| Dictionary: Yukon Territory |
A territory of northwest Canada east of Alaska. It joined the Confederacy in 1898. The region was first explored by fur traders in the 1840s and was acquired by Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870. A land claim made by the Yukon tribe of Native Americans was approved by the federal government in 1991. Whitehorse is the capital and the largest city. Population: 30,400.
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Geography and Climate
The triangle-shaped Yukon territory is bordered on the N by the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean, on the E by the Northwest Territories, on the S by British Columbia and Alaska, and on the W by Alaska. The highest point in the Yukon is Mt. Logan, 19,551 ft (5,959 m) high, part of the Coast Ranges in the southwest. Although most of the territory is a watershed for the Yukon River and its tributaries, the northern and southeastern regions drain east into the Mackenzie River system.
Immediately south of the desolate arctic coast the country is uninhabited and generally unknown. The other parts of the territory have great natural beauty, with snow-fed lakes backed by perpetually white-capped mountains and forests and streams abounding with wildlife. Kluane National Park (est. 1972) is in the St. Elias Mts. Winters are long and cold, with low humidity. During the short summers the longer day and surprisingly warm sun bring a profusion of wildflowers and enable the hardier grains and vegetables to mature.
The few settlements are situated on the riverbanks. The capital and largest town is Whitehorse, where the vast majority of the population lives. Next in importance is Dawson.
Economy
The Yukon's leading industry by far is mining; lead, zinc, silver, gold, and copper are the principal minerals. Tourism is the second most important industry; the area's colorful history and beautiful scenery draw visitors. Manufacturing has increased in importance, with such products as furniture, clothing, and handicrafts. There are hydroelectric facilities at Whitehorse, Aishihik, and Mayo. Trapping, the oldest industry, has declined in recent decades. Fishing is relatively unimportant.
Transportation facilities are limited. For many years the Yukon River system was the main artery. The White Pass and Yukon Railway, between Whitehorse and Skagway, Alaska, built during the Klondike gold rush of the 1890s, now handles only excursion traffic. The Alaska Highway and other all-weather roads have been built since World War II. Air transportation now plays a vital role, and there is an international airport at Whitehorse.
History and Government
The territory's history began with the explorations in the 1840s of Robert Campbell and John Bell, fur traders for the Hudson's Bay Company. Several trading posts were built on the Yukon River, and before long prospectors began to search for treasure. The Canadian government acquired the Yukon from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870 and administered it as part of the Northwest Territories. After the famous gold strikes in the Klondike River region in the 1890s, thousands of fortune hunters arrived in search of gold. This colorful period was recorded in the writings of Robert Service and Jack London.
To meet the need for local government created by the influx of prospectors, the Yukon was made a separate district (1895) and then a separate territory (1898) with Dawson as capital. Whitehorse became the capital in 1952. Native land claims and the desire for provincial status are two issues that have dominated territorial politics in recent years. The land claim by the Yukon, a tribe of about 7,000, was approved by the federal government in 1991.
The government consists of a federally appointed commissioner, an elected legislative assembly of 18 members, and a 5-member cabinet appointed by the majority party of the assembly. Dennis Fentie led the conservative Yukon party to victory in the 2002 assembly elections, ousting the governing Liberal party; Fentie's government retained power after the 2006 elections. The territory sends one senator and one representative to the national parliament.
Bibliography
See K. J. Rea, The Political Economy of the Canadian North (1968); E. A. McCourt, The Yukon and Northwest Territories (1969); J. R. Lotz, Northern Realities: The Future of Northern Development in Canada (1970); M. Webb, The Last Frontier (1985); T. Stone, Miners' Justice: Migration, Law and Order on the Alaska-Yukon Frontier, 1873–1902 (1988); K. S. Coates and W. R. Morrison, A History of the Yukon (1988).
| Geography: Yukon Territory |
Territory in northwest Canada, bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Northwest Territories to the east, British Columbia to the south, and Alaska to the west.
