Canada's First Capital 'L' Lesbian Sexual Assault: Yellowknife, 1955

• Author: Constance Backhouse
• Pages: 193-226



EChapterF

CANADASFIRSTCAPITALL

LESBIAN SEXUAL ASSAULT:

Yellowknife

Tprosecutions for sexual assault during the t wentieth

centurybutthe caseof ReginavMoore appearstohavebe enthe rstin

Canadian history where the complain ant and the accused were both female.

SamesexrelationshipshadnotgoneunnoticedofcoursePolicehadusednui

sancebylawsandvagrancyc hargestoha rasswomencrossdr essingasmen 

for years.P ro sec ut io nsa ga in stg aym enf or bu gge ry ind ec ent as sau ltu pon 

amale andacts ofgrossindecency als ostretc hedback many years But

thisse emstohavebee ntherstprosecutionofawomanforindec entassault

upona femaleThe presiding judgeswhoc haracterized the case ash ighly

unusualdescribedthebehaviourasLesbianismwithacapitalL



ANewcomerinYellowknife

T in formation about Willimae Moore, the woman at the

centre of this unprecedented prosec ution. Like many of the residents of Yel

lowknifeshewas newto thetown AnA mericanciti zenby birthshe had

ownintothe northernm iningcom munityon SeptemberHertrav

elling companionwas Beatrice Gonzales who hadbeen hired as the vice

principal for the Yellowknife High School. Willimae had found work as a

casualandtemporarytypistwiththefederalgovernmentsDepartmentof

NorthernAairs andNatural ResourcesThe twowomenlivedtogether in

theschoolteachershouseonFran klinRoadAlthough herageisu ncertain

it seems that Willimae was in her fort ies.

ﾅﾍﾈCarnalCrimes

NFB photo , pu blished i n Susan Jack son, ed., Yellowknife, N.W.T.: An Illustrated History (Sechelt: Nor’West,  ) at 

GiantMineYellowknifeaeri alview

NWT Archives , N-/:  

Yellowknifeaerialview

CanadasFirstCapitalLLesbianSexualAssaultﾅﾍﾉ

Thetowninto whichWillimae MooreandBeatrice Gonzalesewatt he

startofthefreezingseasonwasontheedgeoftheArcticCirclenexttoGreat

SlaveLake Travellers arrived by plane mostlyCa nadian Pacic Airways

DCsyingairmilesnorthfromEdmontononightspricedatre

turn. Because the routes were generally mi lk runs, with stops at every town

along the way, it could take seven hours to reach Yellowknife, even if the

plane wason t imeA lthoughit was oen described as a child of the air

ageYellowknife wassusta inedduri ngthe briefsu mmerby waterfreight

transport, which ferried i n materials ordered a year ahead. Residents dined

on dehydrated and canned vegetables and fruits, supplemented with cari

bousteak andpta rmiganT hosewhol ivedthere int heies recalled Yel

lowknife as memorable for its small houses, board sidewalks, and absence of

long distance phones.

AsthetravelwearyWillimaeMooreandBeatriceGonzalesdisembarked

from the plane with their dog, t hey must have been struck by the stark land

scapestuntedsprucetreesclingingtotheglacierscarredrockyoutcropping

of the Canadian Shield, and wild mosses g rowing in the bush. Newcomers

were usually staggered by the weather. The harsh winters produced light

snow for months on end, and temperatures that varied between four and mi

nusyeightdegreesCelsiusAsoneofthebushpilotsreminiscedWhen

itwasamere twentybelow wedthinkBoythisis agreatdaywe can

pushbackour parkahoodsThecolourfu lauroraborealis alsok nownas

theNorthernLightsmadethenightskymagical

Thepopulationh adreachedi ninacommunityt hatwasover

whelminglywhiteaerracialtensionsforcedtheAboriginalpeopletomove

to Detah, across the bay. More than half the workforce was employed in the

Con and Giant gold mines. Virtually all t he white residents of the isolated

town came from somewhere else. Their uni fying characteristic was a strong

streakof individuality andnoncon formityThetownspe opletookpride

inthei rcamaraderieand thethril lof isolationreferring toareas other

than Yellowknifeas the outside Social norms were substantia lly looser

than inthe southAstenog rapherwhoa rrived inrecor dedhers urpri se

when she discovered that some of the coupleswere shackedupa new

term to herwithout benet of marriage And many of the si ngle women

whocame aer herdescr ibedfendi ngo amorous assaultsf romdr unken

miners, taxi drivers, and pilots, who seemed to take a licence for wayward

behaviour from the boisterous dri nking culture.