Haines Junction


Haines Junction is a village in Yukon, Canada. It is located at Kilometre 1,632 of the Alaska Highway at its junction with the Haines Highway, hence the name of the community. According to the 2016 Census, the population was 613. Haines Junction is east of Kluane National Park and Reserve. It is a major administrative centre for the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations.

History

For around two thousand years, the Southern Tutchone people had seasonal hunting and fishing camps in the area of present-day Haines Junction. The original name of the area was "Dakwakada", a Southern Tutchone word meaning "high cache". It was common for Tutchone people to use raised log caches to store food year-round or temporarily while they hunted and fished in an area.
The Haines Junction area was also important for trade between the coastal and interior peoples. It lies at the interior end of the Chilkat Pass, one of only three passes that allowed travel between the coast and the interior, which was used extensively for trade between the coastal Tlingit and Southern Tutchone people.
The current town of Haines Junction was established in 1942 and 1943 during the construction of the Alaska Highway. In 1943, a second highway, the Haines Highway, was built to connect the Alaska Highway with the coastal town of Haines, Alaska, over the Chilkat Pass. Situated at the junction of these two highways, Haines Junction was a construction camp and a supply and service centre for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers building the highway. The Haines–Fairbanks petroleum pipeline was constructed in 1953–55, and a pumping station was built just north of Haines Junction.

Demographics


Transportation

By road, Haines Junction is served by the Alaska Highway and the Haines Highway. By air, it is served by the Haines Junction Airport.

Climate

Haines Junction has a subarctic climate with mild summers and long, severely cold and snowy winters, with annual snowfall averaging 64.5 inches.