Pioneer Cemetery Revitaliztion

Thursday, 6 September 2018 01:02

The new entrance of Pioneer Cemetery on 6th and Wood St in downtown Whitehorse. 9/5/18

Pioneer Cemetery Grand Re-Opening 118 years after the original burial ground opened.

The revived site of Pioneer Cemetery was ceremoniously re-opened today as speeches, a ribbon cutting and site tours were all part of the celebration.

Mark Boulerice, the city's Parks Supervisor, was master of ceremony as veteran representation from many organizations who stood proudly in the wake of drastic improvements to the 118 year old burial ground.

City of Whitehorse secured funding through CanNor's Community Infrastructure program. The $500,000 job has been in the works over the past two summers, but in development mode since 2012.

Member of Parliament Larry Bagnell told stories of the crowd's ancestors to begin his speech. Exemplifying why it's important to celebrate history and to the what he calls "The three R's; Respect, Revere and Remember our Elders."

Mayor Dan Curtis Curtis gave kudos to the great partnership that combined City Parks staff, Yukon Order of Pioneers, Royal Canadian Legion, the RCMP Veterans Association and the Downtown Residents Association. He mentioned Jamie Moody of EcoFor who used radar detection to locate what he says was every inch of the cemetery to find unmarked graves.

He also made mention of the Truth and Reconcilliation Call to Action #77 where: "We call upon provincial, territorial, municipal, and community archives to work collaboratively with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation to identify and collect copies of all records relevant to the history and legacy of the residential school system, and to provide these to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation."

A residential school use to sit adjacent to the cemetery.

Red Gossinger of the Royal Canadian Legion told of the time not so far back in 2012 when the disarray of the cemetery caused him to scorn the t as he was laying wreaths on the site of Legions veteransthe three got together and formulated the momentum to bring the concern to DRA and then city council

He hopes in the future we will never let the burial ground of well respected and dearly departed members of yukon reach the state it was in.

Placards on the grounds show the state of the headstones and yard just a few years back

Dignitaries opening the Pioneer Cemetery

Yukon Order Of Pioneers Gordon Steele, gave respect to Grant Lundy who didn't survive to see the completion. Steele says he was the driving force behind the project.

Over 200 headstones have been identified out of what is believed to be 700 people buried of the pioneering era of Whitehorse.