Executive Council Office

Land Claims History

From 1902 to today 

  In 1902, Jim Boss, hereditary chief of the Ta'an Kwäch'än First Nation, saw the impact the Gold Rush was having on his people and wrote urgently to the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs. "Tell the King very hard, we want something for our Indians because they take our land and game."

One hundred years later, the Ta'an Kwäch'än First Nation signed its Final and Self-Government agreements.

The long road of negotiations was complex and challenging but is starting to yield benefits for not only First Nation citizens, but also other Yukon residents.
Studio portrait of Chief Jim Boss.
Yukon Archives. E.J. Hamacher fonds (Margaret and Rolf Hougen Collection)		  

1973: The modern process begins when the Yukon Native Brotherhood, formed by the 12 Yukon First Nation bands in place at the time and led by Chief Elijah Smith, presented Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow [ 3.5 MB]  to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau. This presentation was the beginning of the negotiation process between the Government of Canada and Yukon First Nations.  Later that year, the Yukon Native Brotherhood and the Yukon Association of Non-Status Indians created the Council for Yukon Indians (CYI) to negotiate land claims on behalf of Yukon First Nations.

1974 - 1979: Sporadic negotiations between the Government of Canada's Office of Native Claims and CYI. 

1979: Yukon joins negotiations

1984: An Agreement in Principle (AIP) was reached by negotiators for the parties and submitted to CYI for approval. 

The AIP, which provided for a complete extinguishment of aboriginal rights, was unable to gain sufficient support from Yukon First Nations. Negotiations were subsequently suspended until 1985 when Government of Canada was able to take a more flexible position on the issue of extinguishment and the Government of Yukon took a more active role at the negotiation table.

It was determined that the negotiation process would result in one template agreement to be called the Umbrella Final Agreement [ 463 KB].

Its provisions were to be incorporated in each Yukon First Nation Final Agreement. The parties to the UFA were Canada, Yukon and Yukon First Nations as represented by CYI (now known as the Council of Yukon First Nations).

1993: Government leaders sign the UFA, which recognizes 14 Yukon First Nations.

1993: The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Teslin Tlingit Council, the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun and the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation, respectively, were the first four Yukon First Nations to sign Final Agreements with Canada and Yukon.

1997: The Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation Final Agreement and the Selkirk First Nation Final Agreement are brought into effect in October.

1997: The Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in Final Agreement comes into effect in September

2002: The Ta'an Kwäch'än Council Final Agreement comes into effect in April

Four of the remaining First Nations with outstanding Agreements signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in March 2002 with Canada and Yukon. The MOU signified that substantive negotiations had been concluded and the parties were committed to beginning the ratification process, one of the final stages of concluding a claim, by March 2003. These First Nations were the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, White River First Nation, Kluane First Nation and Kwanlin Dün First Nation.

2003: Kluane First Nation signs its Final and Self-Government agreements in October.  These agreements came into effect February 2, 2004, making Kluane the ninth self-governing Yukon First Nation.

2004: Kwanlin Dün First Nation (KDFN) ratifies their agreements and their signing ceremony Is held February 19, 2005. The agreements came into effect on April 1, 2005, making KDFN the 10th self-governing First Nation in the Yukon.

2005: Carcross-Tagish First Nation (C/TFN) ratifies their agreements in 2005, which were signed in a ceremony held October 22, 2005. The C/TFN agreements came into effect on January 9, 2006, making it the 11th self-governing First Nation in the Yukon.

White River First Nation signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in March 2002 with the governments of Canada and Yukon to signal the substantial completion of their negotiations, which was to be followed by technical drafting and ratification. These steps have yet to be taken.

The Liard First Nation and Ross River Dena Council have not entered into a MOU to conclude their land claims.

Today: White River First Nation, Liard First Nation and Ross River Dena Council remain bands under the federal Indian Act.

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