old crow

one of the great things about the internet is being able to travel all over the world from the comfort of one's couch. rather than visit popular spots like hawaii or london or saskatchewan, i like to look at more obscure places- places where it's difficult to get to, where living conditions might be tough, and where there's possibly no mcdonalds or pizza hut (yes, such places do exist). although many such locations are almost invisible to the internet, some are surprisingly well documented.

one such place i 'discovered' this morning is old crow, the only settlement in yukon north of the arctic circle.

click here for a view from space- it took me a bit of time to find old crow on google maps.

for a place with a population of only 300 and no road access, it has a surprisingly well done website. aside from the usual description and photos, there are recipes for roasted muskrat and boiled caribou leg, the town's finances are posted for all to see, there are a number of current employment opportunities, some lively local mp3s are posted, there's an online discussion forum, and an updated news section (titled, 'here are the news') by 84 year-old edith josie:

"here are the news from old crow. old crow weather it was good and wind most the time. old crow is a busy place some people come and have a meeting and just busy place...."

my favorite section is the elders page, where some of the town's more senior folk are interviewed about their lives and lessons for the rest of us:

"everybody make feast when the animals come to us. springtime when ducks, and caribou come through, muskrat in crow flat and all year those animals come and we make big feast and dance with it. we all had good time those days. today we go feast and salad, salad, salad; too much salad now. funny they never make meat salad yet." - tabitha kyikavichik, 81

"i used to work for myself; i go out in winter with dog team for wood, hunting, and trapping. now i sit here and do nothing."

"no freezer then, we dig a hole in the frozen ground and keep it there until it is all taken down to the people. we use dog packs to haul the load down to the community. we stand by it and watch for grizzly while our people make dry meat for the winter months. when bear come around we kill it and its good meat there too. people today change, but someday we do it again."

"when we go crow flat with sled, we make it with babiche, now its wire. have to tie that rope just right or it can bust. not to loose or not too tight or will fall apart that sled. no matter how far we go. mostly pack our own things and have dogs work too. lots of work them days. today we drive boat and everything change, dogs today aren`t good for anything." – andrew tizya, 86

"my grandpa and grandma have stories (i remember) they were good. 1930-40 there was no radio or phone. we hear news next year through mail. now two hour we know everything. my father brother drown august, mail come february 01, i hear then." - john joe kyikavichik, 80

"hard times are going to come again. we have things easy now (used to be hard times to get food from store). had to travel in dog team. still those kids don`t care, they get something sweet and thats it. back then, as long you get raisin and rice it`s good, we were happy for it." – fanny charlie, 83

"1926 my father, he travel in bush when the natives moved around. in 1898 he went to dawson that time during the gold rush, he didn`t know what was going on. they stayed in a mining camp just outside of town that was starting up. lots of people go into restaurant, there was no meat around. those people tell him go get meat, so he did. anything will be good, they tell him, moose, caribou, rabbit, beaver, grouse anything." - dick nukon, 80

"this one french man he help me out, did lots for old crow. he ran out of candles one time and oil for lamp, those old women they make lard candle for him. he come to me one time and ask me if i want light in houses for my people, i tell him sure. must be don`t like lard candle." – alfred charlie, 81

would love to drop by old creek someday and say hello to the folks there.