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00:00:01,002 --> 00:00:02,434
Here we are in
dawson city, yukon!

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00:00:02,569 --> 00:00:05,503
[cheering & applauding]

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00:00:05,539 --> 00:00:08,173
Dawson city, where the
rivers of the yukon and

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Klondike collide,
the north wild west...

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A town of entrepreneurs
and artists,

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Eccentrics, adventurers,
where both the

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People and the land have
gold in their veins.

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00:00:21,789 --> 00:00:24,323
In the 1890s,
100,000 people

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00:00:24,458 --> 00:00:26,391
From all corners
of the earth

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Attempted the journey
to this place to

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Stake their claim
and strike it rich.

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This land is beautiful,
but rough and tough.

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And going for gold in
the cold can take a toll.

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And as the locals know,
it can also take toes.

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[laughing]

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More on that later.

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00:00:44,145 --> 00:00:45,810
[cheering & applauding]

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When you grew up in a
small town in newfoundland,

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You see that people have
a sense of humour

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About hard times.

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Check, check.

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I turned that into a
career and hit the road.

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[mc] mr. Jonny harris!

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Now I'm on a mission to find
the funny in the places

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You'd least expect it,

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Canada's struggling
small towns.

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Towns that are
against the ropes,

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But hanging in there...

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Still laughing in the
face of adversity.

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This is dawson city,
yukon.

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♪

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♪

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[indistinct conversation]

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[cheering & applauding]

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Dawson is, of course,

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The capital of the
klondike gold rush.

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Dawson was not only
put on the map,

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It was put on the front
pages of newspapers

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All around the world.

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And for a time- a brief time,
but for a time-

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It was the most famous
city on earth.

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[cheering & applauding]

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♪

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I found out all about it when
I got to dish the dirt on

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Dawson with interpretation
coordinator, fred osson.

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[cheering & applauding]

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A very big strike was
made on August 1896.

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And that's what really
started setting off

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This huge migration.

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And it eventually grew
into nearly 100,000 people.

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Everyone was ready to
try their luck at

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Klondike gold mining.

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And for every experienced
gold prospector,

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Of course, there was
100 hungry fools.

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The journey was
incredibly dramatic.

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Of those 100,000 people,
something between 35 and

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40,000 actually made it to
the klondike because of

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The many hardships
on the way.

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They had no idea how far
they had to go, really.

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They had to hump through gear
up over the chilkoot pass,

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A treacherous
mountain pass.

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You've all seen the pictures.

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One of the most iconic images
of the gold rush is the

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Stampeders struggling
over that incline.

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And listen, I'm being
absolutely historically

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Accurate when I say, dude,
you needed a ton of stuff.

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[laughing]

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So many people were going
up there half-cocked,

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The northwest mounted
police created an outpost.

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The mounties that said that
you had to have 2,000 pounds

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Of provisions to come
into the territory, right?

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So that's all your
tents, your food,

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Your sacks of flour,
your tools.

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So people with, you know,
visions of gold bars in

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Their mind are humping gear
over the chilkoot pass,

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Which of course you're
never gonna do in one trip.

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They might have to do it 30
or 40 or more times by

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The time they're relaying
their outfit over the pass.

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What would you do
for a klondike bar?

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[laughing]

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Just about anything was
available in dawson,

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Whether it's champagne,
oysters, caviar.

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If you had the money,
you could have just about

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Anything you wanted, here
in the paris of the north.

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This place went from
dawson to dawson city,

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To the capital of the yukon,
to the paris of the north.

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I think that's crazy
because at the same time,

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It's this you know,
camp mining town.

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Your head's in the clouds,
but your feet are in the mud.

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We'd be in this spot on
the street ankle-deep

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In the muck in the
summer of 1898.

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That's the
dawson dichotomy.

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I love to think about some
guy going out for the night,

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Got his best duds on,
a pocket full of gold.

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He's like, "I think I'll head to
the palace grand theatre for

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A night of french champagne
and oysters," as he

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Traipses through the mud
and the horse shit.

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[laughing]

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Once the news came to dawson
in the summer of 1899,

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Of another gold strike
in nome, alaska,

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Within a week of that,
about 8,000 people moved on.

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The rush was over.

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And thousands of people
who had made this the

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Paris of the north
took a french exit.

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[laughing]

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There was a real shift in
the methods as well as

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The amount of people it
took to mine for gold.

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These hand miners
working their claims,

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They were replaced
by large machines

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Like gold dredges,
for example.

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Unfortunately, a lot fewer
people means that

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Dawson was also a less
exciting place to be.

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But here's the
interesting thing.

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I think the suddenness of
the end of the gold rush was,

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In a way, a blessing
in disguise.

