Statement from Minister of Tourism and Culture John Streicker on the Yukon’s collaborative heritage preservation efforts

Minister of Tourism and Culture John Streicker has issued the following statement:

“The Yukon is home to fascinating and internationally significant human and natural history. Protecting, preserving and interpreting that history is a core component of the Government of Yukon’s mandate. We do all of it in collaboration with Yukon First Nations – ensuring that everyone from youth to Elders to other community members have opportunities for involvement and knowledge exchange.

“The Department of Tourism and Culture’s Historic Sites Unit co-manages six heritage sites and has responsibility for documentation, conservation and interpretation at over 40 heritage reserves throughout the Yukon, most of which are in remote and difficult areas to access.

“Fieldwork plays a key role in the work of the unit. This work ranges from building conservation and site maintenance as well as interpretation. Of the many highlights from the unit’s field season, the one that stood out to me was some time-sensitive and decidedly 'old school' work to save an imperiled building on Herschel Island.

“This summer, three hardy and skilled staff members spent two weeks at Qikiqtaruk - Herschel Island Territorial Park, painstakingly moving the historic Northern Whaling and Trading Company Warehouse that was left damaged and vulnerable after a fall storm last year.

“To make room for this relocation, two other historic buildings – the Canada Custom’s Warehouse and the Ahyakak Cabin – needed to be moved first. Given the site’s remote location, equipment options were limited: the buildings had to be incrementally raised using air bags, then rolled along wooden beams, pulled by manual cable jacks.

“In the end, the warehouse was successfully moved the necessary eight metres inland and repaired. A video of this feat is currently in the editing phase, with an eye to posting it to the Tourism and Culture YouTube account.

“On the palaeontological side of things, there was the ongoing research at the 34 Pup Gold Run. A collaboration between the Yukon government, Stockholm University and the University of Alberta, the site was first identified in 2022 when geologists from the University of Alberta discovered a bed of volcanic ash – tephra – in the permafrost that is about 700,000 years old.

“This site is of particular interest to us because at 700,000 years old, this was a time prior to the arrival of woolly mammoths, Beringian lions, grey wolves or steppe bison in the Yukon and we know very little about the composition of the animal communities or the environment at this time of the ice age.

“Moving to our Archaeology Unit, I know they had an exciting and productive season at the Bluefish Caves, which included the recovery of ancient DNA. Located in the traditional territory of the Vuntut Gwitchin and first investigated and excavated in the 1970s and 80s, this limestone ridge with four documented caves contains a unique record of life during the last ice age.

“For the past five years, the Yukon government’s archaeology team has been conducting archaeological research at the site in collaboration with Vuntut Gwitchin, the University of Calgary and the University of Kansas. Research activities include further excavation of the caves, recovery of samples for comprehensive analysis and digital documentation, including drone mapping and 3D scanning for site preservation as well as education and interpretation purposes.

“Each year, the department and the First Nation also arrange to bring approximately 20 Vuntut Gwitchin Citizens to the site by helicopter for tours. By working in partnership with Yukon First Nations and other organizations in the spirit of reconciliation and collaboration, we ensure that the heritage resources of the territory are preserved and managed for the benefit and understanding of all.”