Winnie Atlin, a member of the Ishkahittaan Clan, pictured here as a small child with her mother, Martha Johnson and her brother, and Edith and Lillian Henderson. (Edi Bohmer)

As a result of the gold rush, Jim Boss, who was Chief of what is now the Ta'an Kwachan Council of Lake Lebarge, attempted to protect his people by settling a treaty with the Crown.

"Tell the King very hard, we want something for our Indians because they take our land and game."

At that time, the Ta'an people received a small reserve. From then, until 1973, no further efforts were made to settle with Yukon First Nations.

In 1942, in response to the second world war, a highway connecting Alaska and the U.S. was bulldozed right through the traditional territories of many Yukon First Nations people. This significantly changed their way of life forever. As had happened during the gold rush decades earlier, diseases that First Nations people did not have tolerances for accompanied the thousands of road builders who came north. It is estimated that half of the Yukon's aboriginal people died in the ensuing epidemics.

"And when the Alaska Highway came through everything changed. People started smoking cigarettes and drinking beer all the time and other liquor and they did not go out trapping. They had no money and so I guess had to apply for welfare. It was pretty hard. Lots of children were very ill; the kids were so sick from dysentery and died."

Ada Haskins, a member of the Yanyedi Clan, is the daughter of Johnny Johns. She remembers his commitment to the land claims process and his desire to see improvements for future generations. (Yukon Language Centre, 2001)