Keish
Keish (* 1855, † July 11, 1916 in Whitehorse ), better known as Skookum Jim Mason or Skookum Jim, was a member of the Tagish First Nation in the Yukon. He or his sister are considered to be those whose discovery of gold triggered the Klondike Gold Rush. Keish came after he had worked as a porter, expedition scouts and prospectors, to a considerable fortune, but he would have it, how many gold seekers, almost squandered. He concluded by one of the railway companies a contract so that they could lay their rails about his country. The permission to do so gave him the membership and the positions of his parents within the clan systems: from one side, his father was chief of the Crow clan of the Tlingit, the other was his mother head of the Wolf Clan of the Tahltan.
Life
Keish, was born near the Bennett Lake, the son of a Tahltan woman in the vicinity of Telegraph Creek. Since the Tahltan are matrilineal, so he was a member of this tribe. His father was Kaachgaawáa, chief of the Crow clan of the Tlingit, his mother Gus'dutéen of the Wolf Clan. Keish married a Tlingit named Daakuxda.éit, with whom he had a daughter. The marriage between his parents was no accident, because living on the coast Tlingit had close trade relations with the Tahltan and Tagish the hinterland.
Keishs family first lived near Carcross. In the 1880s he worked as a carrier at the Chilkoot Pass, where he stood out because of its enormous physical strength. This earned him the nickname Skookum, which means ' strong ', large ' or ' reliable ' means the locally customary Chinook. He was one of the best hunters and trappers in the region.
When William Ogilvie toured the upper Yukon, Keish supported him. He also showed members of the expedition the way over the White Pass, one of the two connections to the Pacific.
His sister Shaaw Tláa lived from late 1888 together with George Carmack, which was recognized at the time as marriage. Carmack worked as a packer in Dyea on the Pacific coast of Alaska. His wife took the name Kate Carmack. Keish, Carmack and his nephew Kaa Goox, known as Dawson Charlie or Tagish Charlie, formed a company and worked as a carrier at the Chilkoot Pass. 1888, she studied for the first time together for gold, 1889, she went to the region to Forty Mile.
Keish introduced in August 1896 by Carcross from his nephew Kaa Goox and his niece Koołseen ( Patsy Henderson ) down the Yukon. At the mouth of the Klondike, they met George Carmack and Kate caught salmon. They had their three year old daughter with us. On the way they met Robert Henderson who had sought from the south Klondike at Indian River for gold. Henderson made it clear that he would not tolerate Indians near him, and refused to sell them tobacco. Thus he missed the opportunity at The Ultimate Gold Fund participate, because on August 16, 1896 took place the Tagish group of gold at Bonanza Creek, which was still called at that time Rabbit Creek.
But she could, given the racism that prevailed here login no claim. Therefore, this task fell to Kate's husband George. 25 prospectors from the Fortymile River and the Stewart River came hastily to claims on Bonanza, Eldorado and Hunker Creek, before Carmack could claim his claim, he was confirmed at Commissioner Charles Constantine on 24 September 1896 by which his application of 80 kilometers away Forty Mile presented. The three men found large quantities of the coveted precious metal and divided at the end of about a million dollars.
The gold rush brought tens of thousands of prospectors and fortune hunters in the Yukon, soon carried well over 100 vessels on the rivers of people and goods, and it emerged rail links. Keish negotiated with the White Pass Railway from a contract, it allowed the railway company to lay rails on his land if they forgave work on the Carcross Tagish and so the umwohnenden Indians. This contract is considered the first recognition of land claims by a company.
Keish tried to assimilate as Jim Mason and built in 1898 for himself, his wife and his daughter a big house in Carcross, which was still called at that time Caribou Crossing. In this, the largest house in the village he spent the winter, while still hunted in the warmer time on Tagish Lake and set traps. He soon began frequently to Dawson to go, got there in the company of drunkards and Prassern and became an alcoholic. In order to secure the remainder of its assets against waste, he gave it in 1905 in custody. His wife left him Daakuxda.éit after several reconciliation attempts and returned to her village. His sister Kate suffered a similar fate. George Carmack left her without any assets and married another woman in California. Keish built his sister's house in Carcross.
1912 directed Keish and Daklaweidi clan the last traditional potlatch - Dawson Charlie - from. This was already illegal, because the big celebrations were banned by the government in 1884, a ban that was valid until 1951.
Keish died after a long illness in 1916 in Whitehorse. From his family his daughter Saayna.aat survived him ( Daisy Mason), and Patsy Henderson, his sister Kate Carmack and a cousin named John Tagish. He was buried in the cemetery of Carcross, just like his sister.
While in the Euro - American historiography, the fact is considered to be particularly significant that he triggered the Klondike Gold Rush and became exceedingly wealthy, are highlighted his strong clan and family ties in the oral tradition of the Tahltan and Tlingit and in particular the Care for his sister and his daughter.