Kusawa Lake is a lake in the southern Yukon, Canada. Kusawa means "long narrow lake" in the Tlingit language. The Kusawa Lake is a lake in Canada's Yukon Territory. It is located at an altitude of and is southwest of Whitehorse near the British Columbia border. It meanders over a length of with a maximum width of about through the mountains in the north of the Boundary Ranges. It is fed by the Primrose River and Kusawa River. The Takhini outflows to the Yukon River from the northern tip of Kusawa Lake. Kusawa Lake has an area of . The lake has a maximum depth of and is of glacial origin. It is a common tourist destination and is also popular for fishing.
Description
Kusawa Lake is one of many large, long and narrow glacier-fed alpine lakes in the southern Yukon, most of which are part of the
Yukon River system. Others include
Teslin Lake,
Atlin Lake,
Tagish Lake,
Marsh Lake,
Lake Laberge, and
Kluane Lake.
There is access to the lake via an unpaved road that branches from the Yukon Highway 1 Alaska Highway, which runs north of the lake.[ Environment Yukon ]
Etymology
Kusawa was derived from a
Tlingit language phrase, which means
narrow lake.
Because retreating glaciers often leave long and narrow lakes, there were at least four lakes which were once called Kusawa, including the present-day Kusawa Lake.
["The four known pre-1898 Kusawa Lakes were: First, the present-day Kusawa Lake at 60° N, 136° W." , at pp. 214, 216 ( Westlicher Kussooaa); , at page 166. Second, the present-day Surprise Lake. , at page 72 (Surprise Lake ex-Kusiwah); Third, the otherwise unnamed lake near the head of the Chilkat River. Id., at page 57 (#15: Koosawu Áa lake). Fourth, the present-day Bennett Lake. , at pp. 211, 230 ( Kussooa today). "In addition, both the portage between Lindeman Lake and Bennett Lake, as well as Bennett Lake itself, also bore the Tlingit name Ch'akúx Anax Dul.adi Yé Place. The Tagish name for Bennett Lake was Mén Chó Big." , at ##108, 111. from List of White Pass and Yukon Route locomotives and cars][The corresponding body of water is located in former Southern Tutchone territory and has a separate Southern Tutchone name. The reason that the Tlingit name currently prevails is that the early English-speaking explorers and map makers hired mostly Tlingit guides, interpreters, and other informants. When these early explorers and map makers reduced their information to writing, the names used were those given by the Tlingit informants. The meaning of a Tlingt name often differed from the meaning of the corresponding Southern Tutchone name. See, , at pp. 42-50 ( Tlingit Aishihik = Southern Tutchone Män Sho Lake; Dezadeash = Tatl’àt Mǟn End; Hutshi = Chu Yena Mǟn Water; Kluane = Łù Àn Mǟn Whitefish; Klukshu = Łu Ghą Mǟna Fish; Kusawa = Nakhų Mǟn Raft-Crossing; Takhini = Gęl Ädhäl Springs) From List of White Pass and Yukon Route locomotives and cars]
Archaeology
About east of the campgrounds on Kuwasa Lake is the site where the first of the Yukon Ice Patches was discovered in 1997 on mountain Thandlät.
The Yukon Ice Patches are studied by archaeologists in partnership with six Yukon First Nations, on whose traditional territory the ice patches were found. They include the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council, the Champagne and Aishihik First Nations, the Kluane First Nation, and the Teslin Tlingit Council.
The wooden dart shaft fragment that was recovered was radiocarbon dated to 4360 ± 50 14C yr BP (TO 6870).
Kusawa Lake Territorial Park
The Kusawa Lake Territorial Park, a protected area of , is in the planning stage.
Wildlife
Fish
The lake is dominated by
Arctic grayling,
herring,
round whitefish, and
American char.
Caribou
There are no longer any
caribou in the region but in her 1987 interviews, Elder Mary Ned (born 1890s-) also spoke about caribou being "all over this place." Evidence of this was proven by the nearby discovery of the Ice Patch artifacts...Oral history tells us that a corral, or caribou fence was located on the east side of the lake, between the lake and the mountain."
[ From Mrs. Annie Ned prepared for Archaeological Survey of Canada, National Museums of Canada.]
See also
