Tracy Kovalench
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jul 03/98) - From the fur trade to the diamond rush, the city we call home continues to grow. Yellowknife's evolutionary timeline contains many clearly marked events excluding one -- the city's birthday.

Yellowknife is anywhere from 31 to 200 years old, depending on whom you talk to. Some say the city will be turning 65 this year, others swear it's 64.

There's always been some debate around Yellowknife's actual age, says David Watt, author of Yellowknife -- How a City Grew.

In Watt's opinion, Yellowknife's origin was the first town council meeting in 1957. The council was the first form of law and order in the settlement.

Watt suggests an annual salute to the city in the form of a 24-hour, non-stop birthday party. "It'd be a great day to cast off the shackles of civilization. It'd be a great party," says Watt.

Mayor Dave Lovell recommends extending the city's birthday festivities into a week-long summer celebration. The mayor, however, says Yellowknife is past the age of 41.

He points to 1934, the year settlers braved their first winter. "That was when they had the first industry here," says Lovell, referring to the establishment of Burwash Mine, Yellowknife's first gold operation.

The Yellowknives Dene have also been living on the land for more than 200 years, says Lovell. Dettah and Weledeh (Yellowknife River), are traditional Dene settlements, established long before the first prospector arrived.

Old Fort Providence, a fur-trading post established in 1785 but now long gone, also lays paternal claim to the area.

In 1958, city hall declared 1933 the birth of Yellowknife, as it celebrated the city's 25th anniversary. But in 1984, (26 years later), Yellowknife celebrated its 50th birthday.

It appears good intentions and different opinions will keep water flowing through the city's fountain of youth.

Christie Burr from the Visitors Centre thinks Yellowknife's birthday should be the day it was declared the capital of the NWT.

Jan. 1, 1967, is a choice for "Yellowknife Day" says Burr, insisting the city's birthday be in the winter.

"When you think of Yellowknife," says Burr, "you think of snow and Northern Lights."