Haines Junction, Yukon - Definition and Overview

Haines Junction is a village in the Yukon Territory, Canada. It is located at Kilometre 1,632 (mile 1,014) of the Alaska Highway. Population is 531 (2001 Census). It is next to Kluane National Park and Reserve.

History

For many thousands of years the Southern Tutchone had seasonal hunting and fishing camps in the area of present-day Haines Junction. The original name of the area was "Dakwakada", a Southern Tutchone word meaning "high cache". It was common for Tutchone people to use raised log caches to store food year-round or temporarily while they hunted and fished in an area.

The Haines area was also important for trade between the coastal and interior peoples. Its proximity to the Chilkat Pass, one of only three passes that allowed travel between the coast and the interior, was used extensively for trade between the coastal Tlingit and Tutchone people.

The current town of Haines Junction was established in 1942 and 1943 during the construction of the Alaska Highway. In 1943 a second highway, the Haines Highway, was built to connect the Alaska Highway with the coastal town of Haines, Alaska over the Chilkat Pass. Situated at the junction of these two highways, Haines Junction was a construction camp and a supply and service centre for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers building the highway.

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