Josephine “Josie” Sias, nee Jacquot (1927 - 2012)
Josie Jacquot was born in Burwash Landing to Louis and Mary Copper Joe Jacquot. Josie went to school in Dawson for a while and then went to school in Vancouver with her siblings Louis Jr. and Rosalie. Their father hired a nanny, or a housekeeper, to look after them while they attended a Catholic school, and Josie often, if not always, spent the summers in Burwash.1)
Josie met her future husband, Frank Sias, in British Columbia. She had a job at a fish cannery in Steveston and young Frank was working on a tugboat. They got married in 1948 and drove up the Alaska Highway in an old Model A Ford that year. They worked at highway lodges including Clyde Wann’s lodges at Morley River and Beaver Creek. Josie also worked for the people at Bear Creek Lodge and helped Letty and Leland Allinger at the Burwash Lodge. Linda was born in 1950 and Doug was born in 1952. The family spent about five years at the pipeline pump station at Mile 1124, Alaska Highway. Frank worked at the station and Josie and the kids would spend the summers at Burwash. They also lived at Mile 48 on the Haines Road starting about 1961. Josie was working at the Bear Creek Lodge before Frank started working at the station. They were welcomed at Mile 48 because the pump station needed eight children to justify a school and their kids made it happen. There were twelve families living in the community.2)
The family moved to the Kluane Lake area in 1972 and settled at Silver City where they built a small cabin, a garage, and a carpentry shop. In 1974, they took charge of a Parks Canada program called the Conservation Youth Corp. For five years, they managed about sixteen kids aged fifteen and sixteen as they built cabins, cut and groomed trails, learned rock climbing, canoeing, and catching and cooking fish. The kids lived in tents in the park and learned about themselves and nature.3)
Josie Sias was a park interpreter at Kluane National Park. She was a talented storyteller who used stories to keep the traditions of her First Nation ancestors alive. She was chosen to represent her region at the Canadian Polar Commission. In 2003, she was invested as a member of the Order of Canada.4)
Frank and Josie opened a Bed and Breakfast at Silver City in 1990 and their daughter-in-law, Cecile, took over the B&B in 1999. It became a tradition for a group of Whitehorse couple to come to the B&B at Christmas and it is a favourite retreat and wellness venue for others.5)
The outpouring of love and stories at Josie’s funeral illustrated the impact she had in the Kluane First Nation. Josie was survived by husband Frank, children Linda (Wondga), and Douglas, and four grandchildren.6)