On a sunny afternoon in late September 2024, I joined a small group of travellers in Kluane National Park and Reserve in the Yukon for a guided Indigenous medicinal plant walk offered by Amber Berard-Althouse, a member of the Kluane First Nation. As we stood at the edge of Kathleen Lake, Berard-Althouse explained that the Southern Tutchone name for the lake, Mät’àtäna Män, means “lake captured inside” referring to the way the Kluane Mountain Range seems to cradle the lake. As I gazed across the lake at the snow-capped mountains, I couldn’t think of a better name for such a beautiful and wild reservoir.

For about 90 minutes, we followed our guide around the lake as she identified plants along the lakeshore and explained their uses in Indigenous medicine. She also shared Southern Tutchone l

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