Julius Kendi (1876 -1948)
	
Julius Kendi was Tukudh Gwich’in, born at Lapierre House on the Bell River.((Linda E.T. MacDonald and Lynette R. Bleiler, //Gold & Galena.// Mayo Historical Society, 1990: 276, 396.)) He was ordained as an Anglican catechist by Bishop Stringer in 1910.((“The Exham Years: The Church, Art, and Life in Old Crow, 1965-1969.” 2020 website:  https://www.exhamexhibit.com/the-catechists.)) He was a catechist at the headwaters of the [Porcupine] River from 1911 to 1913.((Linda E.T. MacDonald and Lynette R. Bleiler, //Gold & Galena.// Mayo Historical Society, 1990: 276, 396.)) He arrived at Fraser Falls on the Stewart River in 1915 and spoke to the Na-Cho Nyäk Dun who were there drying fish. They decided to establish a village two miles below the village of Mayo on the opposite banks of the Stewart River. This site is now known as Old Village.((First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun, “History.” 2018 website: http://www.nndfn.com/history/)) Kendi stayed at the old Village near Mayo from 1915 to 1918.((Linda E.T. MacDonald and Lynette R. Bleiler, //Gold & Galena.// Mayo Historical Society, 1990: 276, 396.)) The first church in the Old Village was built by Julius Kendi and his congregation.((Helen Dobrowolsky, "The Church in the Yukon - A Thematic Study". Prepared for Heritage Branch, January 1990: 49.)) 
	
Reverend Kendi was ordained Deacon at Moosehide in 1918.((Linda E.T. MacDonald and Lynette R. Bleiler, //Gold & Galena.// Mayo Historical Society, 1990: 276, 396.)) In July 1921, the steamer //Nisutlin// carried Reverend Kendi, his wife, and their dogs on their way from Peel River to his new appointment at St. Mark’s at the Old Village near Mayo.((Frank A. Peake, //The Bishop Who Ate His Boots.// Yukon Church Heritage Society, 2001: 135.)) Kendi served at Rampart House from 1929 to 1940.((Linda E.T. MacDonald and Lynette R. Bleiler, //Gold & Galena.// Mayo Historical Society, 1990: 276, 396.)) Persis Kendi organized the Women’s Auxiliary with thirty-five members. The community had a population of 200.((“The Exham Years: The Church, Art, and Life in Old Crow, 1965-1969.” 2020 website:  https://www.exhamexhibit.com/the-catechists.)) 

The Kendis returned to the Old Village at Mayo from 1941 to 1946 and returned to Rampart House in 1947.((Linda E.T. MacDonald and Lynette R. Bleiler, //Gold & Galena.// Mayo Historical Society, 1990: 276, 396.)) In 1948, Reverend Kendi fell ill with meningitis after he came down the Crow River from Crow Flats. They took him down to the Fort Yukon, Alaska hospital where he died.((John Joe Kyikavichik in Vuntut Gwich’in First Nation & Shirleen Smith, //People of the Lakes: Stories of Our Van Tat Gwich’in Elders.// University of Alberta Press, 2009: 232.)) Rev. Kendi’s portrait was taken in the 1930s.((Yukon Archives, Bill Hare fonds 82/814 #6799.))