Adaka Festival

From July 1 to 7, we attended the Adaka Festival at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre in Whitehorse.  This was a great experience where we saw lots of First Nations dancing, drumming and singing, arts and crafts.  I was fortunate to attend 3 workshops: one in making silver and gem earings, one in making my own Cree drum and a third in learning first nations beading and making a headband.  We had the opportunity to speak with many first nations people about their art and life.  This was a highlight for me during our two months in Whitehorse.

Below is the front of the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre built on the shores of the Yukon River in downtown Whitehorse.

Behind the centre, this canoe was brought outside for the festival.  It is usually in the front lobby.  This canoe was built for the centre and in the lobby you can watch an movie of the making of it.

The tent where the artisans did their work and workshops.

Woodcarvers

Women weaving hats

Stone and antler carvers

Painters at work.

David in a copper tooling workshop

Jon, David's brother, in a stained glass workshop.

Melodie making a Cree hand drum.

The four photos below are from the gift shop/gallery at the festival.  There were very fine pieces, some by well known artists, as you can see.

There were many dancers and singers from a variety of First Nations.  One of my favourite was a group from Tuktoyaktuk.  The two children had a tendency to steal the show.

Carcross

Carcross is a village about a 45 minute drive south of Whitehorse.  It's orginal name was Caribou Crossing, because it is where the caribou cross in migration but the name was later changed to Carcross.

The Tlingit and Tagish First Nations live here.  It is located at the narrows between Bennett and Nares Lake called the Naatasaheenie River.  Bennett Lake is part of the headwaters of the Yukon River, Canada's second longest river.  The view of the lake with the mountains behind it is breathtaking.

Swing train bridge crossing the river between the two lakes.

Some of the older buildings in Carcross.

The buildings below are part of a new "plaza" where First Nations of Carcross can sell their art, etc.  The design on this building was by Keith Wolfe Smarch, a well known carver and artist who has his carving shed in this plaza.

Below is Keith Wolfe Smarch holding one of his masks.  He has presented one of his masks to Prince Charles.  Currently he is carving a series of totem poles with his son in this carving shed.

About 4 km north of Carcross is beautiful Emerald Lake.  The blue-green colour is created by sunlight reflected off a layer of "marl" on the lake bed.  Marl is a white calcium carbonate clay that forms in the water and the settles onto the lake bottom.

About 2 km north of Carcross is the Carcross Desert, the world's smallest desert of 260 hectare.

Mile Canyon

Spectacular views are a daily thing in the Yukon and we have had our fair share of them this summer.  Mile Canyon is a few kilometers south of downtown Whitehorse. The trail map made a bike ride look easy but it turned out to be a little more demanding and confusing than we had expected.  But we did manage to do the ride and it was all worth it.  Below are photos from that ride.

View of Whitehorse from the top of our first hill.  Whew!!

Lake Schwatka 

After cycling and walking on roads, trails and through forest we found this trail along the canyon where we walked our bikes.

Suspension bridge to get to the other side.

View on our way back toward town.  Obviously more hills to climb to this spectacular lookout.

Lake Schwatka from the other side.

Street Art in Whitehorse

Whitehorse is a town of artists and musicians.  Some of the art is fine art, some is crafts, some is murals, sculptures, totem poles.  You can't walk very far without seeing one of these forms.  I started photographing the murals when I noticed how many there were and how well they were done.  Even a mural on the side of a building can evoke a lot of emotion or tell a story of the people and history of the area.  I also think about the artists who designed and painted these and the individuals or businesses that paid to have them done.  Below is some of the street art that I have photographed.

The picture below is actually a mural painted on the back of a row of stores on Main St.  I guess the windows are real and maybe one of the doors but the rest is a painting.  Fun!!

Below are painted fish on fencing at the hydro dam in Whitehorse.  I think that children painted the fish.  There are fish ladders at this dam so the salmon can swim upstream to spawn and the baby salmon can swim downstream and not be killed in the dam.

The sculpture below is on the roof of an eating area in a park on the river.  Ravens are everywhere in Whitehorse, many in this park.

This mural is actually in Atlin, BC.  I liked the message so wanted to include it.