Statue of prominent Trʼondëk Hwëchʼin leader gifted to First Nation in Dawson City, Yukon

The Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation in Dawson City, Yukon, has had many prominent leaders, but few if any were as influential and revered as Hähkè (Chief) Isaac.

Isaac was chief during the Klondike Gold Rush and is often described as a visionary who fought to preserve the history, culture, and language of the Hän nation after 30,000 settlers moved into Dawson, ultimately pushing the Hän people downriver to Moosehide Village.

Now, Isaac's legacy is being honoured with a statue that stands on the dike on Front Street in Dawson, looking across the Yukon River to the Moosehide Village.

Darren Taylor, the current chief of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation, said the statue represents the strong presence the First Nation has, and has always had, in Dawson City.

"Oftentimes visitors and tourists, their impression is Dawson wouldn't exist, and our existence was the result of mining and miners," Taylor said. "And that's not really the case.

"One of the significant things that Chief Isaac did was he talked, and he engaged in dialogue with the [Gold Rush] stampeders, the municipality when it was established. [He] took part in celebrations and discussions to really ensure that they were aware of the impacts to his people and the community, and he tried to lessen those impacts."

Taylor said as a result of what Isaac did, Dawson City is now a very integrated community. He said the new statue is a way to honour that for generations to come.

"The younger generation, we don't want these people to forget who contributed to our successes and where we're at in this day and age," Taylor said.

"And without that recognition, then my biggest fear, and the community's fear, is these people would be forgotten."

3 years in the making

Local sculptor and painter Halin de Repentigny is behind the statue's creation. He said the idea came to him three years ago.

"Originally I wanted to do the statue in bronze," he said. "Like everything else, the price of bronze tripled so it was not a possibility."

Instead, de Repentigny decided to make the statue from metal and cement. He asked fellow artist and blacksmith Jake Armstrong to help with the statue's accessories, such as the feathers in Isaac's hat, and the cane he is holding.

De Repentigny also reached out to local placer mining company M2 Mining to help fund the project. He said it was a great collaboration, and he couldn't be happier with the final product. 

He said he has a long connection with the First Nation and his daughters are Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in citizens. He felt the First Nation "would really like something like this."

"We have the miner [statue] in Dawson. We have the miner [statue] in Whitehorse. There's not that many First Nation statues out there so I thought this one should be quite important."

An opportunity to 'give back to the First Nation'

Mike Langtry and Mike Cawood are behind M2 Mining in Dawson City. Cawood said they both have a deep connection to the town and its residents, ever since their first visits to Dawson, as kids.

Cawood said when they were approached by de Repentigny about the statue project, it was an immediate "yes."

"Of course we saw it as a wonderful opportunity to, in a small way, give back to the First Nation," said Cawood. 

"The recognition of traditional territories and how First Nations have shared them with the rest of us, either willingly or unwillingly," Langtry said. "We wanted to show recognition of that and an appreciation of that, and Chief Isaac is a suitable symbol for that." 

According to the First Nation, a plaque recognizing the contributions of past and contemporary Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in leaders will be added to the statue later this year.