FOR RELEASE     #06-236
November 28, 2006

WHITEHORSE - Minister of Tourism and Culture Elaine Taylor has announced that well-known artifact replication expert Don Gardner will be in Yukon next month to lead two workshops on the replication of ancient First Nations hunting tools.
 
These workshops are sponsored by Government of Yukon, Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, and Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in. They are being offered to selected First Nation artists, craftspeople and students, and will be held in Haines Junction from December 1–3 and in Dawson City from December 4–6.

"Mr. Gardner brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Yukon," Taylor said. "His use of authentic materials and original technologies will be of great value to the workshop's First Nation participants."

While in Yukon, Mr. Gardner will first spend time studying ancient hunting tools found by the Yukon Ice Patch Research Project, a cooperative research initiative that has studied melting alpine ice patches since 1997. The workshops will then replicate these tools using traditional First Nation construction techniques.

Mr. Gardner, of Calgary, AB, has more than 30 years experience creating museum quality artifact replicas, and specializes in North American First Nation and Inuit implements. His replicas are on display in museums across Canada and the United States, and as far away as Japan and Germany. His clients include the Canadian Museum of Civilization, the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, the Alutiq Museum on Kodiak Island, and the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre in Alberta.

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