Ch’ëdähdëk Tth’än K’et (Dënezhu Graveyard)

A First Nations cemetery located on a high bluff, Ch’ëdähdëk Tth’än K’et lies across the Yukon River from Mission Island and the Forty Mile townsite.

There are several graves here, marked by fences and simple wooden markers. Ch’ëdähdëk Tth’än K’et illustrates the marginalization of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in, who were not permitted to bury their family members in the settler cemetery at Forty Mile.

“Even our dead were segregated; we were not welcome in the Nödlet cemetery in town. Our burial grounds were located across the Yukon River, a foreshadowing of the increasing marginalization that would come to typify the colonial experience of our people (Tr’ondëk Klondike Nomination Dossier, 2021).”

Ch’ëdähdëk Tth’än K’et (Dënezhu Graveyard) is not open to the public. It is located on Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in Settlement Land, overlooking the Yukon River.