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Surely, it cemented
the legacy in time.

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The legacy upon which
dawson's tourism industry

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Relies on so greatly...

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The 1890s,
that was it.

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That's the theme,
and it's worked well.

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It wouldn't be as
good if you had

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Mini booms all
throughout.

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Like, just imagine you're
like, "oh, third ave,

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All the buildings that
pay tribute to the 1890s."

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And then, you turn
on queen street,

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And all those pastel-coloured
split level bungalows

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Pay tribute to the
mini-boom of the 1970s.

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-[laughing]
-it wouldn't work.

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[applauding]

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Dawson's tourism
industry has thrived.

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2018 and 2019 saw record
levels of tourism here.

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And then...

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Covid happened.

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It takes hundreds of
young, seasonal workers

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To keep dawson city's
bars and hotels

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And casinos running
every summer.

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And after the
pandemic ended,

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Tourists were
quick to come back,

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But workers not
so much.

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And to tell me about it,
I met a guy

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Who's worked all kinds
of jobs in dawson.

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He started out bagging earth
samples for gold testing.

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And I knew we'd get along
right away because

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I've never met a dirt bagger
I didn't like.

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[laughing]

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He's now
executive director of

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Klondike visitor's
association.

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I'm talking about
ricky mawunganidze.

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[cheering & applauding]

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The majority of our folks
are working in hospitality or

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Tourism businesses, right.

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After covid and trying
to come back from covid,

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It's been really tough.

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You know, the service
industry staffing

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Has been a problem
everywhere.

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Ricky explained to me why
it has been vastly more

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Problematic
here in dawson.

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You lost your word
-of-mouth momentum.

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You call a mate, you say,
"I had a wonderful summer,

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You've got to come up here,
it's the craziest place that

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I've ever been to, it's the
most magical place

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I've ever been to."

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You sell it so well,
because it's true, right?

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And that's how organic our,
our recruitment has been.

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The main thing that convinces
young people to come here and

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Work for a season is wild
stories that they hear from

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Friends who did just that.

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Ricky, himself, that's
how he ended up here.

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I was living in mississauga
at the time and...

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My buddies, they were
sending me bbm's of these

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Crazy times that
they're having.

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He said he was
in mississauga,

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He was getting pictures
sent to him of his friend,

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Who was butt naked on
top of a mountain

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Getting picked up
by a helicopter.

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[laughing]

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He had bear spray
explode on him,

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And so he had to get naked
and sit on a mountaintop

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Waiting to get picked
up by a helicopter.

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So, he's sending me all
these stories, and I'm like,

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Obviously, that's
where I need to be.

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And of course, first thing
ricky thinks is, oh, man,

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I gotta
get to dawson.

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00:07:46,967 --> 00:07:49,300
[laughing]

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And he said, you know,
the energy here among

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The people that
come to work,

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He said it's
always a party.

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We don't stop partying
until the sun goes down.

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And in the summer
that never happens.

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Even if you're working until
2 o'clock in the morning and

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You come out,
it's broad daylight.

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He said, you can finish your
shift at the bar at 2 am.

193
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And of course,
it's still broad daylight.

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00:08:07,621 --> 00:08:09,654
But that's the thing, like,
it's way too easy to

195
00:08:09,789 --> 00:08:12,657
Party here if the sun
doesn't go down.

196
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Like, that's mother nature's
way of telling you

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When to party or not.

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You can see somebody
be like, "oh, man,

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00:08:18,932 --> 00:08:20,698
That was a great
party last week.

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I think I took off around 2,
what about you guys?"

201
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"oh, man, we went...

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00:08:24,872 --> 00:08:28,673
Oh, it must have been
at least 3 or 4, like days."

203
00:08:28,742 --> 00:08:32,710
[laughing]

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A few years of covid,

205
00:08:33,881 --> 00:08:35,547
You lose those
crazy stories.

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00:08:35,682 --> 00:08:37,949
You lose your
recruitment campaign.

207
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Majority of our operators
were burnt out by

208
00:08:39,953 --> 00:08:40,819
The end of the season,

209
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Because they were
doing everything.

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Right, so there was simply
not enough people

211
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Changing bedsheets and...

212
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-Exactly.
-Right.

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You guys might try something
that we've been doing

214
00:08:48,795 --> 00:08:49,961
In newfoundland
for a while,

215
00:08:49,963 --> 00:08:52,964
And we call it
"experiential tourism".

216
00:08:52,966 --> 00:08:54,899
It's like, "come
to newfoundland.

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00:08:54,968 --> 00:08:57,969
Come out on a lobster boat
and haul traps for a day."

