Rhiannon Russell

Whitehorse

Associate Editor at Up Here Magazine

Freelance journalist & fact-checker. Contributing writer @thewalrus. Bylines at @upheremag, @chatelaine, @hazlitt, @macleans. Trail runner. Dog walker.

Articles

In Canada’s North, communities reckon with a melting world

1 week ago | thelogic.co | Rhiannon Russell

It shouldn’t rain for days in February this far north. The sea ice shouldn’t turn to slush. People shouldn’t fall through the ice by the dozen. For the residents of the Inuit community of Nain, Nunatsiavut, Labrador’s northernmost permanent settlement, this was the new reality greeting them in 2010. The sudden thaw made people wary of travelling by snowmobile to collect firewood or hunt. Encrusted in ice, a communications tower collapsed, leaving residents without internet and phone service.
Mystery on Arctic Ice

2 weeks ago | uphere.ca | Rhiannon Russell

EVAN RICHARDSON watched from the helicopter as it flew over frozen inlets where the ringed seals rear their pups. He was part of a team conducting a polar bear survey north of Wynniatt Bay on Victoria Island on a -25°C morning in April 2012. “What is that?” one of his colleagues exclaimed over his radio headset. Richardson looked out a rear window and was surprised to see a large grizzly bear chasing a small polar bear across the sea ice.
Arctic Moment: Big Dippers

3 weeks ago | uphere.ca | Rhiannon Russell

Cold-water swimming is now more than a New Year’s ritual or a rite of spring. It’s booming globally and, in Whitehorse, has been a winter-long activity among hardier residents for about five years. The Yukon Ice Swimmers Facebook group boasts 1,500 members. But the practice is not new. As early as 400 B.C.E., Hippocrate was writing that cold plunges relieve muscle fatigue. Vikings bathed daily in freezing water and the practice has centuries of history in Eastern Europe and Nordic countries.
Found in translation

4 weeks ago | uphere.ca | Rhiannon Russell

Jeela Palluq-Cloutier sat at her dining table in Iqaluit, staring at her aging MacBook Air. One side of her laptop screen listed English sentences, while the other featured Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun translations. She rated each sentence for accuracy from zero to 100 per cent. “War in Afghanistan” became “pandemic outbreak in Arviat.” Zero. “Prime rib” became “prime minister.” Zero. Some text about housing in Nunavut mentioned single units, apartment buildings and then—usuup puunga. Condom. Huh?
UP HERE - MAR/APR 2025

1 month ago | uphere.ca | Rhiannon Russell

Wednesday, March 19, 2025 - 15:17 Wednesday, March 19, 2025 - 15:25 Friday, January 17, 2025 - 10:30 Friday, February 28, 2025 - 10:01 Thursday, October 24, 2024 - 10:51 Wednesday, January 22, 2025 - 13:39
First Nations Are Rethinking Education in the Yukon. And It’s Working

2 months ago | thewalrus.ca | Rhiannon Russell

In Old Crow, teenage students at Chief Zzeh Gittlit School, with land guardians and Elders, climbed onto snowmobiles and travelled 500 kilometres along a traditional route called Dagoo T’aii. On the journey, they harvested caribou and shared stories. In Whitehorse, a two-hour flight south, preteen students at Takhini Elementary created hunting bags, cutting and stitching canvas and deer leather with the guidance of First Nations knowledge keepers.
“Yukoners Are Pissed”: The Outcry over Telecom Failures

Nov 21, 2024 | thewalrus.ca | Rhiannon Russell

When I woke up one morning this past May, internet, cellular, and landline services had been out for about twelve hours. Local CBC radio was reporting that wildfires in northern British Columbia and the Northwest Territories had damaged the fibre-optic lines connecting the Yukon to the wider network. Some NWT communities were affected too. Here in Whitehorse, I heard that long lines stretched from downtown ATMs as debit and credit machines went down.
The Spectacular Fall of Victoria Gold, Once the Darling of Yukon Mining

Oct 1, 2024 | thewalrus.ca | Rhiannon Russell

In late June, the heap leach pad at the Eagle gold mine in central Yukon failed. Heap leaching is a method for extracting minerals from ore, and its failure in this case caused a landslide. Cyanide and other contaminants spilled into the valley and entered waterways. Mining halted, hundreds of workers were laid off, and a flurry of water testing began, conducted by the federal and territorial governments and the mine’s operator, Victoria Gold.
How We Treat Bears in Cities Is Trash

Sep 1, 2024 | thewalrus.ca | Rhiannon Russell

In early May, two black bears roaming a rural residential subdivision in Whitehorse got into unlocked dumpsters and gorged on human trash. When the bears became aggressive, territorial conservation officers euthanized the animals. “This is a sad reminder that our actions directly impact the lives of our wild neighbours,” Yukon Conservation Officer Services posted on its Facebook page. “We can do better.” Living in the Yukon means sharing space with bears.
Contributing Writers

Jul 9, 2024 | thewalrus.ca | Tajja Isen |Arno Kopecky |Toula Drimonis |Rhiannon Russell

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