Life in the Wild West: A young African-Caribbean family in the Yukon(Part 1)
Introduction
When Black people relocate to remote, predominately non-African spaces in Western countries, I believe it is always important to be aware of how Black people are received and perceived in these respective environments. You may not believe that focusing on culture/race is relevant (although if you are reading this article I doubt that you are one of those people). Nonetheless, anecdote after anecdote, in conjunction with a plethora of research explaining how racism affects our psychological, economic, physical and spiritual needs, collectively reinforces the importance of knowing how to navigate these spaces.
Based on my family and I’s numerous conversations with African people whose ancestry extends from all over the Caribbean and African continent that we have met in the 2 years we lived in the Yukon, I believe this article can greatly inform you about the life you can anticipate living up north in the Yukon or even other parts of the north throughout Canada should you decide to relocate.
This will be a two part series; this article (part 1) will be focusing on the perception of African people through the eyes of Indigenous people, people of colour and White people.
Due to the many different groups who identify themselves as African, Black and/or Caribbean, when I say Black people, African people, or Black African people in this article, I am referencing Black people of African descent from the Americas (African-Caribbean; African-Canadian/American; African-South American etc.) and those from the continent.
Our new home in the Wilderness City
So we arrive in Whitehorse, Yukon (the most populous city in the Yukon) and as we disembark from the plane onto this little airport tarmac (much smaller than the monstrous airport tarmac in Toronto), the air smells so different. The air was fresh and free from pollution. We see why they say that Whitehorse is the city with the best air quality in the world. It was also pin-drop quiet and real country; all we saw was pure spruce trees around us, a beautiful mountainous background and barely another building in sight other than the airport. This was the landscape that we were blessed to see everyday from the comfort of our own home. We would wake up to the aroma of firewood in the air and go to sleep to a pitch black night sky filled with an abundance of visible stars.
Whitehorse certainly lives up to its name as the “Wilderness City” as it was not uncommon to see foxes and coyotes casually chilling or walking through your back or front yard. We were even fortunate enough to see a herd of elk on our street late at night (my neighbor told me that she saw some on our front yard one early morning). We also saw Black bears on drives out in the country, wolves and deer.
In terms of demographics of Yukon, contrary to popular belief, there is some cultural diversity, but more so in Whitehorse (not really in the smaller communities). The largest population is White people of European descent (Anglo-Saxons, Francophones etc.), followed by Indigenous people and pretty much everyone else. The largest “visible minority” group are the Filipinos and then everyone else falls after (Black people of African descent, Chinese, Indian and some Arab/West Asian). Once you leave Whitehorse, it’s mainly White and First Nation.
From troublesome “Negros” to the “Good Negro”
Now in terms of what our experience was living in the Yukon as African-Caribbean people, this question is quite multi-faceted. My first observation was that we, as an African-Caribbean family, were met with some level of respect and dignity which is completely different from back in Toronto. This was not just by White people, but even the people of colour like Indian and Chinese people who, back in Toronto, collectively and in some cases overtly, look down upon and characterize Black people as intellectually inferior, innately criminal and an overall troublesome group. What I mean is that in the Yukon, based on my family and I’s experience, are not perceived, at least openly, as the “problem” group or “troublesome Negros”. Instead, the Indigenous people are perceived as the burdens on society. This does not mean that these respective groups like Black people or think of us as equal to them. Rather, they appear to see us as more tolerable and respectable than the Indigenous people.
Here is an example: during the first week that we arrived into Whitehorse, my wife and I were in a store speaking with an Indian man. From the beginning he assumed that we were educated and had government jobs and even said that we are smart for making the move up here to make as much money as we can and take care of our family. The most significant observation from this conversation was when he was describing his experience in living in Whitehorse, which was for about 5 years (an average length of time that most people of colour had lived there from what I could gather), and he said, and I quote, “Everything is good and safe in this town. The only people you have to watch out for are those Native people who usually get drunk and make trouble at night.”
This negative perception of Indigenous people was not uncommon and there were cases when certain people implicitly attempted to pit African people against Indigenous people by way of comparing one’s oppression over the other. My wife told me about a White woman with whom my wife was conversing who disclosed her frustration pertaining to why Indigenous people were so fixated on bringing up Residential schools and the Sixties Scoop i.e. cultural genocide, and its disastrous effects on their overall community. She boldly said to my wife, “Like, Black people were slaves and that was way worse than residential schools and the sixties scoop and look how successful you guys are!”
