Jessie Joe, nee Hume (1908 – 2001)
Jessie Joe was the daughter of William Hume and Lily Fred. Her parents ran a trapline in the Dezadeash Lake and Chimeea area. Jessie took pride in her Southern Tutchone culture and lived a traditional lifestyle for most of her life. When she was growing up, the family lived in Porcupine, Alaska; Champagne; and near Desdeash Lake. At age twenty, Jessie married Harry Joe of Hutchi in the Old Log Church in Whitehorse. They had eight children in their fifty-eight years together including Douglas (deceased), Frances, Kathy, Bob, Howard, and Dave. They had traplines at Chimeea, Hutchi, Champagne, Dezadeash, Fredrick Lake, Klukshu and 75 Mile. Harry died in 1986 and Jessie continued to hunt, fish, and trap. She helped develop the Klukshu Craft Shop and Museum and she and her family sold their handicrafts there. She took on the role of village guardian when the men where away because of her hunting and shooting skills and she delivered numerous babies born in Klukshu. She is remembered by her family for putting her family first and for her sense of independence. She is also remembered for her mechanical skills and was known as the family “chain installer”.1)