YUKON TERRITORY

territory of northwestern Canada, an area of rugged mountains and high plateaus. It is bounded by the U.S. state of Alaska to the west, the Northwest Territories to the east, and British Columbia to the south, and it extends northward above the Arctic Circle to the Beaufort Sea. It has an area of 186,661 square miles (483,450 square kilometres). The capital is Whitehorse. The mineral wealth of the Yukon Territory has long been known, but the combination of an Arctic climate with remoteness from markets has minimized the economic exploitation of such resources and the development of modern settlement. Instead, the territory remains among the few frontiers on the North American continent, a sparsely populated and largely unspoiled wilderness. territory of northwestern Canada. It is bounded by the U.S. state of Alaska to the west, the Northwest Territories to the east, and British Columbia to the south and extends northward above the Arctic Circle to the Beaufort Sea. Its capital, Whitehorse, is the largest settlement. The territory lies within the mountainous Cordilleran region of western North America. The more settled areas lie in a large central plateau surrounded by mountains and drained by the Yukon River system that flows northwestward into Alaska. While that system drains about three-quarters of the territory, the Peel River drains a lesser plateau in the northeast, and the Liard River drains the plain that lies in the southeastern Yukon. The central plateau, with an average elevation of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m), is surrounded by some of the highest and most spectacular mountains in North America, notably the St. Elias Mountains. Located in the southwestern corner of the Yukon, they include Mount Logan, Canada's highest peak, at 19,524 feet (5,951 m). The northern stretches of flat and poorly drained tundra have widespread permafrost, permanently frozen ground that makes construction of most kinds difficult. In general, the climate of the Yukon is continental despite the proximity of the moderating influence of the Pacific Ocean, which the mountains prevent from acting directly on the territory. Although temperatures vary, sometimes reaching summer highs of 95 F (35 C) and winter lows below -60 F (-51 C), the monthly average readings are not unlike those found in some Canadian cities farther east and south. Summers are short but the days are long, especially in the northern part of the territory lying above the Arctic Circle. Precipitation is light, averaging only 10 inches (250 mm) annually at Whitehorse. The territory was originally settled by American Indians and Inuit (Eskimos), who today constitute about one-fifth of the population. The Indians are mainly Kutchin and Nahanni, both speaking Athabascan dialects, and the Tagish, who live south of Whitehorse and speak a Tlingit dialect. To the east live small numbers of Inuit. Many of the Indians still rely, at least in part, on hunting, trapping, and fishing, and some move seasonally to fishing or hunting camps; moose is the favourite game. The introduction of rifles and especially snowmobiles, however, has altered traditional lifestyles and permitted overhunting of game. Although there are few occupied Indian reserves, registered Indians are the responsibility of the federal government. The rest of the population is of European or Mtis (mostly mixed European and Indian) descent. The first European visitor to the region was the British explorer Sir John Franklin, who arrived in 1825 from the east seeking the Northwest Passage to the Pacific. He found the Inuit of Herschel Island using metal-tipped arrows obtained in trade from Russians settled in Alaska. Based on his reports, the Hudson's Bay Company sent John Bell to explore further. Bell founded Fort McPherson on the Mackenzie River delta in 1840, followed by Fort Yukon in 1847 at the junction of the Yukon and Porcupine rivers in what was then Russian territory. Trade with the Indians flourished, and numerous trading posts were established. Fort Yukon was twice relocated, first in 1867, when the United States purchased Alaska, and again in 1890. Gold was discovered on tributaries of the Yukon River in the 1870s, resulting in an influx of miners, American traders, and finally in the mid-1890s a small detachment of North West Mounted Police. The great gold rush of 1898 followed the discovery of rich deposits in Bonanza Creek (a Klondike River tributary). The Klondike boom sparked the formation of Dawson City (inhabited by 30,000 during the peak) and the construction of the White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&YR) narrow-gauge railway, linking Whitehorse and Skagway (Alaska). In 1898 the Canadian Parliament separated the rapidly growing area from the Northwest Territories and gave it separate territorial status. The Klondike boom was short-lived. By 1900 most of the individual miners had given up and were replaced by companies that brought large-scale mechanical mining