TheYukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. From its source inBritish Columbia, it flows through Canada's territory ofYukon (itself named after the river). The lower half of the river continues westward through theU.S. state ofAlaska. The river is 3,190 kilometres (1,980 mi)[15][16] long and empties into theBering Sea at theYukon–Kuskokwim Delta. The average flow is 6,400–7,000 m3/s (230,000–250,000 cu ft/s).[7][8][6] The total drainage area is 854,700 km2 (330,000 sq mi),[6] of which 323,800 km2 (125,000 sq mi) lies in Canada.[17] The total area is more than 25% larger thanTexas orAlberta.
The Yukon River has a recent history ofpollution from military installations, dumps, wastewater, and other sources.[20][failed verification][citation needed] However, theEnvironmental Protection Agency does not list the Yukon River among its impaired watersheds, and water-quality data from theU.S. Geological Survey shows relatively good levels of turbidity, metals, and dissolved oxygen.[21] The Yukon andMackenzie rivers have much higher suspended sediment concentrations than the great Siberian Arctic rivers.[22]
TheYukon River Inter-Tribal Watershed Council, a cooperative effort of 70First Nations andtribes in Alaska and Canada, has the goal of making the river and its tributaries safe to drink from again by supplementing and scrutinizing government data.
The nameYukon, orųųg han, is acontraction of the words in theGwich'in phrasechųų gąįį han, which meanswhite water river and refers to "the pale colour" ofglacial runoff in the Yukon River.[23][24] The contraction isŲųg Han, if the /ųų/ remainsnasalized, orYuk Han, if there is no vowel nasalization.[25] In the 1840s, differenttribes had different opinions as to the literal meaning ofYukon. In 1843, theHolikachuks had told theRussian-American Company that their name for the river wasYukkhana and that this name meantbig river.[26] However,Yukkhana does not literally correspond to aHolikachuk phrase that meansbig river.[27][28] Then, two years later, theGwich'ins told theHudson's Bay Company that their name for the river wasYukon and that the name meantwhite water river.[23]White water river in fact corresponds to Gwich'in words that can be shortened to formYukon.[24] Because the Holikachuks had been trading regularly with both the Gwich’ins and theYup'iks,[29] the Holikachuks were in a positionto borrow the Gwich'in contraction andto conflate itsmeaning with the meaning ofKuig-pak [River-big], which is theYup'ik name for the same river. For that reason, thedocumentary evidence suggests that the Holikachuks had borrowed the contractionŲųg Han [White Water River] from Gwich'in, and erroneously assumed that this contraction had the same literal meaning as the corresponding Yup'ik nameKuig-pak [River-big].
TheLewes River is the former name of the upper course of the Yukon, fromMarsh Lake to the confluence of thePelly River atFort Selkirk.
The generally accepted source of the Yukon River is theLlewellyn Glacier at the southern end ofAtlin Lake inBritish Columbia. Others suggest that the source isLake Lindeman at the northern end of theChilkoot Trail. Either way, Atlin Lake flows intoTagish Lake (via the Atlin River), as eventually does Lake Lindeman after flowing intoBennett Lake. Tagish Lake then flows intoMarsh Lake (via the Tagish River). The Yukon River proper starts at the northern end of Marsh Lake, just south ofWhitehorse. Some argue that the source of the Yukon River should really beTeslin Lake and theTeslin River, which has a larger flow when it reaches the Yukon at Hootalinqua. The upper end of the Yukon River was originally known as the Lewes River until it was established that it actually was the Yukon. North of Whitehorse, the Yukon River widens intoLake Laberge, made famous byRobert W. Service's "The Cremation of Sam McGee". Other large lakes that are part of the Yukon River system include Kusawa Lake (into theTakhini River) andKluane Lake (into the Kluane and then White River).
The bridge across the Yukon River atCarmacks on theKlondike HighwayThe E. L. Patton Yukon River Bridge carries theDalton Highway over the Yukon north of Fairbanks.
Navigational obstacles on the Yukon River are theFive Finger Rapids and Rink Rapids downstream from Carmacks.
A carferry crosses the river atDawson City in the summer; it is replaced by anice bridge over the frozen river during the winter. Plans to build a permanent bridge were announced in March 2004, although they were subsequently put on hold because bids came in much higher than budgeted.
There are also two pedestrian-only bridges in Whitehorse, as well as a dam across the river and ahydroelectric generating station. The construction of the dam flooded theWhite Horse Rapids, which gave the city its name, and createdSchwatka Lake.
