Yukon who is who

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Edith Josie (1921 - 2010)
	
Edith Josie was born in Eagle, Alaska to Paul Josie and Elizabeth Nukon Josie. Her parents were from Fort McPherson. They moved to Eagle in 1909, and she and her four brothers were born there.((“Miss Edith Josie,” 14 July 2003, //Old Crow Home of the Vuntut Gwitchin.// 2018 website: www.oldcrow.ca/elders.htm)) Edith attended school until Grade 5 and then, in the absence of a teacher, she was taught by her oldest brother Susie Paul Josie. Her father taught her to trap and stretch animal skins and she sold them to add to the family’s income.((“Well Done Good and Faithful Servant, Edith Josie.” //Northern Lights,// Spring 2010: 7.))
 	
When her mother’s brother, John Nukon, died in Old Crow, Josie’s family left Eagle in October 1940. They arrived in Whitestone Village in February 1941 and stayed there for a year before Josie’s father died, and then the family moved to Old Crow [in 1947]. Her mother died in 1964. Josie had three children: Jane [Montgomery], William, [and Kevin Josie who died in 1985].((“Miss Edith Josie,” 14 July 2003, //Old Crow Home of the Vuntut Gwitchin.// 2018 website: www.oldcrow.ca/elders.htm)) In 1957, Edith worked for Dr. Irwin in 1957 and was appointed Justice of the Peace in 1957.((“Well Done Good and Faithful Servant, Edith Josie.” //Northern Lights,// Spring 2010: 7.))
	
Edith Josie started writing “Here are the News” for the //Whitehorse Star// in 1962.((“Edith Josie.” //In Their Honor,// Ye Sa To Communications Society, Whitehorse, 1989: 50-52.)) Her column ran for forty years in the Yukon paper, depicting life and events in Old Crow.(("Elder will be missed: Dene national chief." //Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 5 March 2010.)) It also ran in the //Edmonton Journal,// the //Fairbanks News-Miner,// and as a syndicated column was picked up by other newspapers for free. She received the Canadian Centennial Award in 1967, the Yukon Historical Museums Award in 1994, the Order of Canada in 1995, and a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in 2000.((Vivian Belik, “Here are the sad news.” //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 3 February 2010. 2019 website: https://www.yukon-news.com/news/here-are-the-sad-news/))
	
In the early 1980s, Ellen Bruce, Edith Josie, Effie Linklater and Charlie Peter Charlie were licensed as lay readers in the Anglican Church.((“Ellen Bruce,” Diocese of Yukon, 2018 website: http://anglican.yukon.net/ellen-bruce.html)) Edith delivered her services in Gwich’in. She regretted that the practice of visiting and telling stories was in decline.((“Star columnist named to Order of Canada.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 29 June 1995.)) She was involved with the Women’s Auxiliary for years and continued as a licensed lay minister for St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Old Crow until her retirement.((“Star columnist named to Order of Canada.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 29 June 1995.))
	
In 1994, Edith related stories at the Yukon Storytelling Festival in Whitehorse and then travelled Kelowna to perform at another storytelling festival.((“Star columnist named to Order of Canada.” //The Whitehorse Star// (Whitehorse), 29 June 1995.)) She travelled and continued to take classes at Yukon College into her sixties. Edith was very busy, and her columns appeared less frequently and finally stopped.((Vivian Belik, “Here are the sad news.” //Yukon News// (Whitehorse), 3 February 2010. 2019 website: https://www.yukon-news.com/news/here-are-the-sad-news/)) 
	
Edith Josie’s articles were compiled in book format twice, and the years 1963 and 1964 were published separately in the late 1960s. Her work was translated into German, Italian, Spanish and Finnish.