218
00:08:58,104 --> 00:09:00,105
[laughing]

219
00:09:00,107 --> 00:09:03,107
"real newfoundland traps."

220
00:09:03,143 --> 00:09:05,810
"come to dawson and live
like the locals did

221
00:09:05,812 --> 00:09:07,712
During the
klondike gold rush.

222
00:09:07,847 --> 00:09:09,981
Oh, how those wily
prospectors would

223
00:09:10,017 --> 00:09:11,716
Make their own beds..."

224
00:09:11,752 --> 00:09:13,250
[laughing]

225
00:09:13,287 --> 00:09:15,186
"and their own breakfasts!"

226
00:09:15,255 --> 00:09:16,988
[laughing]

227
00:09:16,990 --> 00:09:18,489
[applauding]

228
00:09:25,131 --> 00:09:28,667
♪

229
00:09:28,802 --> 00:09:31,403
But there's still gold
in them there hills,

230
00:09:31,538 --> 00:09:34,472
Not to mention in the chewed
up caterpillar's of dirt

231
00:09:34,541 --> 00:09:37,409
Left behind by the old
industrial dredges,

232
00:09:37,544 --> 00:09:39,578
Not as lucrative as
the rivers once were,

233
00:09:39,713 --> 00:09:41,446
But as it turns out...

234
00:09:41,515 --> 00:09:45,149
Even picking the bones in
this area can be rewarding.

235
00:09:45,218 --> 00:09:48,520
I met with placer miners,
lisa and guy favron.

236
00:09:48,522 --> 00:09:50,188
[cheering & applauding]

237
00:09:50,323 --> 00:09:52,691
Lisa and guy are both
descendants of the gold rush.

238
00:09:52,826 --> 00:09:56,094
Guy's great-grandfather had
a job translating stories of

239
00:09:56,229 --> 00:09:58,596
The klondike gold rush
into french

240
00:09:58,632 --> 00:10:00,799
For newspapers in montreal.

241
00:10:00,801 --> 00:10:03,234
And lisa, well,
lisa proudly comes from

242
00:10:03,236 --> 00:10:04,636
A long line of
gold diggers.

243
00:10:04,638 --> 00:10:07,271
[laughing]

244
00:10:07,307 --> 00:10:09,674
My mother used to tell us
that my great-grandfather

245
00:10:09,810 --> 00:10:14,112
Carried the first
cookstove over the pass.

246
00:10:14,114 --> 00:10:17,382
Was it a true story?
Or was it an urban legend?

247
00:10:17,517 --> 00:10:18,516
I don't know.

248
00:10:18,518 --> 00:10:20,652
She can't prove that
he actually did that.

249
00:10:20,787 --> 00:10:22,587
Maybe it's a bit of a
legend, but you know,

250
00:10:22,722 --> 00:10:25,056
Really if you think about it,
he wouldn't have cooked the

251
00:10:25,191 --> 00:10:27,258
Story up if he never
brought the stove.

252
00:10:27,327 --> 00:10:28,693
[laughing]

253
00:10:28,729 --> 00:10:31,729
We always say that we're the
third generation of miners.

254
00:10:31,765 --> 00:10:33,564
So, there was
the hand miners,

255
00:10:33,566 --> 00:10:35,400
Then the dredges
went through.

256
00:10:35,535 --> 00:10:37,468
And now we're doing
placer mining.

257
00:10:37,504 --> 00:10:39,303
They told me most of the
mining done today is

258
00:10:39,339 --> 00:10:41,138
Through this method
known as placer mining.

259
00:10:41,274 --> 00:10:42,907
The equipment is enormous,

260
00:10:42,909 --> 00:10:45,744
But basically uses water and
gravity, the same way

261
00:10:45,746 --> 00:10:47,478
You would do with a
pan in the river.

262
00:10:47,514 --> 00:10:49,547
But they said it's a
long, slow process,

263
00:10:49,616 --> 00:10:51,616
Not as profitable
as the old days.

264
00:10:51,751 --> 00:10:53,351
You want to make a
million dollars mining,

265
00:10:53,420 --> 00:10:55,687
You start with 10, and you
quit when you have one.

266
00:10:55,822 --> 00:10:56,988
[laughing]

267
00:10:57,123 --> 00:11:01,092
They said, "jonny, you have
no idea how many tons of dirt

268
00:11:01,227 --> 00:11:03,528
You haveto haul up and
go through before

269
00:11:03,597 --> 00:11:06,164
You find the tiniest
piece of gold."

270
00:11:06,166 --> 00:11:08,366
I was like, "ah,
as a comedian,

271
00:11:08,368 --> 00:11:10,968
I think I know exactly what
you are talking about."

