KING GEORGE GOT DIARRHEA : THE YUKON -ALASKA BOUNDARY SURVEY , BILL RUPE , AND THE SCOTTIE CREEK DINEH Norman Alexander Easton Yukon College, Box 2799, 500 College Drive, Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada Y1A 5K4;
[email protected] ABSTRACT The imposition of the international boundary along the 141st meridian of longitude between Yukon and Alaska has separated the aboriginal Dineh of the region into two separate nation-states. This division holds serious implications for the continuity of identity and social relations between Native people across this border. This paper examines the history of the establishment of this border along its southern margin through the Scottie Creek valley, comparing the written record of the state surveyors with the oral history of the Scottie Creek Dineh. I argue that the evidence supports the notion that the Dineh of Scottie Creek, like elsewhere in the Yukon and Alaska, were both aware of and resistant to the implications of the boundary and refused to cede their rights to continued use and occupancy of both sides of the border. Concurrent with this history is that of William Rupe, the unacknowledged first trader in the Upper Tanana River basin, and his role in mediating the negotiations between gov- ernment surveyors and Dineh leaders. Despite the difficulties imposed by the border, Natives of the region continue to formulate a strong identity as Dineh, holding and practicing distinctive values and social relations that collectively are known as the Dineh Way. Keywords: Upper Tanana, aboriginal-state relations, 141st meridian, Yukon-Alaska history PRELUDE It is July 1997. I am atop Mount Dave, Yukon, just east guage.