| Wikipedia: Yukon |
Coordinates: 63°38′N 135°46′W / 63.633°N 135.767°W
| Yukon |
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| Capital | Whitehorse | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Largest city | Whitehorse | ||||
| Largest metro | Whitehorse | ||||
| Official languages | English, French | ||||
| Demonym | Yukoner | ||||
| Government | |||||
| Commissioner | Geraldine Van Bibber | ||||
| Premier | Dennis Fentie (Yukon Party) | ||||
| Federal representation | in Canadian Parliament | ||||
| House seats | 1 | ||||
| Senate seats | 1 | ||||
| Confederation | June 13, 1898 (9th) | ||||
| Area | Ranked 9th | ||||
| Total | 482,443 km2 (186,272 sq mi) | ||||
| Land | 474,391 km2 (183,163 sq mi) | ||||
| Water (%) | 8,052 km2 (3,109 sq mi) (1.7%) | ||||
| Population | Ranked 12th | ||||
| Total (2009) | 33,442 (est.)[1] | ||||
| Density | 0.065 /km² (0.17 /sq mi) | ||||
| GDP | Ranked 12th | ||||
| Total (2006) | C$1.596 billion[2] | ||||
| Per capita | C$51,154 (3rd) | ||||
| Abbreviations | |||||
| Postal | YT | ||||
| ISO 3166-2 | CA-YT | ||||
| Time zone | UTC-8 | ||||
| Postal code prefix | Y | ||||
| Flower | Fireweed | ||||
| Tree | Subalpine Fir | ||||
| Bird | Common Raven | ||||
| Website | www.gov.yk.ca | ||||
| Rankings include all provinces and territories | |||||
Yukon (pronounced /ˈjuːkɒn/) is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three federal territories. It was named after the Yukon River, Yukon meaning "Great River" in Gwich’in.
Created in 1898 as the Yukon Territory, the federal government's most recent update of the Yukon Act in 2003 confirmed "Yukon", rather than "Yukon Territory", as the current usage standard.[3]
At 5,959 metres (19,551 ft), Yukon's Mount Logan, in Kluane National Park and Reserve, is the highest mountain in Canada and the second highest of North America (after Mount McKinley in the U.S. state of Alaska).
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The sparsely populated territory abounds with snow-melt lakes and perennial snow-capped mountains. Although the climate is Arctic and subarctic and very dry, with long, cold winters, the long sunshine hours in short summer allow hardy crops and vegetables, along with a profusion of flowers and fruit to blossom.
The territory is the approximate shape of a right triangle, bordering the U.S. state of Alaska to the west for 1,210 km (752 miles) mostly along longitude 141º W, the Northwest Territories to the east and British Columbia to the south. Its northern coast is on the Beaufort Sea. Its ragged eastern boundary mostly follows the divide between the Yukon Basin and the Mackenzie River drainage basin to the east in the Mackenzie mountains. Its capital is Whitehorse.
Canada's highest point, Mount Logan (5,959 m/19,551 ft), is found in the territory's southwest. Mount Logan and a large part of the Yukon's southwest are in Kluane National Park and Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other national parks include Ivvavik National Park and Vuntut National Park in the north.
Most of the territory is in the watershed of its namesake, the Yukon River. The southern Yukon is dotted with a large number of large, long and narrow glacier-fed alpine lakes, most of which flow into the Yukon River system. The larger lakes include Teslin Lake, Atlin Lake, Tagish Lake, Marsh Lake, Lake Laberge, Kusawa Lake, and Kluane Lake. Bennett Lake on the Klondike Gold Rush trail is a lake flowing into Nares Lake, with the greater part of its area within the Yukon.
Other watersheds include the Mackenzie River and the Alsek-Tatshenshini, as well as a number of rivers flowing directly into the Beaufort Sea. The two main Yukon rivers flowing into the Mackenzie in the Northwest Territories are the Liard River in the southeast and the Peel River and its tributaries in the northeast.
Notable widespread tree species within the Yukon are the Black Spruce and White Spruce.
The capital, Whitehorse, is also the largest city, with about two-thirds of the population; the second largest is Dawson City, (pop. 1,250) which was the capital until 1952.