272
00:11:11,104 --> 00:11:11,936
[laughing]

273
00:11:11,938 --> 00:11:13,438
I wish you'd had a
webcam in my room

274
00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:14,973
At the triple j all week,

275
00:11:15,108 --> 00:11:17,542
So you could see me every
night pulling out my hair,

276
00:11:17,611 --> 00:11:20,377
Storming around the room
with my laptop, being like,

277
00:11:20,414 --> 00:11:23,180
"come on, there's got to
be a flake of gold here."

278
00:11:23,216 --> 00:11:25,249
Might as well have been
like a guy in the river...

279
00:11:25,285 --> 00:11:27,485
[laughing]

280
00:11:27,554 --> 00:11:29,454
Sifting through all
the crap I wrote.

281
00:11:29,589 --> 00:11:31,455
[laughing]

282
00:11:31,457 --> 00:11:33,658
But, while digging for gold,
they've uncovered

283
00:11:33,727 --> 00:11:36,260
Some truly
remarkable treasure.

284
00:11:36,296 --> 00:11:40,331
The most famous thing was
the wolf pup named jur

285
00:11:40,333 --> 00:11:42,233
By the local
first nation.

286
00:11:42,368 --> 00:11:45,469
They told me about jur,
discovered in 2016,

287
00:11:45,505 --> 00:11:48,206
And it was found by
one of their employees.

288
00:11:48,275 --> 00:11:50,208
A guy operating
heavy equipment,

289
00:11:50,343 --> 00:11:51,408
He looked down,
he saw-

290
00:11:51,445 --> 00:11:53,244
He thought it was a dog.

291
00:11:53,379 --> 00:11:55,513
And he called out to it,
but it didn't respond.

292
00:11:55,648 --> 00:11:57,182
[laughing]

293
00:11:57,184 --> 00:11:58,750
So then he thought
it was a cat.

294
00:11:58,752 --> 00:12:01,686
[laughing]

295
00:12:01,688 --> 00:12:03,955
And the scientists came,
and they were able to

296
00:12:04,024 --> 00:12:09,694
Date this wolf, and it's
57,000 years old.

297
00:12:09,763 --> 00:12:12,096
I don't know how dog
years worked back then...

298
00:12:12,099 --> 00:12:13,831
[laughing]

299
00:12:13,833 --> 00:12:15,466
'cause it's still
just a pup- anyway.

300
00:12:15,535 --> 00:12:17,434
[laughing]

301
00:12:17,471 --> 00:12:20,305
These are some of the
treasures that we find

302
00:12:20,307 --> 00:12:22,306
When we dig in the dirt.

303
00:12:22,342 --> 00:12:24,509
They've got a collection of
fossils and bones that

304
00:12:24,644 --> 00:12:27,378
They keep on display
in their garage.

305
00:12:27,380 --> 00:12:31,315
Animals that you would never
imagine to roam these lands-

306
00:12:31,351 --> 00:12:35,786
North american lions,
giant prehistoric bears,

307
00:12:35,822 --> 00:12:37,588
Woolly mammoths.

308
00:12:37,624 --> 00:12:40,191
Those are mammoth teeth,
a mammoth skull.

309
00:12:40,326 --> 00:12:42,126
We got a pelvic and
a shoulder blade.

310
00:12:42,261 --> 00:12:43,327
That's a mammoth tusk.

311
00:12:43,363 --> 00:12:46,097
That is a mammoth...
Tusk.

312
00:12:46,166 --> 00:12:48,032
Is there are so many woolly
mammoths in the area that

313
00:12:48,068 --> 00:12:49,734
You start keeping them
in the garage?

314
00:12:49,736 --> 00:12:50,835
[laughing]

315
00:12:50,904 --> 00:12:52,604
Like one of their new
employee's like, "oh, my god,

316
00:12:52,739 --> 00:12:54,572
I think I found a
woolly mammoth tusk.

317
00:12:54,641 --> 00:12:55,740
What do I do?"

318
00:12:55,875 --> 00:12:57,575
"oh, ah,
put it in the garage.

319
00:12:57,710 --> 00:12:59,344
Don't scratch the boat."

320
00:12:59,346 --> 00:13:02,313
[laughing]

321
00:13:02,448 --> 00:13:04,649
But then, they showed me
the gold room,

322
00:13:04,784 --> 00:13:06,184
Which is even
more fascinating.

323
00:13:06,253 --> 00:13:08,086
So, they've got a room
there with a safe and

324
00:13:08,088 --> 00:13:09,487
All this equipment in it,

325
00:13:09,556 --> 00:13:11,489
And that's where lisa does
the last bit of processing to

326
00:13:11,558 --> 00:13:13,624
Remove the gold
dust from the dirt.

