On Day Five of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s tour in Canada, the couple explored Whitehorse and Carcross in the North-Western Area of Yukon. William and Kate sent their first tweet, met First Nations communities and retraced The Queen and Prince Philip’s steps at the MacBride Museum of Yukon History.
At the museum, the Duke and Duchess learnt about the province’s people while experiencing its stunning natural beauty.
The couple sent their first ever Tweet from a 100-year-old telegraph key created for the MacBride Museum that can now send messages to Twitter.
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE, SEPTEMBER 2016, WHITEHORSE YUKON
— Telegraph to Tweet (@telegraph_tweet) September 28, 2016
The log cabin that is the Telegraph House, which The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited in 1959, is a building dating back to the turn of the last century.
Will and Kate dictated a message transcribed by 90-year-old attendant into Morse code, signing the museum’s virtual guest book.
The “telegraph to tweet” technology was created by Make IT Solutions‘ software developer Seamus Venasse, who said he was honoured the Duke and Duchess were the first to use his technology. “I was asked if it’s possible to hook a telegraph key to a computer, and I said ‘of course,'” he said.
The Royals joined in on a children’s story session and later visited the local community street party celebrating with well wishers Whitehorse’s thriving arts scenes.
During this event they were joined by members of Bring Youth Toward Equality (BYTE), a youth organisation focused on empowering young people throughout Yukon, working on the development of confidence, skills, openness.
In Carcross, home to the Tagish First Nation, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge the received an elder blessing, and welcome song and welcome dance by the Dakhká Khwáan Dancers. Their Royal Highnesses then met a carver who is working on traditional Inland Tlingit and Tagish totems. The couple experienced local traditions, culture, and heritage as well as toured recently completed economic development initiatives.
After hearing about the traditional Inland Tlingit and Tagish totem project, The Duchess paints the eye on a totem pole #RoyalVisitCanada pic.twitter.com/ss08SbiPMX
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) September 28, 2016
The Duke and Duchess met later with youth trail builders part in Single Track to Success at Montana Mountain — a community wellness program. Launched in 2005, the Singletrack to Success programme was created to inspire Carcross/Tagish First Nations youth to get outdoors and build trails for cycling.
Today, Carcross is known for its world-class mountain biking trails.