Yukon who is who

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David Johnny (b.1947)
	
David Johnny grew up around Pelly Crossing and learned to hunt and trap from his relatives and Elders. He was attending school and living at Yukon Hall in 1963, but didn’t like it. Instead of heading back to school in September, he went on his first long hunting trip with Alex Joe, George Joe, and Danny Edwards, all young men in their early 20s. They were gone for twenty-nine days, walked over 150 kilometres into the Macmillan River country, built four rafts, shot six moose for their families, and lived on meat, berries and what they carried in their packs. Johnny credits this trip with teaching him the skills that he has used throughout his life.((David Johnny, “First hunting trip with the best guides.” //What’s Up Yukon// (Whitehorse), 20 June 2019. 2020 website:  https://whatsupyukon.com/Yukon%20Outside/yukon-hunting-fishing/first-hunting-trip-with-the-best-guides/))\\
	
David Johnny was eighteen when he started working as a guide for Louie Brown, an outfitter on the Stewart River. In July 1968, Johnny, Gary Sam, Stanley Simon, and Alec Johnny started to trail out some horses from Mayo to Mayo Lake for the hunting season. Brown and his dog went with them. They headed for Brown’s hunting area along the upper Stewart River east of Mount Ortell, about 160 km away. There are no cleared trails beyond Mayo Lake. Mayo Lake to Lansing took three days along the north shore of Mayo Lake, up Keystone Creek and Pass, then east along Granite and Roop creeks to Tiny Island Lake. From Lansing to the hunting camp took three days along the north bank of the Lansing all the way to the headwaters in the Tasin Range. They set up camp at a small lake east of the Tasin Range and Mount Ortell. Starting at the beginning of August they guided hunts for six weeks. The hunters flew in, two to four at a time, for two-week hunts. They moved back and forth between the lake camp and one on the Stewart River; sheep in the Tasin Range, moose in the valleys and some caribou in the mountains. Hunting season ended at the end of September, and Brown and the cook flew out. On the way back, one of the horses was lost and never found. They stayed several nights at Lansing and set up some traps for beaver. They then went too far north from Penape Lake and got a bit lost. The horses were weak, and they started losing them and running out of food. They ran into snow around the Roop Lakes, and they were down to two horses as they walked across the frozen lakes. The mountains north of Mayo Lake were very rough going with deep snow, and they only had rain gear and shoe packs. Gary told everyone that if he fell over, just to shoot him. The snow disappeared while they were hiking down Keystone Creek and they got a grouse. It had been two days since they had food. There were five or six bags of oats stashed at the west end of Mayo Lake, but the horses just headed back to Mayo on the road. They went to a cabin and met Cliff from Stewart Crossing. Brown came by - he had been looking for them by helicopter further north. They all went for a big meal at the Silver Inn and got paid the next day. David Johnny worked as a guide for twenty-three years. He later became the project manager at Fort Selkirk. He lives in Pelly Crossing.((David Johnny, "A long, hard road." //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 20 January 2017.)) Two articles about this trip were published in memory of Gary Sam who died in 2016.((David Johnny, “Hunting with Gary Sam.” //Whats Up Yukon// (Whitehorse), 20 January 2017. 2020 website: https://whatsupyukon.com/Yukon-Lifestyle/Yukon-people/hunting-with-gary-sam/))