As glaciers in Yukon’s St. Elias range rapidly melt, First Nations raise cultural and ecological concerns amid ongoing climate research.
Indigenous Communities Alarmed by Rapid Glacier Melt
In July 2025, researchers and Indigenous leaders gathered near Yukon’s Kluane National Park to assess the alarming retreat of glaciers in the St. Elias mountain range. These glaciers, once dominant fixtures of the region, are now shrinking at unprecedented rates — prompting deep concern from local First Nations whose history, culture, and ecosystems depend on their presence.
Cultural Ties to a Disappearing Landscape
Ron Chambers, a Champagne and Aishihik First Nations citizen and former park warden, remembers vividly the power of the ice. “We heard booming sounds from the glacier like motors or planes — but it was just the ice,” he recalled from his camp near Logan Glacier. Chambers, the first Yukoner and First Nations man to summit Mount Logan in 1975, now watches the glaciers vanish from his window in Haines Junction.
For generations, the glaciers shaped transportation routes, spiritual stories, and seasonal cycles. Now, Indigenous communities are questioning what happens when this living landscape disappears.
Scientists Monitor Climate-Driven Melting
This summer, scientists from the University of Ottawa spent two weeks at Kluane Lake Research Station to track how the glaciers are melting and shifting. Glaciologist Luke Copland, who has studied the region for nearly 20 years, noted a troubling trend: while the massive glaciers may persist for centuries, smaller ones are vanishing within decades.
“The small glaciers are retreating rapidly,” Copland said. “Some may be gone within a century — or sooner.”
Environmental Impacts Felt Locally
The consequences of melting glaciers are already visible. In 2016, rapid melting of the Kaskawulsh Glacier diverted water away from the Slims River, leading to a dramatic one-metre drop in Kluane Lake’s water level. This change has disrupted aquatic ecosystems and traditional food sources.
Alyce Johnson, a Kluane First Nation elder, expressed concern about chum salmon: “They come all the way from the ocean to spawn here. Lower water levels threaten their journey.”
Glaciers Interwoven with Oral Histories
For elders like Johnson, glaciers are more than frozen water — they’re living cultural landmarks. “Our language and stories live in the glacial system,” she said. “They were once routes to funerals and potlatches.”
Historian John Fingland, also from Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, has been teaching youth about the ancestral knowledge embedded in these icefields. While he acknowledges the inevitability of change, he warns of the cultural void that could emerge.
Local Crisis, Global Warning
Though the effects are felt most immediately by Yukoners, the global implications are stark. According to Copland, a quarter of all glacier and ice cap meltwater (excluding ice sheets) worldwide comes from this mountain range.
“The glaciers here influence oceans, rivers, and ecosystems far beyond the Yukon,” Copland noted. He emphasized the need for long-term monitoring and stronger collaboration between scientists and Indigenous communities.
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