Old Log Church Museum Exhibits
Tukudh* Mission
Archdeacon Robert McDonald and his Legacy
McDonald came as a young man to teach the people using a large piece of paper to show God in heaven, etc. He went over the mountains by foot to Fort McPherson and travelled and lived with the people, cooking over an open fire and teaching in people’s tents. He learned to speak the language right away. He trained the boys and girls by teaching in stories so people could relate to the stories in the bible.
— Gwich’in Elder Sarah Simon
Robert McDonald was born with a Scottish and Ojibwe heritage at Point Douglas (now Winnipeg), Manitoba. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 1853 and worked as a missionary to the Gwich’in from 1862 to 1904.
McDonald’s missionary objective was to spread knowledge about the words and deeds of Jesus Christ. He far exceeded this goal, teaching his Gwich’in parishioners how to write and read the entire bible and his many translated works in their own language.
McDonald’s appointed Christian Leaders used his translations to teach others about the bible and the Anglican emphasis on personal faith and spiritual growth. McDonald’s enduring legacy is his foundation of a northern Indigenous Christianity.
Archdeacon McDonald and his wife Julia (Gepik Kutug) retired to live in Winnipeg in 1904. Their son Neil moved to Old Crow where he married and raised a family.
*Takudh is sounded out as “Dagoo” in Old Crow by the Van Tut Gwich’in and “Daguth” in Fort McPherson by the Teetl’it Gwich’in.