Keish

Keish ( – July 11, 1916), also known as James Mason and by the nickname Skookum Jim Mason, was a member of the Tagish First Nation in what became the Yukon Territory of Canada. He was born near Bennett Lake, on what is now the Yukon–British Columbia border. He lived in Caribou Crossing, now Carcross, Yukon. His mother, Gus'duteen, was from Tahltan country around Telegraph Creek while his father was Kaachgaawáa, chief of the Tagish Deisheetaan. His family was involved in trade between the coastal Tlingit and the inland Tagish. In 1891, the couple had daughter Saayna.aat, known also as Daisy. Who saw the gold first is a matter of dispute. Carmack claimed that he noticed it first, but Keish and his nephew asserted that it was Keish who was the discoverer. In his will, he left the income of the trust to his daughter Saayna.aat (Daisy Mason) and also made legacies to his sister Kate, his nephew Koołseen (Patsy Henderson), and two other relatives, although these legacies were never paid. When his daughter died in 1938, the income from the trust was used, as directed by Keish's will, to the benefit of needy Indigenous peoples in Yukon. The Skookum Jim Friendship Centre in Whitehorse was built using this trust fund.

A fictionalized version of Skookum Jim appears in the TG4 series An Klondike, portrayed by Julian Black Antelope, where he is depicted as a Hän and is killed by the fictional character Pat Galvin in 1898.