327
00:13:13,660 --> 00:13:15,827
She showed me
a bowl of gold.

328
00:13:15,829 --> 00:13:17,162
-Can I see?
-Yeah.

329
00:13:17,297 --> 00:13:18,495
Holy cow!

330
00:13:18,532 --> 00:13:20,331
The amount, it looked
like maybe if you like

331
00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:21,666
Poured yourself
too much cereal.

332
00:13:21,668 --> 00:13:23,668
That's how much it was

333
00:13:23,803 --> 00:13:26,437
127,000.

334
00:13:26,573 --> 00:13:28,172
[laughing]

335
00:13:28,175 --> 00:13:29,507
What do I get
for weighing?

336
00:13:29,509 --> 00:13:30,408
[laughing]

337
00:13:30,543 --> 00:13:31,442
And then they told me,
"yeah,

338
00:13:31,511 --> 00:13:34,712
That's $127,000
worth of gold."

339
00:13:34,714 --> 00:13:37,448
But they said the
expense that goes into-

340
00:13:37,450 --> 00:13:40,118
The time and operating costs
that goes into getting that.

341
00:13:40,253 --> 00:13:42,453
So, this is, we'll call it
two loads of fuel a week,

342
00:13:42,522 --> 00:13:44,589
A load of fuel
is $50,000.

343
00:13:44,724 --> 00:13:47,792
They said most of that money
will be spent on fuel alone.

344
00:13:47,794 --> 00:13:49,460
And it's sort of funny to
see them do the math on it

345
00:13:49,529 --> 00:13:51,729
'cause lisa's got this
huge calculator.

346
00:13:51,798 --> 00:13:53,531
It's the biggest calculator
I've ever seen-

347
00:13:53,533 --> 00:13:54,665
Hung on the wall,

348
00:13:54,701 --> 00:13:57,067
Got buttons on it
like hub caps.

349
00:13:57,103 --> 00:14:00,271
Maybe if you're spending
$50,000 a week on fuel,

350
00:14:00,307 --> 00:14:02,339
Corrective lenses just,
you know.

351
00:14:02,375 --> 00:14:06,010
[laughing]

352
00:14:06,046 --> 00:14:09,447
♪

353
00:14:09,449 --> 00:14:11,716
Next, I met an artist whose
work is more about

354
00:14:11,718 --> 00:14:13,550
The journey than
the destination.

355
00:14:13,587 --> 00:14:15,753
I had a chat with
jackie olson.

356
00:14:15,789 --> 00:14:20,157
[cheering & applauding]

357
00:14:20,227 --> 00:14:22,293
Jackie is, like myself,
an incredible artist.

358
00:14:22,428 --> 00:14:24,295
[laughing]

359
00:14:24,430 --> 00:14:28,232
Her works have been
showcased across canada,

360
00:14:28,301 --> 00:14:30,367
From dawson to
edmonton to gatineau.

361
00:14:30,403 --> 00:14:33,171
It really is about process
for me, right, it's like...

362
00:14:33,173 --> 00:14:35,706
That physical journey,
and then shaping

363
00:14:35,775 --> 00:14:38,309
That material that's
in front of you.

364
00:14:38,311 --> 00:14:40,244
Jackie is a
process artist.

365
00:14:40,247 --> 00:14:43,047
For her it's more about
the process than...

366
00:14:43,182 --> 00:14:45,149
The destination, which
is kind of the opposite,

367
00:14:45,285 --> 00:14:46,317
I guess,
of my work.

368
00:14:46,452 --> 00:14:48,052
My work sort of
really needs to be

369
00:14:48,088 --> 00:14:50,254
About the
destination, right?

370
00:14:50,257 --> 00:14:52,256
If you want to hear about
my flight from whitehorse,

371
00:14:52,259 --> 00:14:53,458
I can tell you.

372
00:14:53,460 --> 00:14:54,659
[laughing]

373
00:14:54,728 --> 00:14:58,262
The first step in her process
is prospecting the natural

374
00:14:58,331 --> 00:15:01,265
Environment for materials
that she can use in her art.

375
00:15:01,334 --> 00:15:02,967
I like to walk
along the river.

376
00:15:03,003 --> 00:15:05,169
You know, I love to
look for rocks and

377
00:15:05,171 --> 00:15:07,271
I love to look for
driftwood and roots...

378
00:15:07,274 --> 00:15:09,240
Feathers, glass.

379
00:15:09,375 --> 00:15:12,343
I'm like the raven, right?
Anything shiny, "ah!"

