Bob William Charlie, Zhäwa Tà-Bobbyshän (1946 – 2024)
Bob Charlie was born in Whitehorse to Jessie Isaac of Asheyi and Solomon Charlie of Hutchi.1) Jessie Charlie died in 1947, and Solomon married Annie, his second wife.2) Bob was raised for his first few years by his grandma Rachel Isaac and auntie Mary Luke Isaac. He was sent to the Baptist Mission School in Whitehorse around age three and attended school there from 1950-56.3)
During his teenage years he stayed with his sisters: Meta Bailey, Mildred Gage, and Joan Hussey. Meta gave him his first guitar at age fifteen. Bob graduated from F.H. Collins high school and then studied with the National Film Board of Canada in Winnipeg. In the 1960s, Bob played with the DeMans band. In the early 1970s, he was living in Cornwall, Ontario and played with the Thunderstones from Akwesasne.4)
The Klukshu Flats Boogie Band was formed in Whitehorse in 1977 by Bob Charlie and Daniel Silen.5) They played many dances and events across the north.6) In 1987, Bob Charlie, Solomon and Annie Charlie travelled to Midway Lake in the Northwest Territories with the band.7)
Bob Charlie built a cabin by his father’s cabin on the Old Alaska Highway near Champagne. He would get out into the bush as a break from Whitehorse where he was co-host of the CHON-FM radio morning talk show and a much sought-after musician.8) Bob operated Cracker Creek Productions out of his home for a number of years, producing videos.9) In the 1970s and early 1980s, he worked for CYI recording the Elders stories to help preserve traditions and languages.10)
From its early days, Bob Charlie was involved in the development of the Council for Yukon Indians, now the Council of Yukon First Nations (CYFN). Bob Charlie was chief of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN) from 1998 to 2002. He helped to host Prince Charlie during his visit north, and in 2000 he was part of a Yukon delegation to a conference on persistent organic pollutants in South Africa. Bob led the First Nation through the discovery of Kwaday Dan Ts’inchi, long ago person found, after a glacier retreated in Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park.11)
CAFN honoured Bob Charlie in 2018 for his leadership in implementing the First Nations’ self-government. He was acknowledged by the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation for his compassion working with survivors of residential schools and their families. He received the Yukoner 125th anniversary medal in recognition of his values and his role in shaping the Yukon.12)