Transportation is also performed along the river in summer bybarge, enabling heavy goods, oil, and vehicles to be transported to communities along the Yukon, Tanana, Innoko, and Koyukuk rivers. This service is performed by Ruby Marine and reaches Tanana on the Yukon River andNenana on the Tanana River.[30]
Some of the upper slopes of this watershed (e.g.Nulato Hills) are forested byBlack Spruce.[31] This locale near theSeward Peninsula represents the near westernmost limit of the Black Spruce,Picea mariana,[32] one of the most widespreadconifers in northern North America.
The river flows into several parklands and refuges including:
The Yukon River is home to one of the longest salmon runs in the world. Each yearChinook,coho, andchum salmon return to their terminal streams in Alaska, theYukon Territory, and British Columbia. As salmon do not eat during their spawning migration, Yukon River salmon must have great reserves of fat and energy to fuel their thousands-mile-long journey. The Chinook, which arrive at the mouth of the Yukon River in early June, have the longest journey – as many as 2,000 miles against the current, with an estimated 35–50% bound for Canada. As a result, Chinook salmon are noted for their especially rich and fatty meat and are the priciest of all Pacific salmon species.[37]
The villages along the Yukon have historically relied on and continue to rely on salmon for their cultural, subsistence, and commercial needs. Salmon are traditionally dried, smoked, and frozen for both human andsled dog consumption. Common methods of fishing on the Yukon include setgillnets,drift nets,dip nets, andfish wheels. The preference of certain gear is largely dependent on the river's varied characteristics in different areas. Some parts of the river do not have eddies to make set-nets successful, whereas in other places the tributaries are small enough to make drifting impractical.
Over the last 20 years salmon recruitment, the number of returning adults, has taken several shocks. The late 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s have been marked by radically reduced runs for various salmon species. In the summer of 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service counted 58,500 Chinook salmon, the second lowest season on record.[38] TheUnited States Department of Commerce issued a Federal Disaster Declaration for the 2008 and 2009 Commercial Chinook Yukon River fisheries, calling for the complete closure of commercial fishing along with restrictions on subsistence fishing.[citation needed] The root cause of these poor returns remains debated, with questions about the effects ofclimate change on ocean food-supply & disease prevalence in returning adults, the methods of fishing used on the river, and the effects of the Bering SeaPollocktrawl fleet on food supply and salmon bycatch.[39][40] In 2010, theAlaska Department of Fish & Game's Board of Fisheries issued the first-ever restriction for net mesh size on the Yukon, reducing it to 7.5 inches (190 mm).[41] In 2021, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game's Division of Commercial Fisheries banned all fishing of Chinook and chum salmon, including for subsistence.[37][42]
Various organizations are involved to protect healthy salmon runs into the future. The Yukon River Drainage Fisheries Association was formed in 1990 by a consensus of fishers representing the entire drainage in response to recent disaster years. Its organizational goals include giving voice to the village fishers that have traditionally managed these resources, enabling communication between fishers and fishery managers, and helping to preserve the ecological integrity of salmon runs and local cultures' Traditional Ecological Knowledge[43]
In March 2001, the U.S. & Canadian governments passed the Yukon River Salmon Agreement to better manage an internationally shared resource and ensure that more Canadian-originated salmon return across the border.[44] The agreement is implemented through the Yukon River Panel, an international body of 12 members, equal-parts American and Canadian, that advises managers of Yukon River fisheries concerning restoration, conservation, and coordinated management.[45]
Tribal organizations such as the Association of Village Council Presidents (AVCP), Council of Athabascan Tribal Governments (CATG), andTanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) work to sustain Yukon River salmon to promote healthy people, cultures, and communities.
^ab"Dear Sir, I have great pleasure in informing you that I have at length after much trouble and difficulties, succeed[ed] in reaching the 'Youcon', or white water River, so named by the (Gwich'in) natives from the pale colour of its water. ..., I have the honour to Remain Your obt Servt,John Bell"Hudson's Bay Company Correspondence toGeorge Simpson from John Bell (August 1, 1845),HBC Archives, D.5/14, fos. 212-215d, also quoted in,Coates, Kenneth S. & William R. Morrison (1988).Land of the Midnight Sun: A History of the Yukon. Hurtig Publishers. p. 21.ISBN0-88830-331-9. Retrieved2017-10-16.
^abIn Gwich'in, adjectives, such aschoo [big] andgąįį [white], follow the nouns that they modify. Thus,white water ischųų gąįį [water white].White water river ischųų gąįį han [water white river].Peter, Katherine (1979).Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik Nagwan Tr'iłtsąįį: Gwich'in Junior Dictionary(PDF). Univ. of Alaska. pp. ii (ą, į, ų are nasalized a, i, u), xii (adjectives follow nouns), 19 (nitsii orchoo [big]), 88 (ocean =chųų choo [water big]), 105 (han [river]), 142 (chųų [water]), 144 (gąįį [white]). Retrieved2017-10-16.
