The Yukon Historical & Museums Association occasionally publishes proceedings from conferences, reprints historical documents and maps in commemoration of events. YHMA has published two books relating to the Heritage of Whitehorse’s waterfront and downtown core.
YHMA also publishes a biannual newsletter for its membership. For more information on how to become a member, please visit the membership link in this website.
The Government of Yukon has a series of publications that profile the Yukon’s heritage sites, archaeological and paleontological findings, walking and driving tours, and research papers on a variety of topics. Many of these are available online.
See below for more information on all of YHMA’s publications.
Pop-Up Exhibit
Our Trails Bring Us Together (available for loan)
By: Y.H.M.A. with Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre and Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center
Description:
Our Trails Bring Us Together / Haa deiyí wóoshxh haa ła.ât / Łä̀chʼi tän kwäga dūjal du / Nehtän anāy lazh’i dūnyana yē nǟts’eddhat / Dahtene yèh shī̀dèł / Nitąy łits’ą̈̀’ në̀näjèl / Nos chemins nous rassemblent is a travelling exhibit consisting of 12 pop-up banners and 4 optional wall panels. The exhibit traces the story of the Kohklux Map (see below) from its creation to present day, and was developed in conjunction with the 2019 conference of the same name to mark the 150th anniversary of the drawing of the map. It was created with funding support from the Government of Yukon.
For loan inquiries, contact us at info@heritageyukon.ca.
Books
The Kohklux Map
By: Y.H.M.A.
Description:
The First Nations people who travelled in the Yukon did not carry maps or compasses. For ages, they navigated over hundreds of miles by memory. Sometimes, when travellers needed to describe a place to someone, they drew maps in the dirt to show the way. One such traveller was the chief of the Tlingit Chilkat, Kohklux. He and his people travelled far into the interior of the Yukon from their home on the coast to trade with the people of the interior. When asked by George Davidson, a visiting scientist, about his travels, Kohklux and his two wives were able to draw a map for him, although they had never used paper or pencils. It is the earliest known map of the southern Yukon and the first known map to be committed to paper by a First Nations person in this part of the world. The map is a valuable resource for historians, ethnographers and researchers in many fields. Perhaps its greatest importance, however, is as a tangible symbol of the cultural links among the Tlingit of the coast, and the Tagish and Tutchone people of the interior.
Edge of the River, Heart of the City
By: Y.H.M.A.
Description:
For decades the Whitehorse waterfront teemed with life as trains from the coast met boats bound for the Klondike goldfields. Edge of the River, Heart of the City captures those glory-days and takes the reader through the booms and busts of Whitehorse’s past. This important new addition to Yukon history also provides readers with an historical walking tour of the Whitehorse waterfront. Take a walk along the river and find the heart of the city.
Exploring Old Whitehorse
By: Y.H.M.A.
Description:
An informative guide for visitors and Whitehorse residents. It describes the colourful history of the city from the Gold Rush to the present. Maps, photos and historical information for three walking tours are included in this book.
Dawson Exploration Report
By: Y.H.M.A.
Description:
1987 marks the centenary of the Geological and Natural History Survey of Canada’s 1887 Yukon Expedition. Led by geologist George M. Dawson, the Yukon Expedition asserted Canada’s sovereignty over the Yukon and provided the first comprehensive exploration for the Territory. Dawson’s memoir Report on an Exploration in the Yukon District, N.W.T. and Adjacent Northern Portion of British Columbia, 1887, long out of print, remains a standard reference source for information on the geological, biological and human history of the Yukon, including aboriginal and Euro-Canadian settlement and distribution.
In celebration of this centenary, the Yukon Historical & Museums Association is pleased to announce the facsimile reprint of this historic monograph, including three large-scale maps which accompanied the original report. A special introduction and additional expedition photographs will serve to distinguish this centenary reprint as a publication of interest to northern researchers and collectors of northern Canadiana. Its wide-spread coverage of numerous historical topics will also appeal to anyone interested in broadening their knowledge of the Yukon.
Conference Proceedings
- The North and the First World War (The Northern Review #44) (2017)
- Borderlands: A Conference on The Alaska-Yukon Bonder (1989)
- The Scientific Contributions of Early Alaska / Yukon Explorers Conference Proceedings
Limited Reprint Maps (available for purchase)
- British North America Map from 1854
- Canadian Yukon & Northern B.C. Map from 1897
- Yukon Expedition Map, Showing the Routes from 1887 – 1888