Violet Storer, 1995,"We use to go all through there, what they call Shakat, drying meat and stuff like that as we go along we made caches and end up at M'Clintock and from there we drift down to Marsh Lake and stay at Marsh Lake for a while with Mr. Johnnie Joe and there again my dad would set nets for whitefish and trout."

First Nations people, the land was their livelihood, their larder, and their ancestral home. They traveled year round by foot over a network of trails that extended hundreds of square kilometres. In summer, they also navigated the waterways by rafts, dugout canoes and mooseskin boats.

In the 1920s, people caught and dried salmon at summer fish camps above and below Whitehorse Rapids. At the larger lakes, they fished for burbot, lake trout and white fish. In fall they hunted moose, sheep and caribou. The area now covered by Schwatka Lake was a favourite berry-picking spot. In winter when fur as at its best, families trapped for fox, mink, lynx, marten, coyote and wolf.

After Whitehorse was established, First Nations people adapted their seasonal rounds to the new economy. They sold wild meat and fish and took seasonal jobs for the railway, on sternwheelers, and at wood camps. They came to Whitehorse to trade, visit and work, staying on the edges of town. One settlement was near the bluff, west of the present Robert Service Campground.

Top Photo: Jenny and Jack Shakoon in the Canadiana at the Whitehorse waterfront, circa 1915. Yukon Archives • Macbride Museum Collection

Map: Key sites used by First Nations people with Southern Tutchone translations