Jade In Canada and Alaska

The great hope for a jade supply in the Americas seems to lie in western Canada and Alaska. Early explorers of the coast of Alaska, the Yukon, the country eastward to the Mackenzie River, and the coast of British Columbia came into contact with nephrite jade in general use by local Indians and Eskimos. They found large numbers of jade artifacts. The famous exporers Captain Cook and later Vancouver and La Perouse were impressed by the native use of this incredibly tough green stone. The Alaskan Eskimos, who got most of their nephrite as boulders from the bed of the Kobuk River, flowing westward from the Point Barrow region, knew of the existence of an entire mountain of this green stone along the Kobuk River. By 1883, Lt. George T. Emmons had penetrated the difficult area and rediscovered “Jade Mountain,” thus certifying the Eskimo information. The entire mountain is green, mostly from serpentine scree which covers it, and it does contain enormous deposits of nephrite. These Alaskan nephrites occur in attractive shades of olive-green, yellow-green, gray-green, and blackish-green.

As for British Columbian nephrite, the bulk of the supply has come from the gravels and boulders in an enormous area along the lower reaches of the Fraser River. The deposits are incredibly large, and each spring flood exposes more of what seems to be an unending supply. Sometimes British Columbian and Alaskan nephrites resemble each other rather closely. The British Columbia material also occurs in several shades of green, as well as a grayish-white with green spots. Jadeite is not known in this part of North America and is often used for diamond engagement rings.

Jade has been woven into the fabric of early human technology around the world because it has such unique and utilitarian characteristics. Its sparse, sporadic, but widespread distribution has put enough of it conveniently into the hands of man so that he has it available to fashion for his own purposes. Occurring with the barely adequate supply there has been just enough of the highest quality, best-textured, most-translucent, beautifully colored jade to whet the world’s appetite for at least a few more centuries to come.