Long before the arrival of Europeans, central and northern Yukon escaped glaciation as it was part of Beringia (Bering land bridge). Remains of human inhabitation found near Old Crow appear to be the oldest in North America. Around AD 800, the volcanic eruption of Mount Churchill near the Alaska border blanketed southern Yukon with a layer of ash which can still be seen along the Klondike Highway. Coastal and interior First Nations already had extensive trading networks and European incursions into the area only began early in the 19th century with the fur trade, followed by missionaries and the Western Union Telegraph Expedition. By the latter end of the 19th century gold miners were trickling in on rumours of gold, creating a population increase justifying the setting up of a police force, just in time for the start of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. The increased population coming with the gold rush led to the separation of the Yukon district from the Northwest Territories and the formation of the separate Yukon Territory in 1898.
According to the 2001 Canadian census,[4] the largest ethnic group in Yukon is English (27.1%), followed by First Nations (22.3%), Scottish (21.9%), Irish (19.1%), German (14.3%), and French (13.4%) - although over a quarter of all respondents also identified their ethnicity as "Canadian."
| Linguistic Grouping | Tribe |
|---|---|
| Gwich’in | Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, Old Crow |
| Han | Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation, Dawson City |
| Upper Tanana | White River First Nation, Beaver Creek |
| Northern Tutchone | Selkirk First Nation
Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation |
| Southern Tutchone | Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, Haines Junction Kluane First Nation, Burwash Landing |
| Kaska | Ross River Dena Council, Ross River |
| Inland Tlingit | Teslin Tlingit Council |
| Tagish | Carcross/Tagish First Nation |
The 2006 Canadian census showed a population of 30,372.
Of the 29,940 singular responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue' the most commonly reported languages were:
| 1. | English | 25,655 | 85.69% |
| 2. | French | 1,105 | 3.69% |
| 3. | German | 775 | 2.59% |
| 4. | Chinese | 260 | 0.87% |
| 5. | Tagalog | 145 | 0.48% |
| 6. | Dutch | 140 | 0.47% |
| 7. | Spanish | 130 | 0.43% |
| 8. | Vietnamese | 105 | 0.35% |
| 9. | Hungarian | 80 | 0.27% |
| 10. | Punjabi | 80 | 0.27% |
| 11. | Gwich'in | 75 | 0.25% |
| 12. | Tlingit | 70 | 0.23% |
There were also 130 responses of both English and a 'non-official language'; 10 of both French and a 'non-official language'; 110 of both English and French; and about 175 people who either did not respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave some other unenumerated response. The Yukon's official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.[6]
The Language Act of the Yukon "recognizes the significance" of aboriginal languages in the Yukon; however, only English and French are available for laws, court proceedings, and legislative assembly proceedings.[7]
Yukon's population is highly secularized. The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church with 5,985 (21 %); the Anglican Church of Canada with 3,795 (13 %); and the United Church of Canada with 2,105 (7 %).[8]
The Yukon's historical major industry has been mining (lead, zinc, silver, gold, asbestos and copper). The government acquired the land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870 and split it from the Northwest Territories in 1898 to fill the need for local government created by the population influx of the gold rush.
Thousands of these prospectors flooded the territory, creating a colourful period recorded by authors such as Robert W. Service and Jack London. The memory of this period and the early days of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, as well as the territory's scenic wonders and outdoor recreation opportunities, makes tourism the second most important industry.
Manufacturing, including furniture, clothing, and handicrafts, follows in importance, along with hydroelectricity. The traditional industries of trapping and fishing have declined. Today, the government sector is by far the biggest employer in the territory, directly employing approximately 5,000 out of a labour force of 12,500.
Yukon's tourism motto is "Larger than life".[9] The Yukon's major appeal is its nearly pristine nature. Tourism relies heavily on this, and there are many organised outfitters and guides available to hunters and anglers and nature lovers of all sorts. Sports enthusiasts can paddle lakes and rivers with canoes and kayaks, ride or walk trails, ski or snowboard in an organized setting or access the backcountry by air or snowmobile, climb the highest peaks of North America or take a family hike up smaller mountains, or try ice climbing and dog sledding. The Yukon also has a wide array of cultural and sporting events and infrastructures that attract artists, participants and tourists from all parts of the world (Yukon International Storytelling Festival, Frostbite Music Festival,[10] Dawson Music Festival,[11] Yukon Quest, Sourdough Rendezvous, the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre,[12] Northern Lights Centre,[13] Klondike Gold Rush memorials and activities, "Takhini Hot Springs", and the Whitehorse fish ladder.[14]
There are many opportunities to experience pre-colonial lifestyles by learning about Yukon's First Nations.[15] Wildlife and nature observation is exceptional and a wide variety of large mammals, birds, and fish are easily accessible, whether or not within Yukon's many territorial[16] parks (Herschel Island Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park,[17] Tombstone Territorial Park,[18] Fishing Branch Ni'iinlii'njik Park,[19] Coal River Springs Territorial Park)[20] and national parks (Kluane National Park and Reserve, Vuntut National Park, Ivvavik National Park) and reserves, or nearby Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park in British Columbia.
