Cynthia James - Dak`laweidí 

CYNTHIA JAMES is Dak`laweidí and the Chair of the Dáanaa Jíli (Cache) Trust, a Trustee since 2007 and the Chair since 2018. The Daughter of Colleen James (Gooch Tl’a) and Theodore Huebschwerlen (KDFN) and the stepdaughter of Harold Gatensby (Yeil Tooch). Cynthia was raised between Carcross and Robinson (Bear Creek) on the land with her huge family of 13 brothers and sisters. Cynthia is the mother of three beautiful C/TFN citizens and loves to spend time on her traditional territory.

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Cynthia grew up during the negotiations of the Umbrella Final Agreement playing at General Assemblies which ignited an interest in leadership and self-government as a child. Cynthia’s main file for the last 10 years is Yukon First Nation Education from K-12 ensuring First Nation ways of knowing and being are instilled in schools in Whitehorse and Carcross. 

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Cynthia was one of the first cohorts of the Jane Glassco Fellowship in 2012 with the Walter Gordon Duncan Foundation, Cynthia has a certificate in Yukon First Nation Governance and Public Administration gained in 2015 from Yukon College and recently Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Indigenous Governance (IDG) from Yukon University in May 2021. 

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Along with Cynthia’s fellow (IGD) Students, Cynthia helped advise the Yukon University on the content of the IGD program. Cynthia sat on the Yukon First Nation Education Advisory Committee YTG and the Carcross/Tagish First Nation Family Council.

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Cynthia is grateful for the opportunity to serve as Chair for the Dáanaa Jíli (Cache) Trust, in building corporate memory and growing the compensation dollars for the Citizens and Beneficiaries of Carcross/Tagish First Nation.