My wife also alluded to problems that some of her non-African colleagues would have with my wife’s fellow African peoples and how the non-African peoples felt a little “too” comfortable sharing their frustration and gossiping about my wife’s colleagues with my wife, implicitly wanting my wife to chime in. In not biting the divide-and-conquer-bait, my wife would change the topic and avoid speaking ill of her Black sistahs. My wife’s other Black co-workers mentioned that they were also put into those awkward situations. Even if the Black person to whom the non-African people were referencing was problematic, the Black women were definitely not prepared nor inclined to discuss it with non-African people. This was a beautiful example of unity that some Black people appeared to have in workplaces.
There was this clear attempt to pit African people against Indigenous people and also, possibly unconsciously, against other African people. Unfortunately, there were some Black people, in our experience in the Yukon, who fell victim to these divide-and-conquer tactics and also found comfort in denigrating Indigenous people and their own people.
My wife and I were ambivalent at being inherently considered the “Good Negros” on account of the assumption by many non-African people on first impressions, that we were employed in White collar positions for the government, educated and law-abiding citizens rather than degenerates, the latter being how we have typically been perceived back in Toronto. It was bizarre being perceived as, in many ways, a part of the “model minority” groups like the Indian and Chinese people and being elevated above the Indigenous people whom were perceived, as per my numerous conversations with non-Indigenous people, as the “permanent underclass”.
We know our self-worth and have confidence in our capabilities, but I believe our ambivalence was rooted in knowing that this supposed “new narrative” about us was only temporary, assuming that we fulfilled our roles as “Good Negros.” Had we done something to upset these non-African people like some of our other African colleagues did, we know that we would have received the same fate of gossip and covert denigration. Some of our fellow African kinfolk, particularly those from Ontario knew what we were talking about and also were ambivalent of how to manage this phenomenon.
My wife and I also noticed that perceptions of us as African people varied not only by gender but by our perceived age. It also varied based on the age of the person who was making the comments towards us. For example, my son now-3-year-old son who used to have dreadlocks and daughter (who was born in March 2021) were adorned doted on, although we know that, especially in the case of my son, the older he becomes, the less society sees him as a human being worthy of love. Thankfully, their young age and cute demeanor saved them from having to deal with any issues of racial maltreatment.
A noteworthy example of these age-specific perceptions of Black people was when my family and I were eating at the Fireweed community market (a festival that occurred on Thursdays that helped promote small businesses including local farmers and crafts peoples) and an older White man with a guitar approached us and began speaking with us. He appeared slightly intoxicated by his inability to stand up fully straight and a bit of a slur in his speech but he was certainly coherent enough to speak and question us. What my wife pointed out was his comfortability and focus being on my parents who present as older and more mature Black people (they’re only in their 50s, but look like they’re in their early 40’s- Black don’t crack- so they’re not “old” per se). His questions to them appeared more focused on actual conversation, but when he turned to me, a young Black man with tattoos, gold earrings and a chain, he felt compelled to change his tone i.e. adding a couple “What’s up yo! and “Yo bro!” and complementing me on my chain, tattoos and otherwise.
Hence, for Black people coming to the Yukon, depending on your age, you will be subject to different treatment based on age-specific stereotypes. It began to make sense to my wife and I why some older Black people to whom we met and spoke, were less preoccupied with thinking about racism because they either became numb to it based on early racial trauma, or they reached an age where they were not subject to the same racial tropes to which my wife and I, as young Black people, were subject.
It was also quite surprising to see signs posted in Whitehorse and Dawson City stating, “Black Lives, They Matter Here” following the brazen slaughtering of brother George Floyd, considering Black people are truly a minority throughout the Yukon. When we were in Dawson City, my mother was speaking with a young African-Caribbean woman who was there with her family and hated being in Dawson city due to the constant mistreatment by the White people and some Indigenous people there. She said to not be fooled by the “Black Lives Matter” signs as they were more so posted, in her opinion, as a political gesture rather than anything genuine. The woman stated that she was constantly mocked for her accent, told that “All Lives Matter,” questioned about her qualifications by White people, especially White men, and gazed upon constantly with, what she perceived as, disdain.
There was also a Black Lives Matter March in Whitehorse following George Floyd’s murder where Black people and other non-Black people gathered to speak about the issues of anti-Black racism in Whitehorse. Examples like these serve to demonstrate that while they may tolerate our existence and perceive us as better than the Indigenous people, this certainly does not mean that they actually respect us. Although my family and I did not experience overt racial hostility, it would be foolish to suggest that Yukon therefore is some sort of a utopia void of racial hostility. Racism is alive and well in the Yukon as the few above-noted examples (believe me there are more) demonstrate and even honest White people like Dan Bushnell, a White local tattoo artist would certainly agree with my statement as noted in his interview with CBC North.
