First Nations Culture in Whitehorse
June 27-28, 2015
The next stop was Whitehorse. It so happened that the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre in Whitehorse was holding their Adaka cultural festival while we were there, so we attended it. It featured artists and performers from various First Nations around the Yukon and northern British Columbia.







Some of the artists held workshops where others could practice under their tutelage. This was a woodcarving workshop.







Of more interest to us was the traditional dancing and drumming presentations. One afternoon they had nine different groups performing. Some of the groups were mostly children and youth with a few adult leaders, and some were mostly adults, that were almost professional in their ability.









Even the babies were included.







Sometimes the little children didn't quite know the dance steps, or got frustrated. But the parents handled that with ease.









An unusual (to us) feature was that the Tlingit groups would turn their backs to the audience between dance numbers. The MC explained that this is not meant as disrespect to the audience. Instead, it was to show the regalia on their costumes signifying their clans.









Another unusual feature was that each group would enter the auditorium dancing and singing. At the end of its performance, the group would also exit dancing and singing.









These two dancers had especially elaborate costumes.







This Tlingit group was the largest, and the most professional in their ability. The MC explained that they have performed all over the world.









A dance illustrating an eagle and wolf story from Tlingit culture.

We were very impressed with how the First Nations people showed respect to their elders. This ranged from simple courtesies, like providing special seating up front in events and bringing them refreshments, to the performers acknowledging the counsel and advice of the elders in the functioning of the dance groups.






While in Whitehorse, we parked our Roadtrek overnight in the Walmart parking lot. When we do this in the U.S., usually there are a handful of RVs in the lot with us. But here in Whitehorse, there must have been at least 50 RVs there during the night.

Tomorrow we leave the Alaska Highway and head up the Klondike Highway to Dawson.