Yukon elder discovers mother's purse at national museum

A group of First Nations elders from the Yukon took a walk back in time during a recent visit to the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa, where they identified artifacts that had been sold off or stolen from their communities.

But one woman from the Selkirk First Nation found a long-lost treasure that she never thought she would see again.

When Emma Alfred was 14 years old, she helped her mother sew a beaver foot purse. The purse, with distinct beaver claws on the front and the word "Yukon" stitched on the sides, was sold to another woman, its fate unknown.

"I often wondered what happened to that purse," says Alfred. "I've been searching for over 40 years. For 40 years, I didn't know where it went."

But yet, there it was — as she went through the museum's artifacts with the group of elders, Alfred spotted her mother's purse, unmistakably the same one sold four decades before. To top it off, there was a photo of a young Alfred holding the bag back when it was sewn in the 1960s.

"I just came out of swimming, and then my mom told me to hold that purse to take that photo," says Alfred. "So there was the proof, right there, that that was my mom's purse. 

"I didn't know where it went for 40 years. I thought it went to the other side of the world, like maybe Russia or somewhere, you know."

Alfred says she was amazed at how new the purse looked after all these years. 

"It was such an amazing sight to see," she said.

'There's a lot of artifacts we need to identify'

In addition to spotting the purse, the group, which was made up of citizens from Selkirk First Nation, Na-Cho Nyak Dun First Nation and Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, identified other artifacts that had been missing, including artwork from a dog musher's harness Alfred says was stolen from a Pelly Crossing elder. 

She says they're still looking for other items, including a dancer's outfit that went missing in the 1950s, when people started moving away from Fort Selkirk.

The group also looked at photos of elders who have died and heard some of their voice recordings. 

Alfred says she didn't realize how much she missed her parents until she heard their voices. 

"Hearing my dad's voice again, it just hit me hard. I'm really glad (the recordings) are in safekeeping in the museum in Ottawa."

Alfred says the trip was difficult for the elders — emotional — but very interesting. 

The project was funded by the Yukon Community Development Fund and Alfred says she hopes there will be more like it. She says there's more work to be done.

"There's a lot of artifacts that we need to identify."

Alfred would also like to see more stories be documented.