On the long cold clear nights of winter, nature provides the ultimate natural spectacle in the form of aurora borealis.
Before modern forms of transportation, the rivers and mountain passes were the main transportation routes for the coastal Tlingit people trading with the Athabascans of which the Chilkoot Pass and Dalton Trail, as well as the first Europeans.
From the Gold Rush until the 1950s, riverboats plied the Yukon River, mostly between Whitehorse and Dawson City, with some making their way further to Alaska and over to the Bering Sea, and other tributaries of Yukon River such as the Stewart River. Most of the riverboats were owned by the British-Yukon Navigation Company, an arm of the White Pass and Yukon Route, which also operated a narrow gauge railway between Skagway, Alaska, and Whitehorse. The railway ceased operation in the 1980s with the first closure of the Faro mine. It is now run during the summer months for the tourism season, with operations as far as Carcross.
Today, major land routes include the Alaska Highway, the Klondike Highway (between Skagway and Dawson City), the Haines Highway (between Haines, Alaska, and Haines Junction), and the Dempster Highway (linking Inuvik, Northwest Territories to the Klondike Highway), all paved except for the Dempster. Other highways with less traffic include the "Robert Campbell Highway" link ing Carmacks (on the Klondike Highway) to Watson Lake (Alaska Highway) via Faro and Ross River, and the "Silver Trail" linking the old silver mining communities of Mayo, Elsa and Keno City to the Klondike Highway at the Stewart River bridge. Air travel is the only way to reach the far north community of Old Crow.
Whitehorse International Airport serves as the air transport infrastructure hub, with direct flights to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Fairbanks, and Frankfurt (summer months). Every Yukon community is served by an airport. The communities of Dawson City, Old Crow, and Inuvik, have regular passenger service through Air North. Air charter businesses exist primarily to serve the tourism and mining exploration industries.
In the 19th century, Yukon was a segment of the Hudson's Bay Company-administered North-Western Territory and then the Canadian-administered Northwest Territories. It only obtained a recognizable local government in 1895 when it became a separate district of the Northwest Territories.[21] In 1898, it was made a separate territory with its own commissioner and appointed Territorial Council.[22]
Prior to 1979, the territory was administered by the commissioner who was appointed by the federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. The commissioner used to chair and had a role in appointing the territory's Executive Council and had a day to day role in governing the territory. The elected Territorial Council had a purely advisory role. In 1979, a significant degree of power was devolved from the federal government and commissioner to the territorial legislature which, in that year, adopted a party system of responsible government. This was done through a letter from Jake Epp, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development rather than through formal legislation.
In preparation for responsible government, political parties were organised and ran candidates to the Yukon Legislative Assembly for the first time in 1978. The Progressive Conservatives won these elections and formed the first party government of Yukon in January 1979. The Yukon New Democratic Party (NDP) formed the government from 1985 to 1992 under Tony Penikett and again from 1996 under Piers McDonald until being defeated in 2000. The conservatives returned to power in 1992 under John Ostashek after having renamed themselves the Yukon Party. The Liberal government of Pat Duncan was defeated in elections in November 2002, with Dennis Fentie of the Yukon Party forming the government as Premier.
The Yukon Act, passed on April 1, 2003, formalised the powers of the Yukon government and devolved additional powers to the territorial government (e.g., control over land and natural resources). As of 2003, other than criminal prosecutions, the Yukon government has much of the same powers as provincial governments, and the other two territories are looking to obtaining the same powers. Today the role of commissioner is analogous to that of a provincial lieutenant governor; however, unlike lieutenant-governors, commissioners are not formal representatives of the Queen but are employees of the federal government.
