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With insights from 15 years as Member of Parliament for all of Yukon Territory, Larry Bagnell is not alone when he says Canadians are unclear about the Territories. According to Maclean\u2019s Magazine, 86 per cent of Canadians will never set foot in Canada\u2019s north.<\/p>\n
Unbeknownst to many outside the territory, First Nations communities in Yukon have been quietly building back their culture.<\/p>\n
Yukon Territory is a hotspot for arts and culture festivals during the summer. Its capital, Whitehorse, is the most-populated city in the three territories. By car, it is reachable to all but one of the 14 Yukon First Nations groups.<\/p>\n
Over the last decades, Indigenous artists have been drawing on their traditions to rebuild their cultural identities, nearly lost to the residential school system. There is a sense of purpose and pride in their art and their performances.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a cause for continued celebration. Bagnell motions to the surroundings on the Moosehide Gathering grounds. He has watched the community infrastructure grow over the years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first started, you could go and you could see a little cabin like one of these,\u201d Bagnell gestures behind him at the structures where Tr\u2019ond\u00ebk Hw\u00ebch\u2019in residents live year-round. \u201cAnd there might be a band manager in there and that might be all you saw of a First Nation. Now they have huge First Nation bureaucracies of professionals running their own affairs, so there\u2019s lots of jobs for them. And they\u2019re not being run by someone way off in Ottawa: they\u2019re running their own affairs, and it\u2019s made a huge success in the progress of those First Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″]Bagnell has noted \u201ca great resurgence\u201d in Indigenous culture over the last few decades. He points out his party\u2019s role in this over the last half-century: notably how Pierre Elliott Trudeau received Yukon First Nation chiefs who deposited the document Together Today for our Children Tomorrow in Ottawa. \u201cI think the Liberal Party has always had a great affinity with the First Nations people,\u201d Bagnell says. \u201cThey are very vibrant and they\u2019re getting bigger all the time.\u201d[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_video src=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/BgBEbSOIA0E” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_video][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.22.5″ text_font=”||||||||” header_font=”||||||||” header_text_color=”#179e75″ header_font_size=”17px”]<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/artsyfn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/04\/Grand-Chief-Peter-Johnston-300x300.png\")
Grand Chief Peter Johnston sits in the highest First Nations position in Yukon Territory. He is a member of Teslin Tlingit Council. The Grand Chief is optimistic that more and more, Yukon First Nations are bringing artistic currents to the discussions about reconciliation. [Photo courtesy of Shakat Journal]<\/p><\/div><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The Grand Chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations speaks to the evolution of inter-collaboration between government systems. This four-tier infrastructure is unique to Yukon, where the municipal, territorial, federal and First Nations governments.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019d always just been on the receiving end, rather than being in the same room,\u201d Peter Johnston says of how far the dialogue has come. He says this evolved from Yukon self-government victories, specifically upon the ratification of the Umbrella Final Agreement in 1993. \u201cJust having the ability to make decisions on behalf of our people is very important, rather than having other levels of government saying, \u2018this is what\u2019s best for you.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe as nations need to be progressive,\u201d Johnston says. \u201cThere\u2019s so many opportunities for us today to evolve, to bring things such as our culture and language to the forefront.\u201d He is optimistic about a better future for Yukon First Nations groups currently under his watch. \u201cWhatever we want for our future generations is unlimited. It\u2019s just up to us to ensure that we don\u2019t lose sight of that \u2013 whether it\u2019s for each individual nation or person.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/artsyfn\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/21\/2019\/04\/pubs-btf-map_1316214421893_eng.jpg” alt=”test” title_text=”test2″ _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#179e75″ text_font_size=”13px” text_line_height=”1.5em” custom_margin=”-14px||” custom_padding=”0px||”]<\/p>\n A map of Yukon First Nation territories throughout Yukon. [Image courtesy of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada]<\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ custom_margin=”58px||”]<\/p>\n In this vision, the Grand Chief says the media play a joint, \u201ccrucial\u201d role in telling Yukon First Nations stories. \u201cIt\u2019s important to tell the First Nations story, to ensure that the story that\u2019s being told is correct \u2013 not being skewed or marginalized.\u201d<\/p>\n Finally, Johnston says that culture provides an important piece of the reconciliation puzzle. \u201c[It\u2019s about] celebrating, feasting, dances, ceremonies; but also having some fun,\u201d Johnston says. Beyond taking a political approach to service delivery, \u201cwe have to take the time to celebrate not only our achievements of the year, but also celebrate our time together as First Nation people.\u201d He travels to communities to participate in ceremonies, attend cultural festivals, hold policy meetings with other chiefs \u2013 most recently, he accompanied a delegation of NHL alumni of Indigenous heritage throughout the territory as they visited young First Nations hockey teams. \u201cWe\u2019ve really tried to make things fun \u2013 not only just business.\u201d<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″] “In Ottawa, from across the country\u00a0\u2014 people don\u2019t know a lot about the north.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n [\/et_pb_testimonial][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″] [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#179e75″ text_font_size=”13px” text_line_height=”1.5em” custom_margin=”-20px||13px”]<\/p>\n At dinner, guests numbered 1,200 on the Friday of three-day celebrations at last summer\u2019s Moosehide Gathering. [Photos \u00a9 Jennifer Liu]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”98,99,100,101″ show_title_and_caption=”off” _builder_version=”3.21″ title_font=”||||||||” title_text_color=”#179e75″ caption_font=”||||||||” caption_text_color=”#179e75″ pagination_font=”||||||||” pagination_text_color=”#179e75″][\/et_pb_gallery][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_code][et_pb_code _builder_version=”3.21″] [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#179e75″ text_font_size=”13px” text_line_height=”1.5em” custom_margin=”-16px||”]<\/p>\n The Grand Chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations, Peter Johnston, accompanied a delegation of NHL alumni of Indigenous heritage on a wintertime tour. Their outreach extended to First Nations youth throughout Yukon. [Photos courtesy of Council of Yukon First Nations]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.21″ text_font=”||||||||” text_text_color=”#179e75″ text_font_size=”13px” text_line_height=”1.5em” custom_margin=”-16px||”]<\/p>\n The Grand Chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations, Peter Johnston, accompanied a delegation of NHL alumni of Indigenous heritage on a wintertime tour. Their outreach extended to First Nations youth throughout Yukon. [Photos courtesy of Council of Yukon First Nations]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”140,139,110″ show_title_and_caption=”off” show_pagination=”off” _builder_version=”3.21″ title_font=”||||||||” title_text_color=”#179e75″ caption_font=”||||||||” caption_text_color=”#179e75″ pagination_font=”||||||||” pagination_text_color=”#179e75″][\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.22.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_divider _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_divider][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.22.3″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/artsyfn\/kevin-barr-boyd-benjamin\/” button_text=”Previous: A dynamic First Nations duo” button_alignment=”left” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.21″][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/artsyfn\/blossoming-community-outreach-through-visual-art\/” button_text=”Next: Blossoming community outreach through visual art” button_alignment=”right” _builder_version=”3.21″][\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Larry Bagnell, MP for Yukon Territory, says, “Most of the people from the Yukon who come here know me, they see me. I\u2019ve volunteered in the kitchen for the last few Moosehide Festivals, and I have my two drums that I play sometimes.\u201d Bagnell plays on two First Nations drums: one is a regular drum, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-91","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
In the Moosehide Gathering kitchen<\/h3>\n
Indigenous NHL alumni tour the Yukon<\/h3>\n