George Johnston Museum

Y0A 1B0 Teslin, Canada (Yukon)

http://www.yukonmuseums.ca/museum/george/george.html
George Johnston Museum and Heritage Park is a must-see Teslin attraction named after the venerated Tlingit elder, trapper, fur trader, entrepreneur and photographer. George Johnston's photographs, his restored 1928 Chevy hunting car and colourful exhibits of Tlingit ceremonial regalia and traditional artifacts tell the story of the Inland Tlingit as they met the rapid changes of the first half of the 20th century.

The museum gift shop replicating Johnston’s 1950 general store stocks Tlingit arts and crafts, and small Yukon gifts. A small theatre shows films including renowned National Film Board film: “Picturing a People” by Tlingit Director Carol Geddes. Visitors can view a 1940s Air Radio building exhibit being built, stroll prepared trails or picnic in the interpretive rest areas.

http://www.gjmuseum.yk.net
The George Johnston Museum is a honey-coloured, native log building located at Mile 804 on the Alaska Highway, in Teslin – two kilometres north of the Nisutlin Bay Bridge and identified by road signs, an array of red and blue roadside banners and a signature Wolf Head in the Tlingit art style sign. This painting identifies the moiety of George Johnston, after whom the museum is named.

Inside, 3,000 square feet of galleries are devoted to colourful exhibits, dioramas and artefacts honouring the lives of George Johnston, the Inland Tlingit and other Teslin Lake residents.

The museum has a small theatre, featuring films by and about the Tlingit people, a gift shop with unusual products that reflect local life, outdoor exhibits and summer programs. Staff offer insights on local history and exhibits. Follow the menu for a preview of exhibits.

The museum is owned and operated by a non-profit society of local history lovers and run by a volunteer Board and a qualified museologist Manager. Exhibits are to current professional standards.

Converse with our enthusiastic staff always ready to offer insights on local history and exhibits. Don't miss our WW2 1942 Aeradio Navigation Range exhibit (equipment, and impacts of WW2 on Teslin 1940-55).

George Johnston Car

In 1928, flush with fur trapping funds, Teslin Tlingit George Johnston purchased a new car, had it shipped by small paddle wheeler several hundred miles upstream in the Yukon River watershed to the remote village of Teslin, then located in a vast and roadless wilderness. There he had readied four miles of crude road, road that 13 years later was to become part of the fabled Alaska Highway north. The car became an icon of enterprise serving as local taxi, pulling his hunting sled, transporting locals up and down 80 miles of frozen lakeway and the vehicle for his renowned photography. The original car, in excellent working order, is on exhibit with a photographic history of its exploits.

** Find out why he painted it white each winter and black each summer, its role on Dominion Day and for hunting, and how it ran at 60 degrees C below zero in an era before anti-freeze.

George Johnston Photograph Collection

George Johnston is one of the Yukon's renowned photographers. With a brownie box camera, entirely self-taught skills and a rough dark room in the corner of a bush cabin, he produced hundreds of works depicting the life of his Tlingit people.

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