Yukon grandmother and grandson both receive Coronation Medal

Gwich'in fiddler and Air Canada pilot Boyd Benjamin was honoured alongside his grandmother Martha Benjamin with a King Charles III coronation medal. 

The ceremony was held at the Kwanlin Dün Centre in Whitehorse, hosted by Yukon Commissioner Adeline Webber. 

Both are Vuntut Gwich'in citizens from Old Crow. 

89-year-old Martha Benjamin is a former cross-country skiing champion. In the fifties and sixties she competed at the national and international level, winning the Canadian Nordic Ski championships in the senior women's category by a wide margin. 

"She had an opportunity to go to the Olympics that year because she had won the championship, but she turned it down because she had a young family," said Boyd Benjamin. 

In the 2012 book Aboriginal Peoples and Sport in Canada, author M. Ann Hall describes Martha as out-skiing men as well as women.

But ultimately, Hall wrote, there was "no money and little interest" from the Canadian Olympic Committee in sending Martha to the 1964 Winter Olympics. 

"Her coach, Father [Jean-Marie] Mouchet took her to a competition and all of the women competitors refused to race against her," said Boyd. "So he put her in the men's race. At that time it was allowed. And she beat them too." 

In the years that followed, Martha dedicated her time to sports programming and cutting and grooming Old Crow ski trails for young skiers, which earned her the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers in 2001. 

As for her grandson Boyd, his talents lie with music and flying planes – two skills which may not appear to have much in common. But Boyd has found a way to keep both of his passions alive, with a discipline he says was instilled in him by his grandmother. 

"I've been able to travel around our country really playing the music, sharing the music from Old Crow," he said. "We have a very sensitive and diminishing fiddle tradition and the fiddle music that we played, that I learned when I was just young, it's also important for me to share that." 

Of the 10 Yukoners that received Coronation medals Saturday, three were Vuntut Gwich'in citizens. Linda Netro, a family support worker with the First Nation's government, was also recognized for her work in the community. 

"It's a great honour, not only for the individuals, but for the community – a testament to our people," Chief Pauline Frost said. 

"We are known as one of the most northerly isolated communities…. It's a harsh environment and a harsh climate to live in and adapt to. You need to be flexible, but you also need to be driven, right?