Clyde Archie Blackjack, Kajinik (1937 – 2016)
Clyde Blackjack was born in Carmacks to parents David and Bessie (Billy) Blackjack with siblings Roddy, Kitty (Johnnie), Dolly (Bill), Aggie, Lena (Pat), Sally (Peter), and Stanley (Irene) Blackjack. David and Bessie passed away when Clyde was ten and he and brothers Roddy and Stanley were raised by their grandparents at Little Salmon Village. They lived in tents until they moved to Carmacks.1)
Clyde attended Lower Post Residential School and returned to Carmacks at age seventeen to work at the coal mine. He graduated from shovelling coal to operating the tram. He worked at several mines after that including at Mt. Nansen, Mt. Freegold, and Keno. In 1960, Clyde met Rowena in Carmacks and together they raised eight children. 2)
In the 1970s, Clyde worked for the Council for Yukon Indians (CYI). He served as chief of the Little Salmon First Nation from 1977-1986. He was on the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board, the Salmon Sub-Committee, the Standing Committee on the Constitution and participated on many other committees. He worked at the Tantalus School as an Elder giving advice to students and teachers. He taught the language, the culture, and the history of Carmacks to younger children. Clyde had a lot of practical and cultural knowledge that he willingly shared.3)