380
00:15:12,478 --> 00:15:14,779
You know, it's like,
zoom in, pick it up.

381
00:15:14,781 --> 00:15:17,782
Jackie works a great
deal with willow...

382
00:15:17,784 --> 00:15:19,284
Which is sort of ironic
because she said

383
00:15:19,419 --> 00:15:21,019
When she was a kid,

384
00:15:21,154 --> 00:15:23,054
That's what her and her
brother got spanked with.

385
00:15:23,123 --> 00:15:24,388
[laughing]

386
00:15:24,457 --> 00:15:27,291
Mom would be like,
"go get a willow!

387
00:15:27,294 --> 00:15:29,494
You're in trouble!"
and we'd be like, "ugh!"

388
00:15:29,496 --> 00:15:31,162
Oh, boy, you know,
we're both out there

389
00:15:31,231 --> 00:15:33,364
Crying and trying to
pick the right willow.

390
00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:36,300
And she said there was a real
strategy to choosing what-

391
00:15:36,436 --> 00:15:38,102
Right, because right away
you think, oh,

392
00:15:38,104 --> 00:15:39,403
The smaller,
the better.

393
00:15:39,472 --> 00:15:41,171
The small one is like a...

394
00:15:41,207 --> 00:15:42,306
A whip.

395
00:15:42,441 --> 00:15:44,341
And the bigger one
is like, "kadunk!"

396
00:15:44,377 --> 00:15:45,609
[laughing]

397
00:15:45,645 --> 00:15:47,478
It sounds to me like just
picking the willow itself is...

398
00:15:47,613 --> 00:15:48,545
You don't need
a spanking,

399
00:15:48,581 --> 00:15:50,048
That's a pain in
the ass already.

400
00:15:50,183 --> 00:15:52,016
[laughing]

401
00:15:52,052 --> 00:15:56,187
I've been looking for willow
my whole life, I guess.

402
00:15:56,256 --> 00:15:58,389
To make her art,
jackie begins by

403
00:15:58,524 --> 00:16:01,392
Making
her own paper.

404
00:16:01,428 --> 00:16:03,394
It's a process of
finding willow,

405
00:16:03,529 --> 00:16:06,097
And then literally
beating it to a pulp.

406
00:16:06,232 --> 00:16:07,732
And she got me to
help her out with it,

407
00:16:07,734 --> 00:16:09,333
So we're mashing
up this willow,

408
00:16:09,369 --> 00:16:11,268
And she said it's
meditative work.

409
00:16:11,338 --> 00:16:14,339
This is like therapy,
you know? It's physical.

410
00:16:14,474 --> 00:16:16,407
It's rhythmic,
and it's repetitive,

411
00:16:16,542 --> 00:16:18,742
And you're just
beating on this willow.

412
00:16:18,778 --> 00:16:20,210
[laughing]

413
00:16:20,246 --> 00:16:23,281
So, you really make
that connection.

414
00:16:23,283 --> 00:16:25,216
I really see what she means,
right, it's like

415
00:16:25,218 --> 00:16:27,618
If that was the thing that
hurt you as a kid, yeah-

416
00:16:27,687 --> 00:16:29,353
[laughing]

417
00:16:29,389 --> 00:16:31,688
Like I imagine how I'd
get into it if I had-

418
00:16:31,725 --> 00:16:33,958
I don't know how many people
here got a lot of wedgies,

419
00:16:34,093 --> 00:16:35,360
But if I had a pair of
my own underwear there,

420
00:16:35,495 --> 00:16:37,361
And I was like...
-[laughing]

421
00:16:37,364 --> 00:16:39,329
I could see how I could
really get into it.

422
00:16:39,366 --> 00:16:41,632
[cheering & applauding]

423
00:16:46,506 --> 00:16:51,676
♪

424
00:16:51,678 --> 00:16:54,511
When I found out that this
town is known for

425
00:16:54,513 --> 00:16:56,647
Serving a cocktail
with a frostbitten

426
00:16:56,683 --> 00:16:58,850
Human toe in it,
well,

427
00:16:58,852 --> 00:17:00,651
It wasn't just the toe
that was petrified.

428
00:17:00,687 --> 00:17:02,653
[laughing]

429
00:17:02,689 --> 00:17:05,857
I sat down with local
legend, terry lee.

430
00:17:05,859 --> 00:17:09,827
[cheering & applauding]

431
00:17:09,962 --> 00:17:12,930
Tell me, what is
this crazy tradition?

432
00:17:12,932 --> 00:17:15,633
You have to kiss
the sour toe.

