years. This year, for the first time, he is leaving the field to focus on doing research in the laboratory... Read more
Issue: 2018-02-28, PHOTO: courtesy of Yukon College
Increasing the chance of survival
Yukon College student Cheyenne Bradley is taking a few minutes between work and class to look after 30,000 newborns. “Sometimes I call them my babies — we get them when they’re eggs and we basically raise them,” she said... Read more
Issue: 2018-02-14, CARTOON: Amanda Graham
What do you think?
It’s noon on a Friday and an unlikely group of Yukoners gather in a classroom at Yukon College. They’ve brought their lunches and their big ideas. ResearChats, devised by Northern Studies Instructor Amanda Graham and Chemistry Instructor Ernie... Read more
Issue: 2017-08-23, PHOTO: courtesy of the Went family
There’s Always a Stack of Books Hidden Under Their Quilts
The Yukon Imagination Library — non-profit organization that gives free books to Yukon children from birth to age four — is turning 10 this year. To celebrate the milestone we have collected reading stories from families who have used the library... Read more
Courtesy of the Yukon Imagination Library
Imagine the Yukon - Part 1
To kick off this series, we asked MLA Geraldine Van Bibber to tell us what her favourite book was when she was a child. Here’s what she said: “When I was asked to name a favourite book, I could not. Because to me each book had magic and secrets in i Read more
Issue: 2019-03-20, PHOTO: Alistair Maitland
Oral history in a modern context
Reconciliation. We have all heard the term used in modern-day politics. You may have heard about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or even the 94 calls to Action that came out of it. However, few, if any, educational institutions have put... Read more
Tennis moves indoors
The tennis season in the Yukon is too short ... so it has moved indoors. To help get the word out, Tennis Yukon is holding the 40 Below Indoor Tennis Tournament at Yukon College March 1 and 2. Read more