Yukon who is who

Joe Copper Jack, Gogon (b. 1951)

Joe Jack was born in Whitehorse to Agnes Boss and Billy Jack.¹⁾ He is the grandson of Ta’an chief Jim Boss Kishwoot and the Copper Chief [Copper Jack of Chitina, Alaska].²⁾

Joe grew up spending time with his grandmother, Susie Hutshi Jim, a well-known medicine woman. Part of the time they lived at Takhini Crossing. In the 1960s, the family lived in Sleepy Hollow in Whitehorse. They had a relocated log structure from the Copper Belt that Billy Jack moved and rebuilt. When White Pass & Yukon Route insisted they move, the Jacks relocated to Mile 937 on their traditional lands and Joe stayed in town with his half-sister Minnie (Broeren) Smith to finish high school. In 1974 he received a diploma for a course in renewable resources technology and later worked for Yukon Renewable Resources. He worked for Harry Allen at the Council for Yukon Indians (CYI) to bring Yukon First Nations together.³⁾ He managed and directed the Land Claims, Economic Development, and Social Programs departments.⁴⁾

In 1977, Joe travelled ahead of the Alaska Highway Pipeline Inquiry panel to acquaint Yukon First Nation communities with the potential effects of the pipeline. In January 2000, he participated in the formation of the Aboriginal Pipeline Group representing Indigenous peoples of the NWT who wished to be involved in the building of a proposed Mackenzie Valley Gas Pipeline.⁵⁾

Jack ran as an NDP candidate in the federal election in 1979 and for the Liberal Party in 1988. He was instrumental in forming the White River First Nation government in the 1980s and became the chief in 1991. Joe Jack was elected chief of the Whitehorse Indian Band in 1996. The deputy chief was Pat Joe. The councilors were Jason Shorty, William Carlick, Helen Charlie, Ann Smith, Colleen Williams, and John Edzerza. During his administration, Kwanlin Dün's separation from Ta'an was negotiated and a community building was constructed under the Centennial Anniversaries Program. There was considerable controversy over the leadership during his term in office.⁶⁾

Joe Jack was elected the Vice-Chairman of CYI for three two-year terms (1997-1982). He was a founding member of the Canadian National Aboriginal Tourism Association and had a tour company called Atsi Tan [Grandpa’s Trails] Tours.⁷⁾

In 2020, Joe Copper Jack was a member of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council. He is a proponent of One Health, based on the idea that the health of a people is tied to the health of the land, and that multiple sectors should collaborate to solve health and environmental issues. In September 2020, Jack, Jared Gonet, and two other co-authors, had a letter published in the scientific journal Science advocating a One Health approach to the pandemic by incorporating Indigenous knowledge principles. Taku River Tlingit member Gonet was the president of the Yukon Conservation Society Board at the time.⁸⁾