C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

278 Notes to Pages 139-151Territories and Yukon Territory map, did the name disappear from anofficial map (Canada 1982).Aceording to Vuntut Gwitchin Elder Mary Kassi, in thevicinity of La Pierre House the Gwitchin from the westernslope and the Gwich'in from the eastern slope traditionallycarne together for hunting, gathering, and meeting (LaPierre 18,22): "that place good for everything. It's good for caribou. It'sgood for moose. It's good for fish. It's good for porcupine,ducks, everything. It's really good country. Everything wasthere ... good for berries. Good for blueberries and good forcranberries in the fall" (LaPierre 9). Charlie Peter Charlieconfirms that "people from all over gather there ... and huntand that's the main place for caribou and that's where they stayand dry meat" (LaPierre 92). This image of plenty eontrastssharply with Vyvyan' s telling view of La Pierre House as asymbol of abandonment and incapacity as a refuge.Under the terms of the 1993 Gwitchin self-governmentagreement, the Yukon territorial government was required toestablish La Pierre House and Rampart House as historic sites,and to schedule them for conservation and interpretation(Vuntut 190).Now he answeredJiInmy's question with a hoarse whisper."Bear"There is no basis in Vyvyan's field note for this verbal exchangebetweenJim and Lazarus; Vyvyan might have been prompted toit in order to maintain the strong distinction between theircharacters that she had earlier drawn. Certainly. Koe's memoirclarifies that, by I926, although far from the best trapper andhunter, he had done his share of both for some years.five days walking back to Fort McPhersonAs discussed in the Introduction, Vyvyan probably knew thedescription of Elihu Stewart's trip across Peel River Portage inI906. The account of the portage closest in time (1924) to thewomen's trip was Michael Mason's: with Harry Anthony andothers, he crossed it in five days inJune 1921 (206-13).Probably from their reading but also their discussion inEdmonton with Harry Warner (see field note for 27 May),and, no doubt, a discussion with the Whittakers about theirpast trip and proposed trip with McCullum over the portagethat month, Vyvyan and Dorrien Smith knew their allowance offive days for the return to Aklavik was liberal: in the event, themen must have profited handsomely from the deal, ifKoe'smemory that they reached Fort McPherson in only "one longday" and Aklavik the next is correct (1:12).CHAPTER 23: DOWN THE PORCUPINE(18-21 JULY)a white man with an Indian familyDavid Low is Vyvyan's name for this man, but he was doubtlessDavid Lord, after whom Lord Creek is named; it enters thePorcupine from the south about where the women met him. AKlondiker who chose to remain in the Yukon, Lord trapped inthe vicinity of the creek mouth. He was there in 1910, whenEdward and Lazarus Sittichinli visited him on their way toRampart House, where Edward married him to Jennie Brule(qtd in Sax and Linklater 82). He died in Dawson in 1954(Coutts 164).We landed on a spit full of boulders just below Shingle RockThis place is not identified in other accounts of this route, yet,as has been seen, it was known to Whittaker and to Koe, and itappeared in both Vyvyan's (Shingle) and Dorrien Smith's(Sinclair) neld notes for 17 July under one or another name."Sinclair Rock" has been introduced on recent maps at67"18'I5" N., I37'OI'OO" W.; the Bell River makes a semicircularloop around it as it flows across the I37th meridian,upstream from the mouth of Rock River (Canada 1989).In her oral history, Gwitchin Lydia Thomas identifies'''single rock'" as the place where a spur of the summer trailfrom Fort McPherson to La Pierre House reaches the BellRiver (LaPierre 39).We had arrived at Old CrowAlthough "the first permanent log cabin dwelling at Old Crowis reported to have been built around the turn of the century byJohn Tizya, whose fishing camp was nearby, and who served ascatechist for the band when the Anglican missionary was notpresent" (Acheson 695), according to Lazarus Sittichinli,there were still only three cabins there a decade later (qtd inSax and Linklater 82). The greater part of the permanentsettlement at the junction of the Old Crow and Porcupinerivers began forming in 19II-12, when Gwitchin from the FortYukon area who had moved up the Porcupine River toRampart House in order to remain in British territory wereforced to move again, both because of devastation from an