I came to this city, located on the banks of the Yukon River, with two main objectives: to meet some of the local entrepreneurs and to see the Northern Lights. To fulfill the first, we had an agenda of visits to studios, shops and workshops that would help us familiarize ourselves with some of those stories that the number of inhabitants had made me think about. In the case of the second, we were totally in the hands of the decisions that nature made.
October was just beginning and upon arrival I realized that autumn had taken care of leaving the trees without leaves a couple of weeks ago. The thermometer was already showing temperatures of 10oC and the expectation was that as we moved further north –as we would do a couple of days later– we would even experience low temperatures below zero. One of my first reflections had to do with how much the seasons and the climate determine the lives of people in these latitudes. You have to have well-tanned skin, so to speak, and be very well prepared to face the harsh winters of its geography.
Outside the city limits, the Yukon is all about vastness and nature. Lakes, mountains, pine forests and rivers are the sources from which the materials and inspiration are obtained -during the less cold months- to work, during the long winter, giving free rein to creativity.
The creators
Lumel Studios is an establishment where you can buy blown glass objects, but also take classes and workshops to create different objects with the guidance of your collaborators. Next to the oven and the tools, one forgets what the weather may be causing outside.
Vanessa Aegirsdottir is an artist who works with the skins of different animals –fox, buffalo or wolverine, among others– to create jewelry and different accessories that honor the work that the first nations did with them. Led by her husband George, of Tlingit descent, she ensures that all these furs are sourced from trap lines that work ethically and ensure fair payment to her suppliers to create the Wild Yukon collections. furs.
A similar case is that of the sisters Delaney and Montana Prysnuk, who through the use of traditional tools and techniques of carving, embroidery, bead work and leather tanning, make different objects and conduct workshops on the grounds of their cabin on the outskirts of of Whitehorse.
Listening to them explain the process of tanning the skins they work with, you can begin to understand the connection that the people of this territory have with nature. The subsistence of all – humans, animals and vegetation – depends on a balance that must be maintained among all, respecting cycles and understanding that nature should never take more than what is needed. At least, those are the principles by which his company, Copper Caribou, operates.
After a long career as a police officer, Cat McInroy decided to pursue another of her passions: cooking. Well Bread is a culinary hub where this chef is dedicated to promoting many of the region’s ingredients and sharing the story of Yukonans’ bond with food. One of her specialties is bread, which she prepares with a sourdough that is more than 125 years old.
Although many of the participants in her workshops are visitors, she also works a lot with people from the local community, often teaching them how to prepare products such as butter or preserves. “We live in such a remote region and with so many risks of being isolated for different reasons, that people need tools to survive,” she says.
Just over 330 miles northwest of Whitehorse is Dawson City, a town famous for being the site of the Klondike Gold Rush. Just over a thousand people live here who every winter face temperatures that can exceed -40oC. Some of them, like Leslie Chapman, continue to be linked to activities such as gold mining –during the snowless months– and later to the creation of jewelery in her Fortymile Gold studio. Many of his pieces incorporate beads, crystals, and even ivory from ancient mammoth horns that are frequently discovered in mine excavations. From casting to carving, from pressing to polishing, she is in charge of all the processes. With each hammer blow, each measurement and setting of each stone, she prints her personal stamp on each of her creations.
The ties that bind Jackie Olson to Dawson City go back many generations. If anyone is familiar with the cycles of the earth and the seasons, it’s her, and much of this knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation. In a tent set up on her property, she Jackie taught us how to work with the willow bark that she gathers in the summer and weaves in the winter.
Although he works with different media, through all of them he seeks to communicate the deep love he has for these lands. Here she was born, here she was educated and, even on the coldest days, she finds reasons to reaffirm her love for her land. Here are her roots, like those of those willows that every spring turn green again.
I got to know all of them over the course of six days in the Yukon. Also every night, fleeing light pollution, we waited patiently for the northern lights to start painting the sky. It seemed that the clouds were against us; The more we tried to hunt them at the lakeside, on the top of a hill, or from our cabin window, the less we were allowed to see them.
I had almost given up hope when, last night, its green glow appeared on the horizon. At the end of the trip, both objectives were met. We met some of the people who, with their hands, shape the Yukon and confirmed once again that nature is a force as unpredictable as it is mesmerizing.