Although there has been discussion in the past about Yukon becoming Canada's 11th province, it is generally felt that its population base is too sparse for this to occur at present.
At the federal level, the territory is presently represented in the Parliament of Canada by a single Member of Parliament and one senator. Canadian territories' members of Parliament are full and equal voting representatives and residents of the territory enjoy the same rights as other Canadian citizens. One Yukon Member of Parliament — Erik Nielsen — was the Deputy Prime Minister under the government of Brian Mulroney, while another — Audrey McLaughlin — was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party.
Yukon was one of nine jurisdictions in Canada to offer same-sex marriage before the passage of Canada's Civil Marriage Act.
In the Canadian House of Commons, Yukon is represented by Larry Bagnell, representing the Liberal Party. Mr. Bagnell was first elected to the House of Commons in 2000. Previous Members of Parliament include Louise Hardy (NDP, 1997-2000), Audrey McLaughlin (NDP, 1987-1997), Erik Nielsen (Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, 1957-1987), James Aubrey Simmons (Liberal, 1949-1957).
Yukon has been represented by two Senators since the position was created in 1975. The Senate of Canada position is currently held by Daniel Lang, who was appointed on 22 December 2008.[23][24] It was previously filled by Ione Christensen, representing the Liberal Party. Appointed to the Senate in 1999 by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Mrs. Christensen resigned in December 2006 to help her ailing husband. From 1975 to 1999, Paul Lucier (Liberal) served as Senator for the Yukon. Lucier was appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Much of the population of the territory is First Nations. An umbrella land claim agreement representing 7,000 members of fourteen different First Nations was signed with the federal government in 1992. Each of the individual First Nations then has to negotiate a specific land claim and a self-government agreement. As of December 2005, eleven of the 14 First Nations had a signed agreement. The fourteen First Nation governments are:
| Government | Seat | Chief |
|---|---|---|
| Carcross/Tagish First Nation | Carcross | Khà Shâde Héni Mark Wedge |
| Champagne and Aishihik First Nations | Haines Junction | Diane Strand |
| First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun | Mayo | Simon Mervyn |
| Kluane First Nation | Burwash Landing | Robert Dickson |
| Kwanlin Dün First Nation | Whitehorse | Mike Smith |
| Liard River First Nation | Watson Lake | Liard McMillan |
| Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation | Carmacks | Eddie Skookum |
| Ross River Dena Council | Ross River | Jack Caesar |
| Selkirk First Nation | Pelly Crossing | Darren Isaac |
| Ta'an Kwach'an Council | Whitehorse | Ruth Massie |
| Teslin Tlingit Council | Teslin | Peter Johnston |
| Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation | Dawson City | Darren Taylor |
| Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation | Old Crow | Joe Linklater |
| White River First Nation | Beaver Creek | David Johnny |
The territory once had an Inuit settlement, located on Herschel Island off the Arctic coast. This settlement was dismantled in 1987 and its inhabitants relocated to the neighboring Northwest Territories. As a result of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, the island is now a territorial park and is known officially as Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park, Qikiqtaruk being the name of the island in Inuvialuktun. There are also 14 First Nations that speak 8 different languages.
10 Largest Communities by population
| Community | 2001 Population | 1996 Population |
|---|---|---|
| Whitehorse | 19,058(city)
21,405(metro) |
19,157(city)
21,808(metro) |
| Dawson | 1,251 | 1,287 |
| Watson Lake | 912 | 993 |
| Haines Junction | 531 | 574 |
| Carmacks | 431 | 466 |
| Mount Lorne¹ | 379 | 399 |
| Mayo | 366 | 324 |
| Ross River | 337 | 352 |
| Pelly Crossing | 328 | 238 |
| Ibex Valley¹ | 315 | 322 |
¹ Part of "Metro" Whitehorse Census Agglomeration
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| Translations: Yukon Territory |
Português (Portuguese)
n. - Território do Yukon
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
育空地区
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 育空地區
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Spotlight. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more |
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| Geography. The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Edited by E.D. Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil. Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. Read more |
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The gold-digger in the ravines of the mountains is as much a gambler as his fellow in the saloons of San Francisco. What difference does it make whether you shake dirt or shake dice?
- Henry David Thoreau
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