1947 Yukon Nuggets

The Indian Mission School

When I was a kid growing up in Whitehorse, I looked forward to summer vacation. Oh, what a lovely time - summer in the Yukon! But when the school year ended in June, I, along with a few classmates, first had to attend daily vacation bible classes held at the Indian Mission school. It was located in old army buildings on the lot between 4th and 5th Avenues, and between Hawkins and Lowe Street. The morning classes lasted two weeks. Then we’d do what kids do in the summer. Play softball or cops-and-robbers and, hopefully, snag a quarter for the Saturday matinee movie at the Capitol Theatre.

The Indian Mission school was the inspiration of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Lee, Baptist Ministers who came to Whitehorse from Alberta in 1946 to establish a Baptist Church.

When they got to Whitehorse, the Lees were struck by the sight of native children hanging around the downtown storefronts with, seemingly, nothing to do. So, in February of 1947, they established the Indian Mission School. Twenty-one kids were on hand for the first opening. It wasn’t long before the school had grown to forty-six students. By 1949, there were seventy-five students. The Lees, with financial aid from Baptist organizations outside, and a small grant from the Territorial government, had a tough job of making ends meet. The food bill each month was more than $1,000. The milk bill alone was $200 a month. That’s in pre-fifties dollars.

Two teachers were paid while the rest of the staff were volunteers. The Lees were proud of their pupils, and Reverend Lee often said that he would put his students up against any white children – anytime. They were, he claimed, outstanding in their school work.

Breakfast was often corn flakes and milk, but the treat was scrambled eggs. That is, until the parents brought dried moose and fish. This, he said, was better than candy for the kids.

The over-riding goal of the Lees and their Baptist Mission school was to see the day when the young native students could carry on the work as young adults.

Although, in the summer, I’d rather be playing ball than going to morning bible school, I was always struck by how neat and tidy the school was. It must have been a job to keep it that way. An early '50s photo shows twenty-five men and women who volunteered to help the Lees. A photo of about 100 kids shows them decked in neat uniforms for a school picture. The Indian Mission provided a badly needed service and it took strength of character to keep it going.

In 1952, when returning from a trip to Alberta, Reverend Lee’s car collided with a Canadian army truck near Morley River on the Alaska Highway. Lee was gravely injured and driven to the Teslin airport, where he was flown to Whitehorse.

He died in the Whitehorse Army hospital. More than three hundred people, including one hundred and seventy native students attended his funeral in the Army Theatre. Mrs. Lee and the Indian Mission school staff carried on their work until the school closed in 1962.

 

A CKRW Yukon Nugget by Les McLaughlin.