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Woman in traditional regalia - Commisoner's Potlatch
Photo by W Towriss
Yukon Government Photo
In the Athapaskan language, the word "Yukon" means "the great river" or "big river." At 3,600 kilometres (2,300 mi.), the Yukon River is the fourth longest river in North America; the fifth largest in water flow and the last major river on the continent to be explored in the 1800s.
Yukon First Nations people include the Southern and Northern Tutchone, Tlingit, Tagish, Kaska, Tanana, Han and Gwitchin people. The Inuvialuit peoples' traditional hunting grounds include the northern Yukon. The Athapaskan language group is shared by the Tutchone, Tagish, Kaska, Tanana, Han and Gwitchin people - the largest group of Athapaskans today are the Navajo people in the southwestern United States.
The St. Elias Mountains in Kluane National Park are the youngest mountains in Canada and also the highest. There are more than 20 summits over 4,200 meters (14,000 ft.), the largest accumulation on the continent. Overseeing these lofty peaks is Mount Logan, Canada's highest mountain at 5,959 metres (19,551 ft.), and one of the world's largest massifs. And they're still growing - a seismograph in the Visitor Reception Centre at Haines Junction records the hundreds of small tremors that occur every year, pushing the St. Elias Mountains ever skyward.
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are caused by huge explosions on the surface of the sun that send out streams of charged particles that interact with the Earth's upper atmosphere. These reactions occur 96 to 128 kilometres (60 to 80 mi.) above the Earth's surface, so it doesn't make any sense that they can be heard. Still, many people report hearing a crackling or rustling noise when they see the lights. It could be that the sound is created near the ground by electrical phenomena associated with the aurora. It could also be that watchers are being affected by psychological or physical processes that we don't yet understand. Of course, seeing the aurora on a dark, silent night is so exciting it might just be the sound of blood rushing through veins that's being mistaken for the sound of light.
ATTRACTIONS IN WHITEHORSE, YUKON TERRITORIES, CANADA |
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ATTRACTIONS IN DAWSON CITY, YUKON TERRITORIES, CANADA |
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ATTRACTIONS IN FARO, WATSON LAKE, YUKON TERRITORIES, CANADA |
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COMMUNITY LINKS |
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| Tour Yukon | |
| Beaver Creek | Burwash Landing and Destruction Bay |
| Carcross and Tagish | Carmacks |
| City of Whitehorse (2) | Dawson (1) |
| Dawson City (3) | Dawson City (4) |
| Dawson Community (2) | Faro (1) |
| Faro (2) | Haines Junction (1) |
| Mayo (1) | Mayo (2) |
| Old Crow (1) | Old Crow Community (2) |
| Pelly Crossing | Ross River |
| Teslin | Watson Lake (1) |
| Watson Lake (2) | Whitehorse (1) |
| City of Whitehorse | Tour Whitehorse |
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