The Yukon, with its extreme climate of short, intense summers and long, dark winters, has always been a challenging place to live. First Nations families needed to move constantly in their hunt for fish, game and edible plants.

The skilled hands of women stitched First Nations society together in many ways. To make meals, women did everything: snaring and cutting up game, making containers for cooking and food storage, gathering wood and tending fires, and drying meat and fish to take on the trail. They were also tailors, making a variety of clothing from boots to baby carriers; builders, able to make a variety of shelters; and toolmakers, crafting the antler and bone tools used for a variety of tasks.

Children learned their place in the world at an early age. They were expected to help their families by doing chores, at first simple, then more complicated, as their age, strength and abilities increased. Even play was a way to learn skills that would be needed later in life.

From the 19th century on, Europeans were attracted to this remote area for many reasons: the fur trade, a new field for missionary work, the hunt for mineral wealth, and the chance to explore unknown country. Most of these newcomers were men, but they were soon joined by intrepid and adventurous women. These women faced the challenges of the frontier to support themselves, raise their children and help build communities.

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Mrs. Violet Magundy near Carmacks with the Yukon River and Tantalus Butte in the background. YA, Father Jean-Paul Tanguay fonds, 88/151 #15, PHO 372. YA, Ernest Brown fonds, #849. YA, Richard Harrington fonds, 85/25 #392, PHO 279. Wedding portrait of G.I. and Martha Cameron in Dawson City, 1928. YA, Martha Cameron fonds, 83/43 #1, PHO 212. MacBride Museum Society, Deyo Levak coll., 99-342. On porch at Pueblo Mine, Whitehorse copper belt. L-R: Mrs. Greenough (manager's wife), Mrs. Phelps, unknown, Miss Livingstone, Franklin Greenough, Louise Greenough and Dorothy Phelps, ca. 1913. Scott/Phelps 145. YA, John Scott fonds, 89/31 #145, PHO 398.
 
 
Hootalinqua Sam in downtown Whitehorse. YA, William L. Drury collection, 93/65 #1, PHO 453. A trapper from the Teslin area. YA, George Johnston Museum coll., 82/353 #1, PHO 153. “Crazy Frank with Little Charlie and his wife.”* This photo was probably taken in the early 1900s near Hootalinqua. YA, William C. Peter fonds, 83/77 #28, PHO 232. A camp scene in the Mayo area, 1922. YA, David Hager fonds, #8882. YA, Freddie Johnston fonds, 79/119 #51, PHO 115 A successful hunt – this raft full of drying meat is on the Pelly River across from the community of Ross River. October 1922. YA, Claude Tidd fonds, #7758 Agnes and Lee Washpan at Carmacks, 1957-58. YA, Father Jean Paul Tanguay fonds, 88/150 #19, PHO 372.