UBC LIBRARY BLOGGERS

In last month’s blog post, we took you on an introductory tour of the realities of the Klondike Gold Rush era alongside the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection. We continue this tour with Part 1 of a two-part series about Indigenous stories of the Klondike Gold Rush, namely that of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people.

In Part 1, we identify the Indigenous people central to the Gold Rush’s discovery narrative. We also explore the history of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people, and the crucial role they played during the Klondike Gold Rush era.

Portraits of Indigenous people (nations unknown; between 1897 and 1924)

A note on historical photographs of Indigenous people

It is difficult to ascertain the context or intent behind the photographs of Indigenous people in the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection. 19^th and 20^th century settler photography of Indigenous people was sometimes shot under exploitative circumstances, or misidentified its subjects. However, many photographs from this time were produced with full control and consent from their Indigenous subjects.

For more information, refer to Looks Can Be Deceiving: Issues Regarding 19th-Century Native American Photographs, which guided the above statement.

Indigenous people, who have inhabited the land now known as the Yukon Territory for millennia, have long been excluded from Gold Rush narratives. While photographs of Indigenous people in this collection may have been produced from a colonial or voyeuristic perspective, they are visual evidence of the presence and impact of Indigenous people during the Klondike Gold Rush era. These photos have been included in this post as a means of revising Eurocentric Gold Rush narratives that invisibilize both the labour and the existence of Indigenous communities during this period.

A note on outdated language in the Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection

Outdated terms for Indigenous people exist in this collection, and are present in two photographs in this post. Inclusion of these materials is not an endorsement of this language. In addition to the above noted purpose, these documents also preserve “historical evidence of social conditions and attitudes” of the era.

These photos are intended to be viewed through a critical lens, keeping in mind their historical context.

Indigenous Icons of the Gold Rush

For decades after its end, the lore of the Klondike Gold Rush primarily credited George Cormack, a white settler, with spotting the first traces of gold in the Yukon River. While it was often noted that Tagish men Skookum Jim (Keish) and Tagish Charlie (K̲áa Goox̱) were by his side, cultural representations portrayed them as just that: sidekicks.

A group of white prospectors pan for gold in the Klondike (1899)

It is now understood that it was just as likely that Skookum Jim, Tagish Charlie, or Cormack’s wife, a Tagish woman named Kate (Shaaw Tláa) had first made the fateful discovery, but that Cormack had registered the official claim because he was white.

While decades of retellings of the Klondike Gold Rush era have centered the stories of white prospectors, the Indigenous communities of the Yukon not only played a pivotal role in the Klondike Gold Rush, but were also profoundly affected by the mass migration.

A group of Indigenous boys and men stand in front of a tent (1908)

History of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in

The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people, or the People of the Hammer-Rock River, are descendants of the Hän, who have inhabited the Yukon Territory for thousands of years. For centuries, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in traversed their territory as the seasons shifted, gathering berries in the fall and hunting in the winters.

Photos in the Phil Lind Collection show the vastness of the Yukon River, where the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in spent summers fishing for salmon.

“Telephoto view down Yukon from Dawson” (between 1895 and 1900)

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Territory

The territory of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in people extends from the Yukon River valley through to the Blackstone Uplands.

The Phil Lind Klondike Gold Rush Collection features many photos of the landscape surrounding the Yukon River, where the traditional Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in territory is located.

Postcard depicting Forty Mile Town, a traditional harvest and hunting area for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in (1898)

The “heart” of their territory is Tr’ochëk, the land between the Klondike and Yukon Rivers. The Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in fished, hunted, and held cultural events on this land for hundreds of years before the Gold Rush. In the late 1800s, stampeders would occupy this area, displacing the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in.

This photo from the Phil Lind Collection shows Tr’ochëk:

“Mouth of the Klondyke, showing lower town and Yukon River, Alaska” (1899)

Role of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in in the Gold Rush Era  

During the Klondike Gold Rush, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in worked as hunters, porters, and traders, as well as on paddlewheelers, at building sites, and on claims.

A group of Indigenous men and boys rest on the Dyea trail (1897)

Their expertise was invaluable to prospectors who were unfamiliar with the territory, and their skills were often preferred over those of settlers. The meat supplied by Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in hunters was at some points crucial to the survival of Dawson City residents.

While they tried to coexist harmoniously with stampeders, the Gold Rush had dire social and environmental implications for the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. Despite this, their culture and tradition has endured, and they remain a strong, self-governing nation to this day.

Stay tuned…

… for Part 2, where we delve into the impacts of the Klondike Gold Rush on the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and explore the nation’s contemporary history. We also meet Chief Isaac, the revered chief of the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in during the Klondike Gold Rush.