Karen Lepine - Dak`laweidí 

KAREN LEPINE is the daughter of Leslie and Marie Johns of Whitehorse; her paternal grandparents were Dora Wedge & Leslie Kelley and maternal grandparents were Alice & Alfred Titus of Dawson City. Karen was given the Tlingit name Shuwuteen and was adopted by Kitty Grant and family into the Dak`laweidí Clan. Karen and her husband Nelson have two adult children Blake and Kara and have four grandchildren Trina, Carter, Clarke and Salix.  

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Karen was born and raised in Whitehorse but spent a lot of her time growing up out on the land with her grandmother Dora Wedge.

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Karen has work experience in retail, wholesale sales, Payroll, Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable with the Yukon Indian Arts & Crafts Co-op for 5 years, and worked at Skookum Jim Friendship Centre for 17 years as the Director of Finance. 

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She was with Council of Yukon First Nations as Director of Finance from 2012 to 2021. Karen is currently the Treasurer for the Dakhka Khwaan Dancers and Yukon First Nations Graduation Society and Trustee for the Yukon First Nation Languages Trust. Also has past involvement with Polarettes Gymnastics Club, Dreamcatcher Yukon Society and Yukon Indigenous Games Steering Committee (now the Yukon Aboriginal Sports Circle) as Treasurer.

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Prior to C/TFN’s land claim settlement Karen was a representative for the Taxation Files for C/TFN and was appointed as one of the original Trustees for the Dáanaa Jíli (Cache) Trust since 2006.