Canada's First Capital 'L' Lesbian Sexual Assault: Yellowknife, 1955
Author | Constance Backhouse |
Pages | 193-226 |
EChapterF
CANADASFIRSTCAPITALL
LESBIAN SEXUAL ASSAULT:
Yellowknife
Tprosecutions for sexual assault during the t wentieth
centurybutthe caseof ReginavMoore appearstohavebe enthe rstin
Canadian history where the complain ant and the accused were both female.
SamesexrelationshipshadnotgoneunnoticedofcoursePolicehadusednui
sancebylawsandvagrancyc hargestoha rasswomencrossdr essingasmen
for years.P ro sec ut io nsa ga in stg aym enf or bu gge ry ind ec ent as sau ltu pon
amale andacts ofgrossindecency als ostretc hedback many years But
thisse emstohavebee ntherstprosecutionofawomanforindec entassault
upona femaleThe presiding judgeswhoc haracterized the case ash ighly
unusualdescribedthebehaviourasLesbianismwithacapitalL
ANewcomerinYellowknife
T in formation about Willimae Moore, the woman at the
centre of this unprecedented prosec ution. Like many of the residents of Yel
lowknifeshewas newto thetown AnA mericanciti zenby birthshe had
ownintothe northernm iningcom munityon SeptemberHertrav
elling companionwas Beatrice Gonzales who hadbeen hired as the vice
principal for the Yellowknife High School. Willimae had found work as a
casualandtemporarytypistwiththefederalgovernmentsDepartmentof
NorthernAairs andNatural ResourcesThe twowomenlivedtogether in
theschoolteachershouseonFran klinRoadAlthough herageisu ncertain
it seems that Willimae was in her fort ies.
ナヘネCarnalCrimes
NFB photo , pu blished i n Susan Jack son, ed., Yellowknife, N.W.T.: An Illustrated History (Sechelt: Nor’West, ) at
GiantMineYellowknifeaeri alview
NWT Archives , N-/:
Yellowknifeaerialview
CanadasFirstCapitalLLesbianSexualAssaultナヘノ
Thetowninto whichWillimae MooreandBeatrice Gonzalesewatt he
startofthefreezingseasonwasontheedgeoftheArcticCirclenexttoGreat
SlaveLake Travellers arrived by plane mostlyCa nadian Pacic Airways
DCsyingairmilesnorthfromEdmontononightspricedatre
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 wason t imeA lthoughit was oen described as a child of the air
ageYellowknife wassusta inedduri ngthe briefsu mmerby waterfreight
transport, which ferried i n materials ordered a year ahead. Residents dined
on dehydrated and canned vegetables and fruits, supplemented with cari
bousteak andpta rmiganT hosewhol ivedthere int heies recalled Yel
lowknife as memorable for its small houses, board sidewalks, and absence of
long distance phones.
AsthetravelwearyWillimaeMooreandBeatriceGonzalesdisembarked
from the plane with their dog, t hey must have been struck by the stark land
scapestuntedsprucetreesclingingtotheglacierscarredrockyoutcropping
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
nusyeightdegreesCelsiusAsoneofthebushpilotsreminiscedWhen
itwasamere twentybelow wedthinkBoythisis agreatdaywe can
pushbackour parkahoodsThecolourfu lauroraborealis alsok nownas
theNorthernLightsmadethenightskymagical
Thepopulationh adreachedi ninacommunityt hatwasover
whelminglywhiteaerracialtensionsforcedtheAboriginalpeopletomove
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
streakof individuality andnoncon formityThetownspe opletookpride
inthei rcamaraderieand thethril lof isolationreferring toareas other
than Yellowknifeas the outside Social norms were substantia lly looser
than inthe southAstenog rapherwhoa rrived inrecor dedhers urpri se
when she discovered that some of the coupleswere shackedupa new
term to herwithout benet of marriage And many of the si ngle women
whocame aer herdescr ibedfendi ngo amorous assaultsf romdr unken
miners, taxi drivers, and pilots, who seemed to take a licence for wayward
behaviour from the boisterous dri nking culture.
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