Last week, on the recommendation of the Yukon Astronomical Society, an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter was named after him.

“I think it’s very interesting,” said Gina McLean, the eldest daughter – in – law of Jim Mason, who was unaware of the introduction of her ancestral name.

“Anything that preserves the name Jok Mason in the public history of Yukon is important to his nephews, nephews and family.”

Scook and Jim Mason are a Takish from the Doug La Wade clan. The White Horse Friendship Center, named after him, says the hope he instilled in his will still exists today. The interest earned from these funds is used to recognize the tribal people who have helped their community.

Maria Benoit, Ha Cha Do Hin, or the head of Carcross / Tagish First Nation and former CEO of the Skookum Jim Friendship Center, was thrilled to hear the news. His grandfather was Jim Mason, the son-in-law of Skokam.

“Coming from the first country,” he said, “it’s a history in production.”

Skookum Asteroid Jim

Skookum is a large asteroid in the Jim Belt. It orbits with other asteroids between Mars and Jupiter orbits.

“It takes more than five years to complete a complete orbit around the sun,” explained Christa van Larhoven, president of the Yukon Astronomical Society. “Its orbit is not exactly circular. This is not a strange thing. It’s not very round, but only slightly. It is inclined about 15 degrees compared to the orbit of the earth.

As far as Van Larhoven is known, this is the second asteroid associated with Yukon.

“The only asteroid I’ll ever seen with the Yukon link is Klondike,” he said, naming it after two brothers who came to Klondike’s gold hunt to raise money and donate money to a university that built a library in Finland. .

Van Larhoven was surprised to learn that Skookum Jim was the university where the asteroid was first discovered.

However, if you want to see the asteroid Skookum Jim, you need a telescope, said Van Larhoven.

“It’s a big deal,” she said, “taking it out in your backyard is not easy.”

McLean said he believed that one day science would be able to determine the elements of an asteroid.

“Wouldn’t it be cool to load gold?” She smiled.

Naming process

The naming began in an email from the Royal Canadian Astronomical Observatory to the Yukon Astronomical Observatory, which said it was likely to submit some names to the International Astronomical Union (IAU), which is responsible for naming objects in space.

Van Larhoven said the manner in which the email was addressed seemed to indicate that the IAU wanted to honor someone who had served the community well.

“We felt that if we were going to honor Yukonar, we would also want to honor Scook and Jim,” he said.

“We realized that his presence in Yukon’s history was sufficient. If we were to get the asteroid of Yukon, it really must be him.”

The proposal was put forward in 2018.

The Yukon Astronomical Society announced the honor on April 11 last week.

“I am very surprised that the International Astronomical Union has approved our plan,” said Van Larhoven.