techniques. Gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, asbestos, and coal have been extracted in the Yukon Territory, and there are vast reserves of unmined minerals. Federal assistance stimulated the mining industry in the 1950s, but the industry began to decline in the late 20th century. Government and tourism have become the territory's economic mainstays. World War II brought improvements in transportation, including construction of the Alaska Highway. The Klondike Highway linking Dawson, Mayo, Whitehorse, and Skagway was built in the 1950s70s, and the Dempster Highway linking Dawson, Fort McPherson, and Inuvik opened in 1979. The WP&YR railway, however, discontinued service in 1982 (though a small section of the line from Skagway, Alaska, to British Columbia later reopened for tourist travel). Scheduled jet air services operate between Whitehorse and Edmonton, Alta., and Vancouver, B.C. Light aircraft link all settlements in the Yukon. These improvements in transportation, together with advances in communications, have encouraged the development of a tourist industry. Much of the territory has remained an unspoiled wilderness with abundant animal life, for the northern stretches of poorly drained tundra are covered by permafrost and are inhospitable to exploitation. In some areas farming is possible, but poor climate and soil make it unprofitable. Virtually no settlement has been undertaken for agricultural purposes. Yukon's territorial government is based on the Yukon Act of 1898 and the Government Organization Act of 1966. It consists of the Legislative Assembly (Yukon Council), elected by universal adult suffrage. A resident commissioner, appointed by the federal government and under the direction of the federal minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, is the chief executive officer but in local matters is required to follow the recommendations of the Executive Council. This council, which is headed by the government leader and composed of members of the Legislative Assembly, is responsible for daily governmental affairs. The territorial government has the same local powers as a provincial government, with the exceptions that federal officials administer all of the Yukon's natural resources excluding game, and the territorial government may not legislate its own constitution. The Yukon has one federal senator, appointed by the governor-general of Canada, and one member, popularly elected, of the federal House of Commons. Education from kindergarten through grade 12 is free and compulsory in public and government-aided Roman Catholic and private Indian schools. The government started a program in Indian communities to promote teaching in indigenous dialects with texts about land and living skills. Yukon College at Whitehorse, with a network of community branches, provides two years of university-level courses and a number of vocational and adult-education programs. Among Canadian literature about the Yukon, the verse and fiction of Robert Service and Klondike (1958) by Yukon-born Pierre Berton are the most famous. Californian Jack London first achieved literary renown with short stories and novels reflecting his experience in the Klondike gold rush. There are museums and displays in Whitehorse and Dawson commemorating the gold-rush days. Several radio and television stations, newspapers, and a library system operating out of Whitehorse provide news and entertainment. Discovery Day in Dawson, honouring the discovery of gold in the Klondike on Aug. 17, 1896, and the Sourdough Rendezvous (February) in Whitehorse are festivals that feature competitions, music, dancing, and local folklore; Dawson's Gaslight Follies and Whitehorse's Frantic Follies re-create the atmosphere of those towns in the gold-rush days. Area 186,661 square miles (483,450 square km). Pop. (1991) 27,797; (1993 est.) 32,000. Additional reading Morris Zaslow, The Opening of the Canadian North, 18701914 (1971), and The Northward Expansion of Canada, 19141967 (1988), provide a comprehensive general history of the territories. Ken Coates, Canada's Colonies: A History of the Yukon and Northwest Territories (1985), includes a critical analysis of government policies. Economic history to the early 1960s is treated in K.J. Rea, The Political Economy of the Canadian North (1968). Ken Coates and William R. Morrison, Land of the Midnight Sun: A History of the Yukon (1988), describes the gold rush. Diamond Jenness, Eskimo Administration II: Canada (1964), remains a standard historical account of government policy toward the native population. Shelagh D. Grant, Sovereignty or Security: Government Policy in the Canadian North, 19361950 (1988), examines important changes brought about by World War II. The political development of the territories is treated in Gurston Dacks, A Choice of Futures: Politics in the Canadian North (1981); and William R. Morrison, A Survey of the History and Claims of the Native Peoples of Northern Canada (1983). Kenneth John Rea