Largest Yukon River Sternwheeler Canada’s maritime history is also showcased in a Parks Canada museum inside the permanently docked S.S. Klondike in Whitehorse. To prepare for our visit to the national historic site, we viewed outdoor interpretive panels – developed in partnership with First Nations along the Yukon River – and watched the 20-minute In the Days of the Riverboats video in the theatre. They explained how life on the Yukon’s rivers changed for Indigenous peoples after the first steam-powered paddlewheelers arrived in the 1860s, carrying newcomers and their ways of life until the 1950s. During our guided tour, a heritage interpreter recounted stories of life on the river. We learned how much wood was required to keep the paddlewheel turning, how captains negotiated the rapids and how the crew unstuck ships from sandbars. pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/yt/ssklondike Viking Ship Newfoundland’s Norstead Viking Village also reflects Canada’s maritime past. The replica 11th-century port and commercial trading site features four historically correct buildings, costumed re-enactors and a knarr (Viking ship). Inside the sod-roofed boathouse, Bjorn explained that the Vikings explored the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador in ocean-going traders such as this one. Built in Maine in 1996, the re-created 16.5-metre ship had an open deck and a canvas sail. Pointing at the planks, he noted that they were fastened with 2,700 rivets from an English bridge. In the Norstead chieftain’s hall, other interpreters described daily life for the Vikings who settled in Newfoundland. We watched a woman spin sheep fleece into yarn with a whorl drop spindle. She explained how she knit the yarn into mittens, socks and hats with a needle made from moose antler. http://norstead.com/main.asp 18 | www.snowbirds.org Travel
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