The Selkirk First Nation people are closely affiliated with the Northern Tutchone groups of the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun and the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation. The Selkirk people had a trading relationship with the Coastal Tlingit and would meet to trade during the summer fish camps on the site where Fort Selkirk was to be built by the Hudson’s Bay Company. After the fur-trading fort was built, the Selkirk people settled there on a more permanent basis, continuing to trap, fish, hunt and gather year-round in their traditional areas.
The fort was later burned down by the Coastal Tlingits and rebuilt at the present site in 1850. With the completion of the highway, the Fort Selkirk people moved to Minto and later to Pelly Crossing and other communities. Today, Fort Selkirk is an important heritage site and is co-managed by the Selkirk First Nation and the Yukon Government.
The Selkirk First Nation cultural centre is situated within Pelly Crossing in a replica of Fort Selkirk’s Big Jonathan House.