Beringia Centre celebrates 20 years of interpreting ice age Yukon

Press Release

May 30, 2017

The Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre marked its 20th anniversary with an event that brought together the many people who have researched and interpreted Yukon’s ice age past.

The event included a panel discussion featuring individuals who were involved in the initial conception and planning for the centre, as well as researchers, scientists and heritage professionals who continue to contribute to growing knowledge about Beringia.

Quotes

“The Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre is a favourite destination for locals and visitors alike. This centre tells the fascinating story of ice age in Yukon, including the incredible mammals who roamed the territory and people’s migration from Eurasia many thousands of years ago. We are proud to be working with researchers and Yukon First Nations to share this age long-ago world with visitors to the centre.”

–Minister of Tourism and Culture Jeanie Dendys

“Vuntut Gwitchin stewardship of the land is as ancient as our stories about the giant animals represented in the Beringia Centre. We are pleased to have developed a collaborative relationship with researchers who study this area. Congratulations to the Yukon government for 20 years of interpreting Beringia and we look forward to further partnerships in the future.”

–Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Chief Bruce Charlie

“As the project manager for the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, it was exciting to see Yukon developing its own palaeontology program. It was also wonderful to see the whole story of Beringia — including the landscapes, the First Peoples, and the animals — united and told under one roof. The centre also made the territory’s ice age past tangible and real, with mammoths and giant beavers inhabiting the facility and roaming its lawns.”

–Former Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre project manager John Storer

Quick facts

• The Beringia Centre’s building was originally constructed to house the Yukon Visitor Reception Centre (VRC) in 1992. When the VRC was moved to downtown Whitehorse in 1996, the building was renovated and reopened as the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre on May 29, 1997.
• The Beringia Centre is dedicated to the presentation and preservation of scientific and First Nations’ history of the vast sub-continent called Beringia.
• The centre shares archaeological and palaeontological research related to Beringia. The Ice Age Laboratory exhibit, which opened in 2016, recognizes the contribution of researchers and scientists to our understanding of ice age Yukon.
• Since its opening, the Beringia Centre has greeted more than 350,000 visitors. In recent years, the centre has been refocusing some of its programs and services on building community here in Whitehorse.

Learn more: Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre

Contact:

Sunny Patch
Cabinet Communications
867-393-7478
sunny.patch@gov.yk.ca

Heather LeDuc
Communications, Tourism and Culture
867-667-8066
heather.leduc@gov.yk.ca

ILR5