Early resident returns home
Spirit of the city unchanged, says woman who calls herself the firstborn daughter of Giant Mine settlement
Joseph Tunney
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 6, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
There are only a few Yellowknife sites that remain familiar to Susan Mather.
Susan Mather claims to be the first baby brought home to the settlement around Giant Mine. - Joseph Tunney/NNSL photo |
"Sutherland's Drugs and the Wildcat Cafe," she said, remarking on how the city has changed since she was born at the Giant Mine settlement in 1946.
Mather says she was the first baby born to a family living at the now-abandoned settlement.
"Everyone knew everyone else's business," she said of the city at the time, which only consisted of approximately 1,500 people.
Mather now lives in Vernon, B.C. She came back to the city after 20 years with her childhood friend Donna Collins, who has been gone for 57 years and is the daughter of the city's second mayor, Gordon Allen. The two have been on a road trip together since attending the NWT reunion in Kelowna, B.C., in early June, which Mather hosts annually.
Reflecting on the past, Mather said something core about the town feels the same, despite how much has changed. She said the slower, more relaxed way of living life associated with the past persists to this day in Yellowknife.
Mather described the young town as thriving with Giant Mine and self-sufficient. Both former residents said the trees were much shorter back in their childhood, giving them a much clearer view of the lake.
A mining museum is set to open where Mather used to work summers as a cashier, selling groceries to the small community. And while the house where her family lived when she was born is gone, Mather said Giant Mine will still always have a place in her heart.
The gold mine entered production in 1948, a little more than 10 years after the founding of the city and was a major draw for the early town. It closed in 2004.
