Royals win over moose hunter
The Yukon portion of the royal tour messed up Calvin Morberg’s moose hunting plans. The Tlingit carver was invited to meet the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge after his massive cedar wall carving was chosen to dress up their three-star Whitehorse hotel room. “People said it would be a great opportunity,” said Morberg, “but I’d rather be sitting around a fire eating hotdogs.”
There was fresh snow on the mountains when the royal couple arrived at Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport Tuesday evening. The frosty weather didn’t deter Yukoners, including an 11-week-old, from waiting hours by the chain-link fence for a glimpse of the couple.
Talking with the Canadian and Junior Rangers at attention on the tarmac, William mentioned the cold. Kate was more interested in bears. At a celebration at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre, some of the performers wore ragged hoodies; there were skinny jeans, toques, runners, even a trucker hat. The show featured a discordant rock duo, a hillbilly jug band, hip- hop, storytelling and grunge folk — and the royal couple loved it.
Talking with performers afterward, next to a roaring bonfire by the Yukon River, William said it was the best show he’d ever seen. He was particularly interested in what the washboard player had on her fingers — metal nuts held on with electrical tape. Catherine, who recently got a guitar, wanted tips from singer/songwriter Sarah MacDougall. “I showed her my calloused fingers,” said MacDougall. “I’m not sure if she wants those.”
Although there have been bumps on the road, the royals have managed to carry on the love affair between Canada’s First Nations and the British Crown, and distance themselves from the uglier sides of colonization.
Early Wednesday, after visiting MacBride Museum, the duke and duchess walked along the Whitehorse waterfront, stopping before an 11- metre healing totem honouring residential school survivors. Morberg, who also carved the to- tem with his students at the Northern Cultural Expressions Society, was there to greet them.
“They wanted to see authentic Indians,” he said with a grin. “I should have shown up in my moose hunting clothes. I wasn’t super excited to meet them. But in the moment it was pretty amazing, and I’m glad I didn’t miss it.”
Carving society supervisor Colin Teramura described the totem’s significance to the royal couple.
“Two histories are colliding here, and I’m wrestling with this,” Teramura said, noting that youth in his program had parents or grandparents in residential schools, including the two students beside him, who had grown up in foster care. “This is the effect of colonization,” he said. “It’s not something that just happened long ago.”
As the duke and duchess walked up Main Street, they encountered the Chunday Kanata Dancers.
The troupe’s leader Stephen Reid has a connection to William. His great-great-grandfather, Jim Boss, wrote a letter to William’s greatgreat- great- grandfather, Edward VII, asking him to honour the Royal Proclamation of 1763 and begin treaty negotiations.
“But it took over 100 years, and (it) still doesn’t seem to be moving forward,” said Reid. “This was an opportunity to engage with a new generation of royalty, and call for them to be more than empty, symbolic figureheads.”
The crowds on Main Street were enthusiastic, if not large, with many Yukoners indifferent to the royal rigmarole.
Marilyn Jensen, however, prepped by “de-sparkling” her fake nails. The leader of the Dakhká Khwáan Dancers didn’t want them to clash with her traditional regalia during the welcoming ceremony in her tiny community of Carcross.
Before her nail appointment, a picture of two elders welcoming the Queen to Carcross in 1959 popped up on Jensen’s Facebook feed.
“They dressed up in their best regalia,” she said. “This is our role nation to nation, to show our best. It doesn’t mean reconciliation will happen because the royals come. But it’s a chance for our people to represent the positive aspects of our culture that endured, no matter what aspects colonization imposed.”
The Dakhká Khwáan Dancers were told they could perform one song during the royal visit, and were given time constraints. But for a traditional welcome, the dancers need to represent both clans, which means two songs. Jensen resolved the issue by melding the songs — and not telling anyone.
“In our culture you just do things and how long it takes, is how long it takes,” she said.
The sun was shining on the mountains surrounding Carcross — on the dancers with porcupine quills through their noses, wearing lynx fur and ermine, their faces painted turquoise, black and red, and on a small crowd that included a few Alaskans.
Then, the dance over, the royals sped back to the airport and Morberg headed to the bush, looking for moose.
IN OUR CULTURE YOU JUST DO THINGS AND HOW LONG IT TAKES, IS HOW LONG IT TAKES.