Moose Jackson, Jänachälatà (1926 – 2011)
Moose Jackson was born at Hutchi Village, about forty kilometres north of Champagne. His parents were Hutchi Jackson [Ka’nila] and Lilly Isaac [Ts’äk’wäymq]. Hutshi Chu’ena Keyii was a thriving village at that time and other families living there included Bessie and Drury Crow, Harry and Jessie Joe, Lily and Charlie Bill, and Chief (Hutshi) Joe’s family. Moose's family went to Shäwshe Dalton Post in the summer to fish and travelled to Champagne to sell furs and get groceries. His father prospected at Shorty and Gold creeks and spent a summer at Squaw [now Dollis] Creek where his mother made extra money baking for the miners.1)
When Moose was ten, the family moved to the Dezadeash Lake area where they trapped and hunted around the lake and from Dusty River east to the Kusawa region. Moose became good friends with John Brown and in 1948, Moose married John’s sister Sadie. Horses belonging to the Hutshi families were used in surveying the Alaska Highway route and after the highway was completed, many Hutshi and Dezadeash families moved to Haines Junction. Moose and John drove truck from Haines, Alaska to Dezadeash for Bun Beloud’s gas station and café.2)
Moose was always learning. He taught himself to read from tin can labels, comic books, and the Bible. In 1949, Moose started working at the Experimental Farm at Mile 1019 where he met his future wife, Daisy. [Daisy David (Ama Kwanjia) of Aishihik]. They adopted Richard Taylor as a young child and welcomed many other children into their home over the years. Moose was an excellent singer and drummer and an exceptional hunter.3) Rod Tait remembered Moose Jackson as a very good equipment operator.4)
After the experimental farm closed down, Moose worked for Yukon Forest Service and Parks Canada. He retired in 1989. He was the Chief of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations (CAFN) in 1975-76 and served several terms on the Elder Council. Gord Allison got to know him when he would drop into the CAFN office, and they travelled to places Moose remembered together. Gord remembers him as having a remarkable memory and a sharp sense of humour.5) In his later years, Moose Jackson was recognized as the leader of the Crow clan and was a regular presence at the potlatch table.6)