Vacation in Canada, eh? 2: Haines Junction, Yukon
By Peter Coffman
When you think of the Yukon, maybe you think of the Klondike Gold Rush, and the towns connected to it – places like Dawson City and Whitehorse. I’ll get to those at some point, but first I want to explore a place a little off the beaten track: Haines Junction, population about 1,000.
I knew nothing about Haines Junction until I got there. But I learned a lot – not just about the town, but about the Yukon and the country. Here are five highlights from my learning curve:
Eleven of Fourteen First Nations in the Yukon Are Self-Governing
This was a revelation to me. Self-Government is not only a step toward justice and reconciliation. It also gives the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations a palpable cultural presence here. They are this place’s original inhabitants, and their continuous presence enriches it immeasurably. They are an integral part of the fabric of this community, and their buildings affirm this.
That’s why the Da Kų (“Our House”) Culture Centre is the perfect place to begin a visit to Haines Junction. Opened in 2012, it’s a community hub, teaching venue, interpretive centre, performance space, and welcoming front door to the culture that has shaped and been shaped by this landscape for millennia.
If you want to learn about the land, the people, their traditions, their stories, and how all of these intertwine, Da Kų is the place to begin. Sincere curiosity is met with remarkable generosity. This should be stop #1 for all visitors to Haines Junction.
Small Buildings Can Be a Big Deal
A building doesn’t have to be big and flashy to be important. This one, built in 1958, is barely more than a log cabin. But in the middle of the 20th century, this cabin could have saved your life.
It was a weigh scale, and you might reasonably suppose that its job was to determine the weight of goods being shipped on trucks. But in the Yukon in the winter, it had another function that was even more important.
Imagine yourself driving a big rig along a remote Yukon road in the 1950s or ‘60s. And you break down. There’s no cell phone, no GPS tracking. Not even any primitive CB radio (for those old enough to remember such things). And there might be no other traffic for hours, even days – especially if bad weather hits. Your life depends on someone noticing your absence sooner rather than later.
That’s where this weigh scale comes in. It was one of four checkpoints along the Haines Road. Every passing truck had to check in. When the truck pulled back onto the highway, staff would contact the next checkpoint with an estimated time of arrival. If the truck failed to arrive as expected, they knew the driver was in trouble and could send help. Your life could hang by this thread of four log cabins.
The Roadside Motel Is Alive and Well
I remember taking road trips with my parents as a kid, and pulling into roadside motels when the day’s driving was done. I haven’t been in one – or even seen one – for years, and I wasn’t even sure if they were still a thing. Turns out they are, in Haines Junction at least.
The Lucky Dragon Motel is pieced together from re-used parts of a dismantled government building. It is the epitome of temporary architecture, that has somehow become permanent, even timeless. Stare at it long enough and you’ll no longer have any clue what decade you’re in.
The Weirdest Church in Canada is in Haines Junction
The Northern Lights have seen queer sights
But the queerest they ever did see
Was that church of small size made from army supplies
In a place where no church ought to be.
(With apologies to Robert Service)
Through my work as an architectural historian, I’ve seen a lot of churches. But I’d never seen one remotely like this – until I went to Haines Junction.
This shed wasn’t meant to be a church. It was a US army Quonset hut – a prefabricated half-tube of corrugated steel, plunked on the ground and closed off at either end. They were a simple form of shelter (or storage space) that could be erected in a day, no prior experience needed.
In 1954, Father Eusebe Morisset and Father Jean Paul Tanguay had an idea. If they sawed a Quonset hut in half length-wise, spread the two pieces a few feet apart from each other and inserted a clerestory along the top to light the interior, Haines Junction would have a perfectly serviceable Roman Catholic church. A belfry was added at one end, and a curved gable at the other.
Inside, yellow-tinted widows, wooden furnishings and a few discreet liturgical decorations give the space a surprising warmth and luminosity. Honestly, this idea should never have worked. But it does. I’ve seen few buildings that do so much with so little.
People seem to find this church interesting. My social media presence falls into the ‘pipsqueak’ category, but when I posted photos of this church, it got, literally, thousands of ‘likes’.
Location, Location, Location
Haines Junction sits on the edge of Kluane National Park and Reserve. This has nothing to do with architecture. But if you need one more reason to go, there it is.
No need to look outside Canada for your next vacation, eh?
Peter Coffman, History & Theory of Architecture program
peter.coffman@carleton.ca
@petercoffman.bsky.social