Yukon: Peel River Supreme Court Case
The Peel River watershed in Yukon covers 67,000 km2 of wilderness, representing 14% of the Yukon Territory. The Peel watershed includes large portions of the traditional territories of three Yukon First Nations: the Na-Cho Nyak Dun, Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in and Vuntut Gwitchin – as well as one Northwest Territories First Nation: the Tetlit Gwich’in.
The soaring mountains and crystal-clear waters are legendary. There are no permanent settlements in the Yukon portion of the Peel, though a single road – the Dempster Highway – cuts through the western portion of the watershed. There are no active mines or producing oil wells, though there is potential for both.
For the Indigenous people of the Peel this is a sacred place, rich in renewable resources and alive with the spirits of their ancestors.