433
00:17:15,702 --> 00:17:17,435
You can't bite it, chew it,
stuff like that,

434
00:17:17,437 --> 00:17:18,703
You can't swallow it.

435
00:17:18,705 --> 00:17:19,804
Don't worry about that.

436
00:17:19,806 --> 00:17:21,672
The toe has been
packed in rock salt.

437
00:17:21,808 --> 00:17:23,474
Basically,
it's mummified.

438
00:17:23,609 --> 00:17:26,009
Like, it looks shrivelled up
and weird, but it is a human-

439
00:17:26,046 --> 00:17:28,045
It's not a representation.

440
00:17:28,081 --> 00:17:30,848
It is literally what it is.

441
00:17:30,983 --> 00:17:33,885
Downtown hotel, I'm not
gonna order a fuzzy navel.

442
00:17:33,887 --> 00:17:36,621
[laughing]

443
00:17:36,756 --> 00:17:38,956
If I order a gin rickey,
do I have to kiss ricky?

444
00:17:38,992 --> 00:17:40,757
[laughing]

445
00:17:40,794 --> 00:17:43,026
Let me rephrase that-
if I order a gin rickey,

446
00:17:43,063 --> 00:17:44,695
Do I get to kiss ricky?

447
00:17:44,831 --> 00:17:48,633
[laughing & cheering]

448
00:17:48,768 --> 00:17:50,968
Has anybody ever
accidentally ingested a toe?

449
00:17:51,104 --> 00:17:52,436
Oh yeah, yeah,
actually-

450
00:17:52,505 --> 00:17:53,905
Five have been
swallowed.

451
00:17:53,907 --> 00:17:56,774
He told me about one guy
who swallowed it for a lark.

452
00:17:56,776 --> 00:18:00,244
Took a slug of it, and stood
up and said, "it's down."

453
00:18:00,379 --> 00:18:02,546
And I thought,
the bastard swallowed it.

454
00:18:02,582 --> 00:18:04,849
He had to pay a fine, but
he was willing to do it.

455
00:18:04,851 --> 00:18:06,851
And I said, "oh, my god,
he swallowed the toe?"

456
00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:08,452
I said, "what kind of
impact would that

457
00:18:08,488 --> 00:18:09,520
Have on your system?"

458
00:18:09,655 --> 00:18:11,789
If somebody swallows a toe,
it goes through you

459
00:18:11,858 --> 00:18:13,791
Like salt pork
through a seagull.

460
00:18:13,793 --> 00:18:15,826
He said, "johnny, that
would go through you like

461
00:18:15,829 --> 00:18:17,328
Salt pork through
a seagull."

462
00:18:17,463 --> 00:18:18,962
[laughing]

463
00:18:18,998 --> 00:18:21,332
And I said, "and that
would be like...?"

464
00:18:21,334 --> 00:18:23,801
[laughing]

465
00:18:23,803 --> 00:18:24,801
Anyway, it turns out,

466
00:18:24,838 --> 00:18:27,004
Not so bad,
is what he means.

467
00:18:27,140 --> 00:18:29,840
So where do you source
yourself another human toe?

468
00:18:29,843 --> 00:18:31,475
We usually get
them through wills,

469
00:18:31,478 --> 00:18:33,411
But we also get them
through living people

470
00:18:33,546 --> 00:18:34,879
That donate them.

471
00:18:34,948 --> 00:18:38,616
So, we get them from
death, diabetes, gout,

472
00:18:38,751 --> 00:18:40,685
Chainsaws,
that sort of thing.

473
00:18:40,820 --> 00:18:43,354
So if anybody here wants
to make a "toe-nation"...

474
00:18:43,356 --> 00:18:44,722
[laughing]

475
00:18:44,791 --> 00:18:46,457
...Just fill out
your "toe-nor" card.

476
00:18:46,592 --> 00:18:47,925
[laughing]

477
00:18:47,961 --> 00:18:49,693
They gotta get 'em quick,
he said you know,

478
00:18:49,729 --> 00:18:51,729
Because between when
somebody dies and then

479
00:18:51,864 --> 00:18:53,297
They're buried
or cremated...

480
00:18:53,366 --> 00:18:55,633
And I said, "so what,
they just snip them off

481
00:18:55,635 --> 00:18:56,967
At the morgue?"

482
00:18:57,036 --> 00:18:59,370
And he laughed at me then,
and he said, "yes."

483
00:18:59,505 --> 00:19:03,541
[laughing]

484
00:19:03,676 --> 00:19:06,643
You can drink it fast,
you can drink it slow.

485
00:19:06,679 --> 00:19:10,314
But your lips must
touch this gnarly toe.

486
00:19:10,316 --> 00:19:12,650
Anyway, I went
for it, alright?

