Wrapping up Dawson City

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The day of my oil change dawned well. It had looked like it was going to rain again. I had endured rain the night before, but the tent proved to be up to the challenge. Of course, I discovered that I should have wiped up water from between the tent and the tarp I put on the ground before I left for my day the day before. When I went to go to bed, there was water that had soaked through the canvas of the tent. Live and learn, and nothing by the blow up mattress was wet. I cleaned up the rest of the water and got to sleep. In the morning, the sky was clear and I was able to put everything away without any rain. But by the time I had finished, it was looking like rain and by the time I got to my appointment for the oil change it had started raining. Good timing!



The garage people told me that everything was mostly fine, but I had a couple of belts that had cracks and would need replacing. One of them was the alternator belt. If that one went, it would really ruin my day. They didn't have the belts in stock and told me to get them changed as soon as I hit a bigger centre than Dawson City. Thanks for the info, guys! I appreciate it. I won't be needing help on the side of the road because I didn't know.



Then I headed into town for the Jack London Cabin. There was to be a talk there about London and his time in the Klondike. I made it just in time, but I was the only one. I had a personal talk. It was quite interesting. He began his writing career, and wrote his most famous stories, based on the less than a year that he spent near and around Dawson City. He also died young, at 40. Nevertheless he wrote over 50 novels and 100 newspaper/magazine articles.



His time here was mostly spent at a cabin some 70 miles upriver from Dawson City. After he left and became famous, someone found the cabin and excised a signature from one of the logs making the back wall. Decades later, a man with a great curiosity for Jack London heard about the cabin and went to find it in the woods. He found it. Then he went looking for the guys who cut out the signature. They had died, but he found a widow who showed him the attic where it might be. It was there, he had it verified and then he arranged to have the cabin moved to a better location. He couldn't afford to move it himself, and Dawson City wasn't willing to help. Jack London had a connection to Oakland, California, so the guy approached that city. They agreed to finance the move, but they wanted the cabin for Oakland. This man wanted to have it in Dawson City, as that is where it has the most connection. Eventually the city of Oakland agreed to have half of the cabin. It would be divided top logs and bottom logs, and another guy would recreate the other halves to make two complete, half authentic/half recreation cabins. Oakland got the top half, the one with the signature. So I have a photo of a half authentic cabin where Jack London spent 6 months of his time learning the stories of the Klondike.



I decided to take a bit of extra time to go and see the Trondek Hwechin's Danoja Zho Cultural Centre. The Trondek Hwechin are the local First Nation. They have a lovely cultural centre with many displays for how the local traditional sites were used, then taken over, changed and ruined, regained by the Trondek Hwechin, restored, and put back to use in their traditional manner.



There was also an exhibition of dolls that had been made by various members of various First Nations from the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. They did some beautiful work. It had been commissioned for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. Soon they will go to their final display area, this cultural centre being their last stop on a world exhibition tour.



But the most fascinating thing I learned at the centre was about the Trondek Hwechin's tribal songs and dances. When the gold seekers arrived, the Trondek Hwechin lived at the confluence of the Klondike and the Yukon rivers. The gold seekers came and decided to set up camp at the same spot. The leader of the Trondek Hwechin, Chief Isaac, decided he didn't want his people to be unduly influenced by these drunken maniacs (I am editorializing here. I really don't know how they behaved.), so he moved his people into Dawson City. Uncomfortable there, he arranged to have his people move further downstream to a spot called Moosehide. This was quite acceptable, aside from the fact they had lost their traditional fishing grounds to this gold craze.



I don't know if it was a law that banned the traditional songs and dances from being performed (and it wouldn't surprise me if it were a law), or if Chief Isaac simply felt that these strangers were presenting a threat to the songs and dances. But he took a drastic step. He went across the divide into Alaska, to meet with a sister people. Worried about losing the songs and dances, he gave them into this other First Nation's care for safekeeping. “Keep them safe for us, and give them back when we are strong again,” was what he asked of them. The songs resided with that nation for almost a hundred years. In 1992, when the northern First Nations settled their land claims with the federal government, the Trondek Hwechin went to the other First Nation and began to take back their songs and dances. Initially there was only one elder who knew one song. Now, the interpreter told us, they have brought back about 7 or 8 of the old songs.



To me this was a WAY cool story.



After an hour at the centre, it was time to be on my way. I headed across the Yukon River and up the Top of the World Highway. I don't know what it's like on a clear day. I imagine the views must go on forever and it could well be quite inspiring. But it was just cloudy and cool this day. It didn't matter as there was only one other way to get into Alaska, and that was back down the Klondike Highway to Whitehorse and go from there. Much longer, it was not how I would have gone anyway. So this was my highway, good views or bad. I wasn't too miffed however. It must certainly be impressive views offered by the highway, but I have been on mountaintop highways before and I didn't feel I was missing anything I hadn't seen before.



The border station was funny though, with a population of 2.



Into Alaska, I headed down the highway to Tok, in the rain, wondering what I was going to find. By the time I reached Tok, I realized that I might be better off heading down to Anchorage first and then past Denali (Mt. McKinley). I saw a forecast that said that the rain and cloudiness are to continue for days. Any views of Denali would likely be compromised by that, so waiting could make my chances better.



I stopped at Tok, because I didn't want to go any further, and to think about which direction to head first. It doesn't really matter, I suppose. I am still going to travel the loop from Anchorage to Fairbanks, or vice versa. It's all the same distance. I could just flip a coin. I can decide tomorrow.

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Photos

Jack London's Cabin
For a small place, Dawson City produced a lot of writing talent. This is Jack London's cabin from when he lived in the area.

Danoja Zho Cultural Centre
The Trondek Hwechin welcome the public to come and learn about their culture and their history. They have many exhibitions in their cultural centre.

Inside the Danoja Zho Cultural Centre
One of the exhibits in the cultural centre shows a traditional family tent.

The Top of the World Highway
Although a rainy and foggy day, there were still some spectacular views from the top of the world.

Yukon/Alaska Border Crossing
It's a small place...

Tanana River Crossing
The Alaska Highway had to cross many rivers and streams to get from Dawson Creek to Fairbanks. Pushed through in a very short time, most were reconstructed over time to be more durable and useful.