A blog post about the history of the First People who lived at the mouth of the Klondike (Tr’ondek) before the ’98 Gold Rush.
In my research for my Historical Fiction, A Drink of Darkness, set in Dawson in 1898, I would be remiss in not discussing the Tr’ondek Hwech’in, the First People who dwelled in the area that became Dawson City, Klondike City and Lousetown. There is so much information on this unique group of people, who I do feature in my novel, that I decided to try to do a series of blogs just on the Hwech’in. Here is the first.
Tr’ondek Hwech’in Meaning in Han
Tr’o-Hammer rock used to drive the salmon weir stakes into the mouth of the river
Ndek-“river” part of the word
Hwech’in-People
Put together means loosely “people at the mouth of the Klondike river”
When large deposits of gold were discovered in a small tributary of the Klondike River on August 17, 1896, a veritable stampede ensued.
The Forty-mile Region (for those who follow me, this is where my cabin in Chicken is located), had been actively mined for almost 15 years at this point. Miners rushed from the 40-mile and staked every claim on the “Bonanza and El Dorado” creeks (renamed after the strike).
What is often glossed over is that this region was not empty. The Han speaking Athabascan First People who called themselves the Tr’ondek Hwechin (loosely translates to “people at the mouth of the Klondike River”) had been living in this region for centuries. When prospectors began to arrive, they quickly pushed out the First People living at the mouth of the Tr’ondek. This river would come to be called the Klondike, a derivation of the aforementioned Han word.
The rapid influx of people created a forced take over of their ancestral village at the mouth of the river. The Hwech’in had no concept of land ownership or that someone could purchase a piece of land and keep it. The tragic story of a clash of cultures and how they were manipulated out of their rightful land can be read about in my reference by Helen Dobrowolsky below.
Hammerstones, A History of the Tr’ondek Hwech’in. Dobrowolosky, Helene. Tr’ondek Hwech’in, 2014. @heritagetrondek.ca
Chief Isaac and other elders foresaw the trouble with disease and alcohol this new wave of people brought and eventually moved the village five miles downstream to another site south of the Moosehide Creek. The new village was renamed Moosehide.
The Hwechin knew about gold—the metal was abundant in the stream beds all around them. According to Dobrowolsky, the children would collect the soft, pretty stones. What can be hard for us to understand is that gold had no value to their way of life. The rivers were abundant with fish, which the Hwech’in had become experts at harvesting from the river. Women spent the short, hot summers gathering the multitude of berries, herbs, mushrooms, bark and other highly nutritious vegetation to sustain them through the winters and ward off diseases like scurvy and rickets. The men hunted large animals like moose, caribou and bear. They utilized the hides for clothing and shelter. Though shiny and pretty as jewelry to us, and useful in many applications, gold is a soft, malleable metal that was mostly useless in their lifestyle.
The Hwech’in went through a rapid, drastic change in lifestyle as gold fever swept through the region. Their resilience as a people and slow reclamation of their stories and hope is truly inspiring.