487
00:19:12,652 --> 00:19:14,418
I'm used to putting
my foot in my mouth,

488
00:19:14,487 --> 00:19:16,720
How bad could it be?

489
00:19:16,756 --> 00:19:17,788
Here we go.

490
00:19:17,857 --> 00:19:20,324
[crowd] cheers!

491
00:19:20,393 --> 00:19:23,594
A dark, purple-y,
petrified severed toe

492
00:19:23,596 --> 00:19:25,529
From the foot of
god knows who.

493
00:19:25,598 --> 00:19:27,565
[laughing]

494
00:19:27,567 --> 00:19:30,534
Sfx: [heartbeat]

495
00:19:30,570 --> 00:19:31,868
♪

496
00:19:31,905 --> 00:19:35,806
[cheering & applauding]

497
00:19:35,842 --> 00:19:37,475
And it was delicious.

498
00:19:37,610 --> 00:19:40,411
[cheering & applauding]

499
00:19:40,413 --> 00:19:43,347
[applauding]

500
00:19:43,349 --> 00:19:45,616
I had it in a drop of rye
whiskey, and you know what,

501
00:19:45,685 --> 00:19:47,618
It really brought
out the corn.

502
00:19:47,620 --> 00:19:50,988
[cheering & applauding]

503
00:19:51,124 --> 00:19:54,291
♪

504
00:19:54,360 --> 00:19:55,826
Gold may run low
in the quarries,

505
00:19:55,895 --> 00:19:57,695
But you made the
most of the stories.

506
00:19:57,830 --> 00:20:00,764
And while the staff shortage
makes for a quandary,

507
00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:02,767
The lore of this
place is forever

508
00:20:02,902 --> 00:20:04,702
And folks will come
more than ever,

509
00:20:04,771 --> 00:20:07,371
If you can manage to
keep up with the laundry.

510
00:20:07,373 --> 00:20:09,339
[laughing]

511
00:20:09,375 --> 00:20:12,376
Where the summer breeze will
whistle through the willows,

512
00:20:12,412 --> 00:20:14,845
But winter brings a cold
and savage side...

513
00:20:14,981 --> 00:20:18,449
Up way north of whitehorse
and west 'til almost alaska,

514
00:20:18,451 --> 00:20:21,052
Where the yukon and
the klondike collide.

515
00:20:21,054 --> 00:20:22,987
The northern lights
have seen queer sights,

516
00:20:23,056 --> 00:20:25,790
And they've seen plain
as day in the dark,

517
00:20:25,925 --> 00:20:27,658
That while you can't
claim dawson,

518
00:20:27,793 --> 00:20:29,726
Dawson may claim you,

519
00:20:29,762 --> 00:20:31,996
And you'll feel that like
a stake through your heart.

520
00:20:31,998 --> 00:20:33,497
Thanks for coming out,
everybody!

521
00:20:33,566 --> 00:20:34,732
You've been great!

522
00:20:34,734 --> 00:20:36,734
[cheering & applauding]

523
00:20:36,736 --> 00:20:38,402
Thanks so much!

524
00:20:38,471 --> 00:20:40,404
[cheering & applauding]

525
00:20:40,539 --> 00:20:42,806
Next time you pound
the willow, jonny...

526
00:20:42,842 --> 00:20:45,743
Beat it harder.
[laughing]

527
00:20:45,745 --> 00:20:47,411
You know, miners
make the bedrock.

528
00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,814
[laughing]

529
00:20:49,949 --> 00:20:54,418
♪

530
00:20:54,454 --> 00:20:56,954
♪

531
00:20:57,023 --> 00:20:58,088
Well, thanks jonny,
for putting the

532
00:20:58,157 --> 00:20:59,690
Gin rickey on the map.

533
00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:01,759
That should now be the
official dawson drink.

534
00:21:01,761 --> 00:21:03,960
Have a gin and a ricky.
[laughing]

535
00:21:03,997 --> 00:21:05,696
I don't know if your
camera caught this,

536
00:21:05,765 --> 00:21:08,266
But a bird pooped
on my hand.

537
00:21:08,401 --> 00:21:10,634
That's good luck.
[laughing]

538
00:21:10,637 --> 00:21:12,670
Just keep on walking!

539
00:21:12,805 --> 00:21:14,505
♪

540
00:21:14,640 --> 00:21:16,907
Jonny, I haven't
seen them,

541
00:21:16,976 --> 00:21:18,375
I don't want to see them...

542
00:21:18,444 --> 00:21:21,779
But, if we could
have your toes...

543
00:21:21,781 --> 00:21:24,748
[indistinct speaking
& laughing]