Commissioner Angélique Bernard, in her capacity as the chancellor of the Order of Yukon, announced the first inductees into the Order of Yukon on Friday.

They are:

• former commissioner Doug Bell;

• Ione Christensen, a former commissioner, Yukon senator and Whitehorse mayor;

• Whitehorse historian Patricia Ellis;

• Judy Gingell, a former commissioner and former chair of the Council for Yukon Indians (now the Council of Yukon First Nations);

• Dawson City elder Percy Henry, one of the last fluent speakers of the Han language;

• Whitehorse businessmen Rolf Hougen and Gary Hewitt;

• Dave Joe, the territory’s first Indigenous lawyer and a veteran of the Yukon’s self-government and land claims movement;

• Sam Johnston, a former chief of the Teslin Tlingit Council and the first Indigenous Speaker of a legislature in Canada; and

• Lyall Murdoch, an original mainstay and co-owner of the former Frantic Follies vaudeville show.

These names were chosen from the many nominations that were submitted to the advisory council.

The inductees were chosen for their “demonstrated excellence and achievement, as well as their outstanding contributions to the social, cultural or economic well-being of Yukon and its residents,” the commissioner’s office said in a statement.

“Thank you to all who put forward names for nomination. It was a difficult choice, and those not chosen at this time have had their names carried forward to the next intake.”

The inductees will be presented with the Order of Yukon at the Commissioner’s New Year’s Levee, set for 2 to 5 p.m. Jan. 1 at the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre.

 The former Yukon Party government began laying the groundwork for the Order’s creation, and it was brought to fruition by the current Liberal government.