LES FAMILLES FRANCO-YUKONAISES - (418 - ENGLISH)

LES FAMILLES FRANCO-YUKONAISES  -  (418 - ENGLISH)

THE  FRENCH-CANADIAN FAMILIES OF THE YUKON (418)

Before and during the Gold Rush, the family was the one which had been left behind, but it was also the brother, the cousin or uncle with whom one had travelled to the Yukon.  For example, the brothers Mercier, “coureurs de bois”, the brothers Jacquot, hunting guides, the brothers Allard, the Oblate priests, the Gauvins, the Binets, the Fortiers, the Cadieux, the L’Heureux, the Cantins, the Cyrs, the DeLions, the Tremblays, the Noels, the Letourneaux and all the others who came to the Klondike,

After the Gold Rush era slowed down and became a stable time, these men created the first French-Canadian families of the Yukon, sometimes leading up to three generations. It is interesting to note that the christenings, the marriages, and the funerals seemed to become privileged occasions  for gathering the French-Canadians together.  In fact, the spouses, the witnesses, the pallbearers, the god-parents usually spoke the same language.

Ref: Empreinte,  vol.11, p 73-74

Photo: Mrs. Rousseau’s store