Jessie Jonathan Chutsia (1893 - 1995)

Jessie Jonathan was born near Tincup Lake in the Burwash area. She raised her six children by living a traditional life between Dezadeash Lake, Tincup Lake, Aishihik Lake, and over to Champagne. Much of this travel was done by rafts made by the family. She traded furs for supplies and dried moose meat for the winter. Jessie did her share of packing supplies by person and also used dog teams and horseback. Jessie's partner was Alfred Brown, born in the Six Mile Lake area, at the end of Dezadeash Lake. He lived on a farm there where his parents raised mink and trapped. The family trapped around Aishihik in the spring and ratted all the way into Champagne where Jessie and Alfred would sell the furs early in June to George Chambers at the store. In July, the family would travel up the Dezadeash River along Dezadeash Lake to Klukshu to dry salmon. Alfred would work in the placer mine at Dollis and Shorty creeks while the women were catching and drying salmon. In the fall, the men would return from mining. At Klukshu, the fish were bundled into fifty-pound packs and carried by dog pack and horse pack. Everyone had a cache at the south end of Dezadeash Lake where they stacked their dried fish. Before freeze-up they built a raft, some had a motor, and they would transport the dried fish to Champagne. They could drift into the lake and put up a sail to go to the mouth of the Dezadeash River and then drift faster into Champagne. After this, Jessie and Alfred would start the journey back to Aishihik for trapping season. Fred Brown Sr. is a son. Jessie Jonathan moved to Haines Junction to live after her husband died and she felt too old to look after herself. Annie Nicholas lived with her for a while and then she lived by herself.¹⁾