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Kluane First Nation
Grace Southwick
Grace Southwick has lived in various Yukon communities in her 65 years. That’s how she knows Destruction Bay, where she lives now, is the best spot there is. “I might be prejudiced, but I think this is the most beautiful place in all the Yukon,” she says. “The scenery around here is just amazing. Everywhere you look, you’re in awe of the beauty of the mountains, the rivers, the lakes. The chance to sit and listen to the wilderness.” Southwick, a citizen of the Kluane First Nation (KFN), was born in nearby Burwash Landing, on the shores of Kluane Lake. Having recently retired from the job she held for 25 years with KFN, Southwick now splits her time between volunteering at Kluane Lake School (she gardens with the school’s 14 students) and enjoying getting out on the land she loves.
One of the ways she does this is by berry-picking. Southwick rotates her spots for cranberries, high-bush cranberries and blueberries so she’s not putting pressure on any one area. Her granddaughter, also named Grace, often accompanies her while picking, fishing and hunting.
From her home in Destruction Bay, population 45, Southwick has easy access to a harbour, which allows her to get out on the Yukon’s largest lake. Sometimes she just goes for the day, other times to travel to her cabin at the other end of Kluane Lake. It’s never surprised her that tourism to her small, quaint community booms from May to September, it’s also when Kluane National Park opens for hiking and camping. “It’s just majestic,” she says. “It’s a place like nowhere else.”
