Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park

Lore & Background

Over the centuries, numerous indigenous peoples lived in this area, including the historic Tlingit and Southern Tutchone, who built fishing villages along the rivers. The eastern edge of the park follows an ancient trade route used by the Chilkat (a Tlingit people) to barter with the Tutchone. In the mid-19th century, the sudden breakup of a natural dam on the Alsek River caused a severe flood; a wall of water 7 m high and 15 m wide swept an entire Tutchone village into the sea at Dry Bay, killing all inhabitants.

Tatshenshini-Alsek was one of the last areas of British Columbia to be mapped and explored. In the 1960s, geological exploration found significant copper deposits near Windy Craggy Mountain. In the mid-1980s, a proposal surfaced to develop Windy Craggy peak into a huge open-pit mine. In 1991, Tatshenshini International was established, linking the top 50 conservation organizations in North America. An intensive campaign followed, involving the U.S. Congress and Vice-President Al Gore. In June 1993, BC Premier Mike Harcourt decided to protect the area as a Class A park, and the owners of the Windy-Craggy mineral claims received a $103.8 million settlement.

In 1999, a party of sheep hunters found artifacts and remains of a young male at the foot of a glacier in the park; he was later called Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi, or 'Long Ago Man Found'. The well-preserved frozen body was between 300 and 550 years old. Representatives of Champagne and Aishihik First Nations were consulted, and they named the young man. Researchers tested 241 volunteers from the area and found 17 living relatives, including two sisters, through a mitochondrial DNA match of the direct female line. Fifteen of these 17 identify as Wolf clan, suggesting the young man also belonged to that clan.

Reader's Guide

Tatshenshini-Alsek Provincial Park is significant as a key component of the world's largest international park complex, protecting a vast wilderness of glacier-carved valleys, high earthquake activity, and diverse habitats. The park supports a large grizzly bear population and is the only Canadian home of the glacier bear, an extremely rare blue-grey color phase of the black bear. It also hosts Dall's sheep, mountain goats, Kenai moose, grey wolves, eagles, falcons, trumpeter swans, sea lions, and humpback whales. The Alsek and Tatshenshini rivers flow through the park in U-shaped valleys, allowing cool, moist ocean air into the cold interior, creating an exceptionally diverse range of habitat conditions. The park's establishment in 1993 halted mining exploration and development, particularly the proposed open-pit mine at Windy Craggy Mountain, after a campaign that involved conservation organizations, the U.S. Congress, and Vice-President Al Gore. The 1994 UNESCO World Heritage designation recognized the area's spectacular glacier and icefield landscapes and its importance for wildlife. The discovery of the 300-to-550-year-old frozen remains of Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi in 1999 provided a unique link to the region's indigenous history, with DNA testing revealing living relatives among the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

Did You Know?

• The park is 9,580 km² (3,700 sq mi) in size.
• It was established in 1993 after a campaign by Canadian and American conservation organizations.
• The park is a notable habitat for the glacier bear, an extremely rare blue-grey colour phase of the black bear, though these bears have also been documented elsewhere in British Columbia and Alaska.
• In 1999, the frozen remains of a young male, named Kwäday Dän Ts’ìnchi, were found at the foot of a glacier in the park; DNA testing found 17 living relatives.