Yukon Register of Historic PlacesYRHP

Gwich’in Anglican Catechist, John Tizya, had a seasonal hunting and fishing camp on the Porcupine River at the confluence of the Old Crow River. By 1904, other people also began to spend time here. Reverend Totty, who was at the mission at Rampart House in 1918, recommended that a mission be established in Old Crow as many local people were using the site. The first mission buildings were cabins that served as both church and residence until the Archdeacon McDonald Memorial Church was built in 1926. The roof and flooring for the new building may have been salvaged from St. Luke’s Church, in Rampart House.

The community continued to grow and outgrew the church, which may also had structural problems. The new St. Luke’s was built in 1959. While Reverend Hamilton arranged for windows and some hardware and lumber, mostly local materials were used that were collected by the village inhabitants. It is interesting to note that Christ Church Cathedral in Whitehorse, a thoroughly modern, architect-designed, brick and glass building was erected just one year later; a sharp contrast to the rustic building put up in this remote community.

Of great importance to the life of the Anglican Church in Old Crow were the native catechists who, for most of the church’s existence, were the people who carried the word on the land and also held services in the community.

Julius Kendi:

Julius Kendi was born in the Peel River country. A dedicated church worker, he was ordained as a catechist by Bishop Stringer in 1910. Kendi was sent to many communities in the Yukon. He was instrumental in helping to establish the Na-Cho Nyak Dun community at Mayo in 1916. His wife Persis organized the first Women’s Auxiliary there. In 1918, Julius was ordained as Deacon at Moosehide near Dawson City. From there he was sent to the head of the Peel River. Over the years, he was regularly reassigned but was in Old Crow from 1929–41. At that time, Persis Kendi began the Women’s Auxiliary with 35 members in a village of 200 people. The Kendis returned to Old Crow briefly in 1946. Julius Kendi passed away in Dawson City in 1948.

Amos Njootli:

Amos Njootli was ordained in 1911 as a deacon by Bishop Stringer. His first posting was as full-time minister at Rampart House in 1911. He arrived at the onset of a suspected smallpox epidemic and was put into quarantine on a nearby island where he set up a big tent for holding services. Reverend Njootli was well liked, spoke Gwich'in, and spent winters out on the land, holding church services for his travelling congregation. He died at Rampart House in 1923.

Fhullana Joseph Kikavichik:

Joe Kikavichik, or Joe K, epitomized the importance of the First Nations catechists in the work of the Anglican Church in the North. As Reverend Kenah Exham said of him: 'Missionaries have come and gone in Old Crow, but Joseph Kikavichik has carried on this important ministry through it all, for 50 years.'

When Joe K. was a boy, he assisted his father John Kikavichik who was also a catechist. Together they travelled to the scattered camps of the Gwich'in to hold services and minister to their spiritual needs. One of Joe’s jobs was to go from tent to tent gathering up people for the services. He eventually bought his own Bible, Prayer Book, and Hymnal in the Takudh language. In recognition of his dedication and outstanding qualities, in 1918, Bishop Stringer asked Joe to carry on the services in Old Crow. It was a duty he performed for over 50 years.

Joe also ministered to the family needs of his community as chief and taught his own children to read Takudh. One of his children, Ellen Bruce, carried on his work after he died in 1972.

Ellen Bruce:

Ellen Bruce was the daughter of Joe Kikavichik, a catechist. She was born at Rampart House in 1911 and moved from camp to camp with her family. While her father ministered to the spiritual needs of the Vuntut Gwitchin while following the seasonal round of hunting and fishing. Her father taught her to read and conduct church services from an early age. When the family moved to Old Crow, Ellen became more deeply involved in the Church through the Women’s Auxiliary established by Persis Kendi. She moved permanently to Old Crow in 1949 and dedicated more time to the Church. After her father died in 1972, she assumed many of his responsibilities. In the early 1980s, she was licensed as a lay reader along with Edith Josie, Charlie Peter Charlie, and Effie Linklater. Ellen was ordained as deacon in 1984 and, with the encouragement of Bishop Ferris, was ordained priest in 1987. She became the first First Nations woman in the North ordained in the Anglican Church.

In 1986 she received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from St. Stephen’s College (University of Alberta) and, in 1990, Ellen was awarded the Order of Canada. The citation read: 'The spiritual leader of Old Crow and the North's first native woman to be ordained an Anglican minister, she has sustained and promoted the cultural integrity of the Vuntut Gwitchin for over 50 years, helping them adapt from camp life to community life.'

She was a strong and holy woman who had a powerful impact on Indigenous people and non-indigenous alike. Ellen Bruce died in 2010 at the age of 98.

Effie Linklater:

Effie Linklater was the granddaughter of Robert McDonald. She knew from the time she was a young girl attending St. Paul’s Anglican Hostel in Dawson City that she wanted to dedicate her life to the church. She was called back to Old Crow, however, to follow a traditional life, and she married and raised a family. Through this time, she was faithful to the church and active in the Women’s Auxiliary. In 1989, she was ordained as a deacon and led services in the Old Log Church (St. Simon’s) in Whitehorse.

Edith Josie:

She was born in Eagle, Alaska and moved to Old Crow in 1940 at the age of 16. Edith Josie gained renown for her weekly newspaper column in the Whitehorse Star, "Here Are the News" in which she painted pictures of life in Old Crow in her own voice. A devout churchgoer, she became a lay reader. In 1995, she received the Order of Canada and, in 2000, the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for her writing and contributions to Gwich'in culture. Edith passed away in 2010.[46]

Citations:

46: Old Log Church exhibit, The Exham Years: Catechists, https://www.exhamexhibit.com/the-catechists, research by Rob Ingram, Midnight Arts.