^Gwich'in vowels may or may not be nasalized. A hook under a vowel, as in "ų," indicates that the vowel is nasalized.Peter (1979).Dinjii Zhuh Ginjik Nagwan Tr'iłtsąįį., at page ii (footnote). English, of course, has no nasalized vowels.
^"[The Yukon] in the language of the Kang-ulit (Yup'ik) people isKvikhpak; in the dialect of the downriver Inkilik (Holikachuk),Yukkhana; of those upriver (Koyukon),Yuna. All these terms mean the same thing in translation–'Big River.' I have kept the local names as a clearer indication of the different tribes along the river."Lt. Zagoskin's Note 63 (1848), translated in,Zagoskin, Lavrenty A.; Henry N. Michael, eds. (1967).Lieutenant Zagoskin's Travels in Russian America, 1842-1844: The First Ethnographic and Geographic Investigations in the Yukon and Kuskokwim Valleys of Alaska. University of Toronto Press., at page 295. Zagoskin did not come into contact with theGwich'in Indians and had no access to the information thatYukon meanswhite water river inGwich'in – the language from which the word came.
^In Holikachuk,big river orbig water would bexinmiksekh,xinchux,toomiksekh, ortoochux.Kari, James; et al. (1978).Holikachuk Noun Dictionary(PDF). Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks. p. 19 (xin [river],too [water]). Retrieved2017-10-16.;Zagoskin; Michael (1967).Lieutenant Zagoskin's Travels., at page 309 (Inkilik proper [Holikachuk]tu [water],miksekh [large]);Hargus, Sharon (2008).Vowel quality and duration in Deg Xinag(PDF). Univ. of Washington. p. 29 (note 33: Holikachukchux [big]). Retrieved2017-10-16. Adjectives followed the nouns that they modified in Holikachuk.
^Thirty-nine pages of cited "Sources," representing over a century of research, did not verifyZagoskin's report thatYukon meansbig river.Orth (1967).Dictionary of Alaska Place Names., at pp. 6-44 ("Sources of Names"), 1069 ("The Eskimo ... descriptively called it 'Kuikpak' meaning 'big river.' The Indian name 'Yukon' probably means the same thing."). Orth does not say "probably" when discussingKuikpak's meaning. Orth's use of "probably" is limited to the discussion ofYukon's meaning, which indicates that Zagoskin's report thatYukon meansbig river was never verified. In addition, Orth's "Sources" do not even include theHudson's Bay Company correspondence, which states thatYukon meanswhite water river inGwich'in. Nor do Orth's "Sources" include aboriginal dictionaries.
^Lt. Zagoskin reported that: "The ... Inkilit [Holikachuk] ... live along the routes of communication between the Yukon and the coast and are occupied almost exclusively with buying up furs from the natives living along the Yunnaka (Koyukuk River, a Yukon tributary)." Zagoskin also reported that: "The Inkalik [Holikachuk] ..., who are chiefly occupied in trading both with their fellow tribesmen and with the neighboring tribes of Kang-ulit (Yup'ik), have adopted the way of life of the latter ..."Zagoskin; Michael (1967).Lieutenant Zagoskin's Travels., at pp. 196-97, 244. Because they had adopted the Yup’ik (Eskimo) way of life, and because they were the ones trading upriver, the Holikachuk would have been "the Esquimaux" referred to inJohn Bell's 1845 report: "The Esquimaux to the westwards likewise ascends the 'Youcon' and carry on a trade with the natives, as well as with the Musquash [Gwich'in] Indians ... I have seen a large camp of the latter tribe on the Rat River on my return, who, had about a doz: of beat [hammered] Iron Kettles of Russian Manufacture which they bartered from the Esquimaux."See,Hudson's Bay Company Correspondence toSimpson from Bell (1845),HBC Archives, D.5/14, fos. 212, 213. For these reasons, the Holikachuk were in a position to conflate the meanings of the Gwich'in and Yup'ik names, and to furnish this conflated information to the Russian-American Company.
^"Ruby Marine".Rubymarineinc.com. Retrieved11 June 2022.
^Scott R. Robinson. 1988.Movement and Distribution of Western Arctic Caribou Herd across the Buckland Valley and Nulato Hills, U.S. Bureau of Land Management Open file Report 23, Alaska
