George Johnson (1894-1970)
George Johnson was an Inland Tlingit man who was born in 1894 along the Nakina River, a tributary of the Taku River that flows into the Pacific Ocean.1) Johnson was a son of Taku River chief Kowakha. When he was young his family moved to Jack's Portage, an important fish camp on Teslin Lake. There were seven children in his family. He was a skilful maker of snares, snowshoes and boats. He bought a 616 Kodak camera in 1910 and used it until about 1942. The family moved to Teslin in 1915.2)
Taylor & Drury opened a Chevrolet dealership in Whitehorse in 1928 and Johnson bought a Model AB Sedan with fur trapping money. This was the first car sold and the price included driving lessons from Charlie Taylor and delivery to Teslin. The car was used mainly for hunting and hauling freight and taking supplies to Johnston Town, 20 miles down Teslin Lake. George opened a general store in his house and later in a new building in Teslin. He moved to a location beside the newly-built highway in the 1950s. He closed the store in 1970.3)
Bonar Cooley, George Johnston and several other community leaders in Teslin founded the Teslin Historical & Museum Society in the early 1970s. The group donated countless hours building the museum and then each donated their personal collections. With the help of a $25,000 construction grant from the territorial government, the George Johnston Museum had a grand opening on July 18, 1975. 4)
Many of George Johnson’s photographs of daily life around Teslin between 1910 and 1940 are held at the Yukon Archives in the George Johnson fonds, the Julie-Cruikshank fonds, and in the Their Own Yukon Project collection.