Racism is not a personality trait nor is it a class-specific (i.e. working or underclass) trait. Being kind does not equate to being less racist, nor do racists only drive 1950’s rusty pick-up trucks with neo-nazi tattoos screaming “White power” (Yes there are some “closet” supporters of Neo-nazis in the Yukon, one of them almost being my client at work). Racism is a functioning global system that all White people unconsciously or consciously serve to keep intact in order to secure their continued advantage in life, power and control over all people of colour, especially African and Indigenous people.
While I recognize the few White people who present as “kind” or opposed to overt bigotry, and advocate against racial oppression (and I definitely did meet some White people who fit these notions), I think it would be inaccurate to hastily recognize them as “less racist”. Rather, I believe it means that they have become more honest with themselves about the destructiveness of this European-centered system and may make more attempts to reform it. They recognize the roots of this system being built on myths, bloodshed and genocide and how this immoral foundation continues to permeate through institutions and benefit their everyday endeavours directly and indirectly. However, whether or not they are attempting to obliterate this racist i.e. Eurocentric system, which would ultimately destroy their natural advantage and privilege in life is certainly the million dollar question.
Indigenous people of the land’s perception of African people
Yukon First Nations people are positive examples of resilience and self-determination as they continue to pave the way for the importance of self-governance among First Nation communities across Canada. 11 of the 14 Yukon First Nations are self-governing. The Yukon is also home to many non-Yukon First Nations from all over Canada such as Northern BC, Northern Alberta, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and more.
In speaking to and meeting different Indigenous people throughout the Yukon, many explained to me that for some of them, the Yukon was, and this is my interpretation of their statements, “the promised land” in comparison to where they were coming from. This perception appeared to be focused on the increased availability of financial assistance and economic opportunities. This was especially the case with the Inuit and Inuvaluit from the other territories (Nunavut and Northwest Territories) as I remember one Inuvaluit man in particular who disclosed to me the scarcity of employment, housing and financial assistance available in the Northwest Territories.
Regarding the relationship that Indigenous people appeared to have with African people in the Yukon, it certainly was interesting. Some were quite welcoming and open to engaging with us while others were either ignorant of our existence or looked upon us with disdain.
Perceiving Black people stereotypically
In our first couple of weeks walking the streets of Whitehorse, we will never forget walking towards a group of young Indigenous peoples (probably about four or so) who were looking at us as they were walking in our direction on the sidewalk. Naturally, we looked back at them and we could have sworn it was in a neutral manner free of any supposed “mean-mugging”. As we got closer, in what appeared to be fear, they hastily moved to the side of the sidewalk. One of the men from the group looked at me and uttered repeatedly, “I don’t want no problems man. Hey, I don’t want no problems” and hurried along. Confused, my wife and I looked at each other and kept walking.
We didn’t make any attempts to intimidate them but somehow, our presence, especially mine as a Black man, evoked some level of fear into this group, particularly the man who said he did not want “no problems”. Maybe it was the puffy sports jackets with hoodies that my wife and I were wearing; maybe it was the fact that I was bigger and stood taller than most of the Indigenous people walking towards me. Nonetheless, in speaking to some of our other African kinfolk who were mainly Black women, they too felt that Indigenous people also feared them, especially when our Black sistahs appeared “angry.”
Another example of me being stereotyped was with an Indigenous female client who, minutes earlier, was cussing me out over the phone over foolishness, but her tone switched up quick during our first in-person meeting when she said to me upon seeing me “Whoa, I didn’t know you were a gangster!” All I was wearing was a winter jacket with fur, a Black hat and my beige Timberland boots.
I was also asked constantly if I had any weed (I’ve never smoked ganja in my life) or spoken to in “slang” similar to how the older White man attempted at the Fireweed market i.e. a whole bunch of “Wass up dog! Or Wass up bro!” Ironically, I almost always started the conversations “formally” in order to avoid the disingenuous attempts to supposedly “relate” to me.
Unifying and/or positively relating with Black People
While some felt inclined to stereotype us, others felt compelled to relate and even unite with us based on a common enemy. We saw examples of what appeared to be unity at the Black Lives Matter March June 2020 in Whitehorse with Indigenous peoples coming out as brothers and sisters to African people against European oppression.
In another instance, I recall a conversation with a client who comfortably shared about her traumatic childhood from the racially hostile environment in Whitehorse in which she grew as an Indigenous woman. She said to me “As a Black person, I’m assuming you know what it’s like to experience racism like us Indigenous people”. This was a clear and rational attempt to relate with me on the basis of being from oppressed groups. Her assumption was certainly justified and I respect her awareness of reality.
In terms of positive relations, I remember my family and I met an Indigenous family at the Kluane National Park in Haines Junction who thought we were from Zimbabwe. It was funny and cute because she was thoroughly convinced that we were (who knows, maybe we have some distant Shona or Ndebele ethnicity in our ancestral lineage). But we kindly corrected her that we were African Jamaican. We ended up befriending her and her family and they made us some, as they called it “Indian ice cream” which was wild local berries whipped up into a puréed mixture.
