DAWSON CITY – It’s now quite clear why the territorial government did not want to have Dr. Grant ZazulaZazula giving any solo interviews regarding the Baby Mammoth Mummy (Nun Cho Ga) during the first week of December.

It had something else planned – but didn’t want to say what then.

The response to a request at that time was a blunt: “Dr. Zazula won’t be conducting further Nun Cho Ga-related interviews at this time.”

No reason was given.

So last Thursday’s invitation to a press conference the next day was a bit of a surprise.

At Friday afternoon’s press conference, Zazula, who heads the Yukon government’s palaeontology program, and Debbie Nagano, director of heritage with Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, were definite about the joint decisions taken by YG and TH: that they would always speak together on this subject, thus underlining both TH’s overriding interest in the find, and emphasizing the joint agreement about how it should be handled.

That has been in place since shortly after the discovery of the mammoth by a placer mining outfit, Treadstone Mining, on National Indigenous Day, June 21, 2022.

The corpse had actually been cut in half by the mining equipment slicing through permafrost layers on that day.

The operator quickly stopped when he realized what he was seeing, and the whole animal was carefully excavated by geologists from the Yukon Geological Survey and University of Calgary, who were quickly brought to the site. YG’s Jeff Bond was one of the first to arrive.

On Friday, Nagano and Zazula repeated much of the background that had been covered during two days of workshops and information sharing in Dawson on Dec. 4-5.

The first day was for TH citizens only. It produced an outline for further activity, grounded in the TH motto of Tr’ehude (Living in a good way), which outlined priorities for decision-making, education for TH, and mammoth’s preservation.

It was emphasized that there are no plans to put Nun Cho Ga on regular display or to use it as some sort of tourist attraction. It’s thought this would not be respectful of the find.

On the second day, about two dozen members of the general public were in attendance to hear presentions by Nagano, Zazula, Bond (recently retired from the Yukon Geological Survey) and Elizabeth Hall (the Yukon’s assistant palaeontologist).

As noted in the original YG press release in 2022, this discovery is considered very special by the Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in. They intend that the mummified mammoth should remain in TH hands once it has been processed and preserved.

It is seen locally as having a special spiritual significance. As the late elder Peggy Kormendy said at the time: “This baby can heal us.”

This was further indicated in a PowerPoint presentation on Dec. 6:

“Nun Cho Ga is more than a scientific discovery. For Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, Nun Cho Ga is an ancestor that symbolizes the reclamation of tradition and a bridge between the past and the present.”

Named Nun Cho Ga (big baby animal) after consultation with the elders’ council, it was determined that the baby was probably female, although that will only become certain after further study.

A special committee, composed of John Flynn, Kris Janus, Clara Van Bibber, Victor Henry and Patty Sidney, will guide the community in managing this and other such treasures in accordance with TH laws and traditions.

As Zazula noted, many such artifacts have been unearthed during mining activity over the last 125 years. Most of these have ended up residing elsewhere.

One of the higher-profile finds in the territory was the mummified wolf pup that miners discovered in 2016.

The tiny pup was named “Zhùr”, which means “wolf” in the Hän language, and is said to be from the Ice Age. It has been dated at 57,000 years BP (before the present time).

Nun Cho Ga was buried in a slide some 36,000 years ago BP and was preserved in the permafrost that overtook the area.

It’s one of the most complete examples of a mammoth of this size, as most other samples are missing either the trunk, the tail or both.

Zazula remains gobsmacked by this discovery. As always, he referred to it during Friday’s news conference as a “once-in-a-lifetime dream come true” for himself.

Since its discovery, the body has been kept in a deep freeze, encased in a specially designed, insulated crate constructed by local carpenters shortly after it was found.

The immediate plan is to ship the body to the Canadian Conservation Institute in Ottawa.

There, it will be treated by freeze-drying, a process that Zazula says could take weeks or months, given the animal’s size.

Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in has applied to the institute to take on the preservation task, and things look positive, though it remains uncertain just when this will take place.

Nagano conceded that this find once again raises the issue of a permanent regional paleontological facility in the Klondike.

“I think it will, and it has,” she said.

TH will have a new 27,000-square-foot heritage complex built north of the present Steve Taylor Building after the defunct fish processing plant on Front Street is demolished next summer. The complex is to happen by 2027.

Nagano said there is also a planned expansion of the Dänojà Zho Cultural Centre, and discussions have begun about finding a location out in the mining zones.

“We’re starting to talk about it and to inform our citizens to see what they think about it also,” she said.

The subject has been raised by all territorial parties over the last several decades.

While strong hints were dropped during successive election campaigns, nothing has ever happened.