Mary Easterson,  A Nàch’adǹch’ea and Gudia Shäw (1945 – 2021)
	
Mary Easterson was born at Edith Creek, near Burwash Landing to parents Jessie Allen and Sam Johnson Sr.  Edith’s parents pushed her to get an education. She attended residential school and Christ the King High School in the Yukon, and then attended Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia (UBC) to receive an MA and a B.Ed. Mary returned to Burwash in the 1970s and worked with Daniel Tlen to establish a school in Burwash, so the kids would not have to travel to Destruction Bay. The Yukon government refused to fund the Burwash school, so the community started the school without funding. They had two buildings with kindergarten to grade 3 in one and grades 4 and up in another. Elders sat in the class and did traditional tasks, and the kids attended Muskrat Camp. It was a community school. The community applied for funds around the world, and UNESCO gave them money to pay salaries. Mary appealed to political leaders in Ottawa and within months there was a letter to the Yukon government saying if they did not fund the school then the federal government would, and that would set a precedent for the Yukon. So, Yukon changed its mind and paid wages for teachers Mary Easterson and Sandy Johnson.((Mary Easterman, “Good Teaching from Our Elders and Community” in //Kluane Lake Country People Speak Strong.// Kluane First Nation, 2023: 193 - 202.))
	
The first class was seventeen children and they went from elementary school in Burwash to high school in Whitehorse. The majority of them went on to university. When the Burwash school closed, Mary was sent to Mayo to teach, and Sandy went to Haines Junction. When a position opened up iwith the Coouncil of Yukon Indians (now CYFN), Mary became the Education Director. Mary continued to fight for educational programs like the Native Teacher Education Program and for hiring indigenous language teachers in the school system. She started the Native Graduation Ceremony. In 1975, the first year, there were only 6 grads in the whole Yukon, and now there are hundreds.(Mary Easterman, “Good Teaching from Our Elders and Community” in //Kluane Lake Country People Speak Strong.// Kluane First Nation, 2023: 193 - 202.))
	
Mary Easterson was born at Edith Creek, near Burwash Landing to parents Jessie Allen and Sam Johnson Sr.  Edith’s parents pushed her to get an education. She attended residential school and Christ the King High School in the Yukon, and then attended Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia (UBC) to receive an MA and a B.Ed. Mary returned to Burwash in the 1970s and worked with Daniel Tlen to establish a school in Burwash, so the kids would not have to travel to Destruction Bay. The Yukon government refused to fund the Burwash school, so the community started the school without funding. They had two buildings with kindergarten to grade 3 in one and grades 4 and up in another. Elders sat in the class and did traditional tasks, and the kids attended Muskrat Camp. It was a community school. The community applied for funds around the world, and UNESCO gave them money to pay salaries. Mary appealed to political leaders in Ottawa and within months there was a letter to the Yukon government saying if they did not fund the school then the federal government would, and that would set a precedent for the Yukon. So, Yukon changed its mind and paid wages for teachers Mary Easterson and Sandy Johnson.((Mary Easterman, “Good Teaching from Our Elders and Community” in //Kluane Lake Country People Speak Strong.// Kluane First Nation, 2023: 193 - 202.))
	
The first class was seventeen children and they went from elementary school in Burwash to high school in Whitehorse. The majority of them went on to university. When the Burwash school closed, Mary was sent to Mayo to teach, and Sandy went to Haines Junction. When a position opened up iwith the Coouncil of Yukon Indians (now CYFN), Mary became the Education Director. Mary continued to fight for educational programs like the Native Teacher Education Program and for hiring indigenous language teachers in the school system. She started the Native Graduation Ceremony. In 1975, the first year, there were only 6 grads in the whole Yukon, and now there are hundreds. Mary was involved in land claims with Harry Allen and Dave Joe from the beginning until 1984 when the Agreement in Principle was rejected because it didn’t allow for self-government. Mary sat on the Education Reform Commission and on the Assembly of First Nations National Inquiry. When her children were older, the family moved to British Columbia and the children attended school there. Mary was involved with First Nation student issues and taught for a couple of years at UBC.  Mary has participated in a number of committees including chair of the Yukon Land Claims Training and Implementation Committee, Yukon College Board of Governors, the Standing Committee on First Nations Education in the Yukon, and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. She wrote four children’s books: Mouse Story, Picking Berries with Grandma, Bear Story, and Christmas Story.((Mary Easterman, “Good Teaching from Our Elders and Community” in //Kluane Lake Country People Speak Strong.// Kluane First Nation, 2023: 193 - 202.))
 
Mary was involved in land claims with Harry Allen and Dave Joe from the beginning until 1984 when the Agreement in Principle was rejected because it didn’t allow for self-government. Mary sat on the Education Reform Commission and on the Assembly of First Nations National Inquiry. When her children were older, the family moved to British Columbia and the children attended school there. Mary was involved with First Nation student issues and taught for a couple of years at UBC.  Mary has participated in a number of committees including chair of the Yukon Land Claims Training and Implementation Committee, Yukon College Board of Governors, the Standing Committee on First Nations Education in the Yukon, and the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. She wrote four children’s books: Mouse Story, Picking Berries with Grandma, Bear Story, and Christmas Story.((Mary Easterman, “Good Teaching from Our Elders and Community” in //Kluane Lake Country People Speak Strong.// Kluane First Nation, 2023: 193 - 202.))