camp and hunt all along Tagish Lake, different places. Most of those places that were precious to us, now you go there and somebody has a building there."

In 1984, Yukon First Nations were ready to sign a deal that called for a very large amount of money. However, some First Nations stepped forward to say they were not happy with a number of issues. Along with the Nacho N'yak Dun, the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and Chief Stanley James fought to reject this agreement at this time.

The deal failed because it fell short on protection of hunting and subsistence rights, called for total extinguishment of aboriginal rights, did not include self-government, and included insufficient amounts of land.

After this, the land claims process barely survived. However, some of the key players, such as Elijah Smith and Harry Allen, rallied the troops to continue to move forward. The following year, the process regained momentum with a renewed negotiation method and focus.

"During this time, the main issues in the negotiations were working out the details, things like the sharing accord and getting more land and also self-government. We gained more land

as a whole for the Yukon. The negotiators worked out the fine details."

After aggressive and difficult negotiations, on May 29, 1993, Yukon First Nations people signed the Umbrella Final Agreement at a public ceremony in Whitehorse. The Umbrella Final Agreement acted as a framework agreement, after which all Yukon First Nations final agreements would follow with their own specific provisions.

The agreements included land, money, self-government, and hunting and fishing rights, with aboriginal rights retained on settlement lands. This was significantly different than the 1984 claim.

Judy Gingell, Grand Chief of the Council of Yukon First Nations, signing the 1993 Umbrella Final Agreement with Minister of Indian Affairs Tom Siddon and Yukon Government Leader John Ostashek. In the back row are Chiefs Dave Keenan, Paul Birckel, Robert Bruce and Robert Hager. (Yukon government)