Yukon UNESCO World Heritage bid shifts focus from Gold Rush to colonialism

Three years after withdrawing a bid to become a UNESCO World Heritage site, a local committee in Dawson City, Yukon, is trying again — this time shifting focus from mining and the Klondike Gold Rush to the experience of colonialism by First Nations.

"Tr'ondëk-Klondike as a site tells an exceptional story that reflects Indigenous peoples' — Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in peoples' —experience and adaptation to what we know as the phenomenon of European colonialism," said Lee Whalen, of the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation's heritage department.

"So under the criteria for World Heritage, we are illustrating a significant stage in human history."

The project to have the Dawson City area recognized by UNESCO has been talked about for decades. Eventually a local committee was struck to explore the idea and submit a formal bid.

That first bid, submitted a few years ago, focused on the Klondike region's Indigenous and mining history, including the famous 1890s gold rush as well as present-day mining activity. But the local committee later withdrew the bid, saying UNESCO "had some trouble understanding the site as we presented it." 

The new application — formally submitted to UNESCO by Canada in March — presents the Klondike region as a unique case study in colonialism and its lasting impact on Indigenous communities forced to respond and adapt. 

"We had to work on further refining and defining that outstanding universal value [of the area]," Whalen said.

"[The proposed Tr'ondëk-Klondike sites] kind of demonstrate the transformation and change that happened in Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in traditional territory from before contact, with people coming into the traditional territory, through, you know, the 30,000 people coming for the Klondike Gold Rush, and the establishment of church and government following that."

'Universal outstanding value'

According to UNESCO, a site must be of "universal outstanding value" to be added to the list of World Heritage Sites. A UNESCO committee evaluates nominations based on a list of cultural or ecological criteria.

Right now, there are 1,121 properties listed on UNESCO's world heritage list, and 20 of them are in Canada. Three are in Canada's North, including Wood Buffalo National Park, Nahanni National Park in the N.W.T., and Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek parks in Yukon, B.C. and Alaska.

The proposed Tr'ondëk-Klondike UNESCO site is actually comprised of eight distinct sites in the Klondike region. They include Fort Reliance, Forty Mile, Dawson City, and Moosehide Village.

Whalen says the bid does not include any areas with active mining claims. That was a point of contention in the past, as some local placer miners worried that their livelihoods would be affected.

UNESCO was also said to be puzzled by the earlier submission which included areas still being actively mined.

"UNESCO World Heritage had concerns about, you know, how how do you manage change within an active industrial landscape?" Whalen said.

The new bid is comprised of areas that are First Nations settlement lands or are already being managed as heritage sites, he said. 

Whalen says there are a lot of potential benefits associated with a UNESCO designation — it could give a new boost to tourism, and also reconciliation.

"This nomination is about partnering with our community stakeholders and telling, you know, a global and a broad story," Whalen said.

"It's Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in perspective, but it's also, you know, about people coming to the community and how that has changed and how we are here today."

UNESCO's review of the application is expected to take about a year, with a decision sometime in 2022.