Community Leaders
History
Kwanlin Dün First Nation

Judy Gingell

Judy Gingell gives a thumbs up after signing the Umbrella Final Agreement in 1993.
Judy Gingell gives a thumbs up after signing the Umbrella Final Agreement in 1993. (Photo: Canada)

Judy Gingell has done so much to advance Indigenous rights and governance in Yukon.

Judy was born on her grandparents’ trapline at Moose Lake, south of Whitehorse, Yukon. For more than 40 years, Judy has promoted and advanced Indigenous rights and governance in the Yukon. Judy was part of the 1973 delegation to Ottawa that initiated the Yukon land claims negotiation process.

As Chair of the Council of Yukon First Nations (1989-1995), she was instrumental in self-governance and land claims negotiation with the Government of Canada. In 1995, Prime Minister Jean Chretien named her Commissioner for the Yukon Territory, the first Indigenous person appointed to the position.

Judy Gingell

Judy is renowned for her ability to build bridges between peoples, notably by raising awareness of First Nations culture by creating the annual Commissioner’s Potlatch. As a leader and elder of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, she has ensured that First Nations communities are key players in the territorial economy.

In 2023, Kwanlin Dün First Nation interviewed Judy Gingell talking about 50 years of Together Today for our Children Tomorrow. 

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Settling these agreements involved decades of hard work, innovation and commitment by leaders and visionaries and are mapping the way to a better future for all Yukoners.

Our Stories
Kusawa Territorial Park
Kusawa Territorial Park
Kusawa Territorial Park (park in progress) is designated as a Special Management Area in two Land Claim Agreements and is part of three Traditional Territories: Carcross/Tagish, Champagne and Aishihik, and Kwanlin Dün First Nations.
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Elijah Smith in 1973 on CBC
Elijah Smith
Elijah Smith, or Tä Me in Southern Tutchone, was born in Champagne in 1912. In 1973, he led a delegation of Yukon First Nation leaders to Ottawa to present Together Today for our Children Tomorrow to the Prime Minister of Canada, which marked the beginning of modern land claim negotiations in the Yukon.
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The Yukon Native Brotherhood Meeting
Council of Yukon First Nations
In 1973 the Yukon Native Brotherhood and the Yukon Association of Non-Status Indians came together to form the Council for Yukon Indians – known today as the Council of Yukon First Nations – in order to negotiate land claims on behalf of all Yukon First Nations people.
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