The discovery and reconstruction of what is believed to be Canada's oldest moccasin has been announced by Canada’s Tourism and Culture Minister Elaine Taylor.

The 1,400-year old moccasin was first recovered from a melting alpine ice patch in 2003 by Cody Joe of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, working as part of a multi-disciplinary research team. Originally thought to be a hunter's bag, the artefact was kept frozen until Yukon Conservator Valery Monahan could finish cleaning and assembling the pieces. Monahan painstakingly put over 240 hours into gently unfurling and cleaning the article, and re-piecing it to form the moccasin. It has now been thoroughly dried and reassembled and can safely be viewed and examined.

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