John Jonas (b. 1879)

John Jonas lived with his Hän people along the Klondike River before the Klondike gold rush and Jonas later joked about throwing gold nuggets at rabbits when he was hunting. Jonas was twenty-one in 1900 when the stampede was in full swing in Dawson. After he and his people settled at Moosehide, Jonas worked with the Moosehide council and served as chairperson from 1922 to 1927. He was a councillor in 1932 and served as chief from 1936 to 1940. He was a skilled bush person and travelled the Yukon and Stewart rivers areas. In the late 1950s, when he was in his late seventies, he became the head chief.¹⁾ James [Jimmy] Wood was chief at Moosehide after John Jonas and until 1969.²⁾

In 2021, the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Elders’ Council renamed their Health and Wellness Centre as the Chief John Jonas Centre to reflect the First Nation’s rich history of leadership. Chief Jonas was still remembered by many elders in Dawson as a kind man. He acted as a bridge between traditional and modern lifestyles.³⁾