Ignorant to the existence of Black people
I would say that the most eye-opening realization that my family and I experienced was this ignorance that many Indigenous people both home to and outside of the Yukon had about African people. To be fair, although I had foundational knowledge on the cultures and oppression history of Indigenous people in Canada, I was also quite ignorant to much of the history of Indigenous people until living in the Yukon.
One example occurred when I was sitting in Picka Peppa, the only Jamaican restaurant in the Yukon and hearing and seeing a conversation transpire between a First Nation man and some White men speaking about Jamaica. The First Nation man appeared oblivious to the history and even presence of Jamaica, let alone the African people in Jamaica. He asked where Jamaica was situated, if the people there (i.e. Black people) lived in huts and even required explanations on the food that was on the menu there. I’m sitting there thinking “Who the heck doesn’t know about Jamaica?” Even if it was strictly based off of stereotypes, I thought everyone knew about Jamaica, Usain Bolt, jerk chicken, Bob Marley and every other typical reference people associate with Jamaica. Clearly I was wrong. The White men made best attempts to educate him on the respective questions, although they were not that educated on Jamaica neither.
I remember having to explain to many Indigenous people that African people were enslaved throughout the Americas and colonized throughout Africa. My intention behind this historical education was in relation to speaking about experiences with racism and oppression. I remember one Indigenous female elder who was oblivious to this reality but in being intrigued, she and others to whom I spoke, would ask more questions about these phenomena. I would have these conversations with clients, elders and other community members at the community gatherings that the First Nation in which I worked would host in order to build relationships and improve their awareness of who I was and who African people were.
Notwithstanding my best attempts at being relateable, in my work, this ignorance about Black peoples’ existence was even more pronounced. Although I am quite aware of the atrocities White social workers (especially White women) caused upon Indigenous communities in the child welfare system, possibly in my ignorance and naivete, I figured that despite my position as a social worker, I would be at least welcomed more willingly as a Black man. Clearly and I guess justifiably, I was wrong. In my book, Shame Over, which is a book on men’s mental health, I allude to one example of a First Nation man who was ready to inflict serious harm onto me just by showing up to his house, knowing that I was a social worker. It did not matter that I was Black as this did not present to him any level of comfort.
Regardless of my work-style, my intense advocacy for the families, my ethnicity and racial make-up, after much reflection, I recognize that I was still in a role that still served the same mandate, in the same European-centered system as my White female counterparts, which was to dictate which parents and grandparents were keeping their children “safe”.
It almost appeared that when these Indigenous families, who would constantly and rightly reiterate to me the pain that social workers and child protection caused in their lives, did not realize they were talking to a Black man whose community back in Ontario and even Nova Scotia experienced a similar oppressive history with child welfare. It appeared to me that to some Indigenous clients with whom I worked perceived anyone in a social worker role, irrespective of their ethnicity, as the enemy.
I recall one First Nation woman attempting to call me a racial slur when my colleague and I had to (unfortunately as a last resort) remove her child from her care. She was so livid that she could not even finish her degrading statements she was attempting to express towards me, “Fuck you, you Black…you Black umm… Fuck you!” Despite the fact that she could not even finish her statement, all she knew was that calling me Black was apparently supposed to suggest something negative.
Conclusion
These experiences illustrate how we, as a young African-Caribbean family were received by non-African residents of the Yukon cross-culturally. Although it is not a comprehensive article detailing every single experience we had, it provides a snapshot of what African people can expect living up north in the Yukon and even other northern communities.
In terms of how to navigate these dynamics, it is important to recognize the importance of expressing your emotions, but not being consumed by emotion. People will utter statements to you in these types of rural environments that may be out of ignorance, or out of pure bigotry. It is up to you to determine how you will react to these comments but ensure that it is in a healthy and not self-destructive manner. In order to determine how we respond to it, we must be in tuned with how much we value and love ourselves. Those whose self-worth and self-love is already secure will be able to react and navigate these dynamics in a way that still maintains their sanity. Some comments will sting and others will get you angry, but we must remember our purpose as to why we are there.
Sometimes you may not feel like being friendly with other non-African people because you are not trying to hear the ignorant, stereotypical or disingenuous comments made towards you and you are entitled to that. However, do not be so tunnel vision on pursuing your goals and protecting yourself that you forget to meet new people and to simply live. Balance is key.
In part two, I provide an overview of the different motives that influence African people to move up there and what the relationship between Black people in the Yukon (and I would presume Northern communities) looks like based on my experience.
